British Authorities Probing New Claims Soldiers Tortured, Raped Iraqi Prisoners

British Authorities Probing New Claims Soldiers Tortured, Raped Iraqi Prisoners
By Jason Leopold | Truthout | 14 November 2009

Britain's Ministry of Defense has launched an investigation into new claims that soldiers sexually abused Iraqi detainees and subjected them to mock executions, hooding, and used dogs to incite fear--interrogation methods that were also used by US soldiers and personally approved by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

The charges come on the heels of Britian's complete withdrawal from Iraq last summer.

The allegations by former Iraqi detainees include one in which a 16-year-old Iraqi boy claims he was raped by two British soldiers on an army base. One of the victims has likened the alleged abuse to the torture and sexual humiliation that took place in Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison, which was run by US forces.

The Ministry of Defense confirmed it is probing 33 cases of sexual abuse and torture.

But in a letter sent to Britain's Ministry of Defense, Phil Shiner, the attorney representing the Iraqis who leveled the charges, said he has it "on good authority that there are hundreds of cases that are going uninvestigated. Read more.