British Government admits it knew of prisoner abuse claims in February

1.00pm - By NIGEL MORRIS

Geoff Hoon, the British Defence Secretary, has bowed to pressure to make an emergency Commons statement today on the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners of war by British troops after Downing Street admitted that it was warned of such allegations by the Red Cross in February.

Mr Hoon faces challenges on how long ago accusations that captives were tortured by British soldiers were brought to the attention of the Ministry of Defence by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

There were claims yesterday that the Government knew about complaints over the treatment of Iraqi prisoners as long as a year ago and Mr Hoon will try to prevent the controversy over the conduct of British soldiers becoming a political crisis.

Details of the Red Cross report emerged on Friday after British and American media published pictures of troops apparently humiliating Iraqis. Adam Ingram, the Armed Forces minister, told MPs last Tuesday that he had seen "no such reports" from external organisations, but Downing Street admitted on Saturday it received a copy of the Red Cross report in February.

A Red Cross spokesman, Roland Huguenin-Benjamin, deepened the confusion yesterday by revealing that the organisation had been raising concerns over the treatment of Iraqis in all parts of the country - including the southern region controlled by British forces - for the past 12 months.

Mr Huguenin-Benjamin told Sunday With Adam Boulton on Sky News: "The concern we have been expressing for a year now deals with a general pattern of mistreatment of detainees. We were warning of the fact that the treatment given to prisoners and, in particular, the way they were prepared for interrogation is not acceptable from the point of view of the Geneva Convention."

Asked about the response to the reports since February, he said: "We have repeated our reports. All of this is put in written form and made available to the higher levels of the hierarchy. Some problems have been taken care of, some have not and we have had to repeat them over 12 months."

He said: "Our reports encompass all the camps in the whole of Iraq - south under UK forces and central under US forces. Our reports have referred to problems in all the places of detention."

Amnesty International, the human rights organisation, also said yesterday it had first expressed concerns to the MoD about deaths of Iraqis in custody a year ago. It set them out in a full memo shortly afterwards.

An Amnesty spokesman said: "We have had a series of meetings and correspondence with the Government over this for a year now. Now it is saying it only became aware of the allegations in February."

It is demanding an "impartial and civilian-led inquiry to get to the truth, we continue to see secretive investigations by the Royal Military Police who lack the independence that international law demands".

Mr Hoon will face demands today to disclose what allegations of brutality are being investigated and whether anyone has been disciplined as a result. But he will reject calls to publish the findings of the Red Cross.

An MoD spokeswoman said: "We work very closely with the International Committee of the Red Cross and we take our obligations under the Geneva Convention very seriously.

"The report by the ICRC was an interim report and we acted on its recommendations. The report is confidential."

Mr Hoon's Commons appearance comes just six days after Mr Ingram made a statement to MPs in which he pledged the Government would "leave no stone unturned" in investigating claims of brutality, but omitted to mention the Red Cross report.

Nicholas Soames, the shadow Defence Secretary, said: "If, as it seems, the International Committee of the Red Cross raised the possibility of the mistreatment of prisoners with the British Government quite some time ago, then this must be a matter of gravest concern.

"No 10, the Secretary of State for Defence and the Foreign Office must say whether or not these questions were indeed raised with them and what actions were subsequently taken."

Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: "The Government could immediately ease public concerns by publishing the details of the Red Cross report. "It is essential this is dealt with quickly and openly. We owe it to our troops."

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Herald Feature: Iraq