Judge says headquarters okayed Iraq abuse

By Peter Graff

BULLFORD (Reuters) - A judge said on Monday the reason he had ordered charges dropped against the most senior British officer to be tried for prisoner abuse in Iraq was because headquarters had approved some of the abuses.

The British military has denied that its commanders approved abusing prisoners.

But a witness, Major Anthony Royce, testified during a court martial of seven other soldiers over the death of an Iraqi hotel receptionist that some abuse was approved by higher-ups at British brigade headquarters.

Three weeks ago Judge Stuart McKinnon ordered cases dropped against five of the soldiers, including the former commander of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment Lieutenant Colonel Jorge Mendonca. They were part of a group charged with prisoner abuse that led to the death of one inmate in custody in 2003.

McKinnon did not allow his reasons for dropping the case to be published at the time, but alluded to them in court on Monday while summing up the case against two of the defendants.

"It is now effectively common ground that brigade did indeed sanction the use of hooding and stress positions," he said.

"That obviously contributed to the favourable result for Colonel Mendonca."

He added that placing prisoners in stress positions is "generally accepted to be contrary to the Geneva Conventions and the law of armed conflict," and that hoods are permitted only when necessary for security reasons.