British soldiers inflicted "violent and cowardly" assaults on Iraqi civilians, subjecting them to "gratuitous" kickings and beatings, an inquiry into the death of the detainee Baha Mousa has found.
In a devastating indictment of military culture, the retired appeal court judge Sir William Gage ruled that there was widespread ignorance of what was permitted in handling prisoners of war. The events that led to the death of Mousa were "deplorable, shocking and shameful", the defence secretary, Liam Fox, told the Commons.
Although Gage did not suggest there had been a policy of systematic abuse towards Iraqi suspects, he deplored the absence of any "proper MoD doctrine on interrogation". The report at the end of the two-year inquiry contains savage criticisms of individual soldiers and officers as well as damning descriptions of poor internal communications, "loss of discipline and a lack of moral courage