Also, more reports of Brit involvement, below
UK forces taught torture methods
David Leigh Saturday May 8, 2004 The Guardian
The sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison was not an invention of maverick guards, but part of a system of ill-treatment and degradation used by special forces soldiers that is now being disseminated among ordinary troops and contractors who do not know what they are doing, according to British military sources.
The techniques devised in the system, called R2I - resistance to interrogation - match the crude exploitation and abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad.
One former British special forces officer who returned last week from Iraq, said: "It was clear from discussions with US private contractors in Iraq that the prison guards were using R2I techniques, but they didn't know what they were doing."
He said British and US military intelligence soldiers were trained in these techniques, which were taught at the joint services interrogation centre in Ashford, Kent, now transferred to the former US base at Chicksands.
"There is a reservoir of knowledge about these interrogation techniques which is retained by former special forces soldiers who are being rehired as private contractors in Iraq. Contractors are bringing in their old friends".
Using sexual jibes and degradation, along with stripping naked, is one of the methods taught on both sides of the Atlantic under the slogan "prolong the shock of capture", he said.
Female guards were used to taunt male prisoners sexually and at British training sessions when female candidates were undergoing resistance training they would be subject to lesbian jibes.
"Most people just laugh that off during mock training exercises, but the whole experience is horrible. Two of my colleagues couldn't cope with the training at the time. One walked out saying 'I've had enough', and the other had a breakdown. It's exceedingly disturbing," said the former Special Boat Squadron officer, who asked that his identity be withheld for security reasons.
Many British and US special forces soldiers learn about the degradation techniques because they are subjected to them to help them resist if captured. They include soldiers from the SAS, SBS, most air pilots, paratroopers and members of pathfinder platoons.
A number of commercial firms which have been supplying interrogators to the US army in Iraq boast of hiring former US special forces soldiers, such as Navy Seals.
"The crucial difference from Iraq is that frontline soldiers who are made to experience R2I techniques themselves develop empathy. They realise the suffering they are causing. But people who haven't undergone this don't realise what they are doing to people. It's a shambles in Iraq".
The British former officer said the dissemination of R2I techniques inside Iraq was all the more dangerous because of the general mood among American troops.
"The feeling among US soldiers I've spoken to in the last week is also that 'the gloves are off'. Many of them still think they are dealing with people responsible for 9/11".
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http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1212199,00.html
Fresh Charges of Prisoner Abuse Hit UK Troops Fri May 7, 2004 09:27 PM ET By Astrid Zweynert
LONDON (Reuters) - British troops faced fresh accusations on Saturday that they abused prisoners in Iraq, with one detainee saying he was viciously beaten by laughing soldiers.
Separately, a newspaper said a fourth British soldier, attached to a regiment already under a cloud, had came forward with charges of ill-treatment, potentially drawing Washington's closest ally deeper into an abuse scandal that has rocked the United States.
In a witness statement obtained by the Independent newspaper, Iraqi engineer Kifah Talah said he suffered renal failure after he was beaten by British soldiers over three days in September 2003.
His statement will be presented to the High Court in London next week as part of a compensation claim against Britain by the families of Iraqis who say their relatives were unlawfully killed by British troops.
"The soldiers would surround us and compete as to who could kick-box us the furthest," Talah said in the statement quoted in Saturday's Independent. "The idea was to try and make us crash into the wall. "The soldiers appeared to be thoroughly enjoying themselves as the beating was accompanied by loud laughter," Talah said.
One of the men arrested with him, hotel receptionist Baha Mousa, died of his injuries, Talah said. His evidence has been corroborated by Mousa's father Daoud Mousa, who says his son was tortured to death. <...> http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=EVH2PLY5XXMVSCRBAE0CFFA?type=worldNews&storyID=5079332&pageNumber=1
'I was beaten for three days by British soldiers' By Cahal Milmo 08 May 2004
An Iraqi prisoner has described how he was allegedly subjected to vicious beatings by laughing British soldiers during interrogation sessions which left another man dead.
In a witness statement obtained by The Independent, Kifah Talah, 44, an engineer, claims he was hooded and beaten about the neck, chest and genitals by soldiers during three days before being made to dance in front of his tormentors. <...> The engineer, who claims his injuries were so severe that he suffered renal failure, said he and six other detainees were made to hold out their arms horizontally and were beaten when they failed to do so for more than a few minutes. He added: "One terrible game played involved kick-boxing. The soldiers would surround us and compete as to who could kick-box one of us furthest. The idea was to try and make us crash into the wall."
The statement, part of an action being brought on behalf of the families of 13 Iraqis allegedly killed by British troops, describes how the men were covered with hoods, had freezing water poured over them and given inedible spicy food.
Mr Talah, first interviewed by The Independent on Sunday, claims each of the detainees was given the name of a famous footballer, such as Marco Van Basten or Ruud Gullit, and they were beaten if they failed to remember it. One soldier allegedly told them to "dance like Michael Jackson". Basa Mousa, 26, a hotel receptionist, died of his injuries http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=519247
Trophy Photos
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=524352004
etc.