KEY POINTS:
British soldiers forced a boy of 14 to carry out an act of oral sex on a fellow male prisoner in Iraq, according to shocking new allegations made about the behaviour of British troops.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed yesterday that the Royal Military Police have launched an investigation.
If the allegations are proved, it would mark a sordid low in the behaviour of British troops in Iraq, and damage further the reputation of Britain in the Middle East.
The victim, now 19, whom the Independent on Sunday has agreed to identify only as Hassan, says he was rounded up with a friend while trying to steal milk cartons from a food distribution centre. He was whipped, beaten and forced to strip naked.
"They made us sit on each other's laps," he said. "They were enjoying humiliating and abusing us, I wished I was dead at this moment. Then they made me sit with Tariq ... where I was forced to put Tariq's penis in my mouth. The other two were made to do the same."
Court action is ongoing over a series of allegations around the British base Camp Breadbasket and incidents that took place there in May 2003.
There have been claims of simulated sexual abuse of Iraqis by British troops, but this, if true, would be the first example of actual sexual abuse.
Soldiers rounding up looters as part of an operation codenamed Ali Baba took photographs of prisoners suspended in nets from forklift trucks and others forced to strip naked and adopt simulated sex positions.
The photographs caused outrage around the world when they were published, after a British soldier took them to be developed at a shop.
An RMP investigation led to just four soldiers being jailed for up to two years in 2005. A number of the alleged victims, including Hassan, are suing the MoD for damages.
The MoD on Friday reiterated its official line that abuse was isolated to just a few rogue soldiers, after agreeing to pay nearly £3 million compensation to the father of Baha Mousa, 26, a hotel receptionist beaten to death by British soldiers while in custody in a separate incident in September 2003, and nine other Iraqis beaten at the same time.
Mazin Younis, of the Iraqi League, who has travelled in Basra collecting witness statements of allegations of abuse, says he now has "more than 80" cases involving allegations against British troops.
"Every single time I uncover a personal story of torture and humiliation in Iraq, I think to myself that I have seen the worst there is. Then I hear the next story.
"Hassan shook with emotion and humiliation as he described to me the treatment he suffered at the hands of British soldiers five years ago.
"It had taken constant prompting and repeated reminders about the importance of detail before Hassan felt brave enough to describe how he was forced to engage in oral sex with his friend Tariq while their British captors laughed raucously and took photographs."
Such is the culture in Iraq that Hassan fears for his life if identified. It has taken him four years to find the courage to talk about the incident.
He fled Basra after the incident, giving up his education and staying indoors for fear someone might recognise him.
Younis said: "He is now unemployed. He has been very, very traumatised. ... No one expected the British to be worse than Saddam Hussein."
The allegations will form the basis of a series of actions at the European Court of Human Rights, as many of them took place outside British bases.
An MoD spokesman said yesterday that all but a handful of the British troops who had served in Iraq had conducted themselves to the highest standards.
CASES TO ANSWER
* Baha Mousa Beaten to death in September 2003. Nine others also mistreated. MoD agreed to £2.83 million ($7.4 million) compensation payout last week and will hold a full inquiry.
* Camp Breadbasket Prisoners beaten, forced to strip and simulate sex in May 2003. Subject of damages claim by 11 of the victims.
* Abu Naji Twenty Iraqi civilians allegedly executed at British base in Abu Naji in May 2004. Five survivors bringing a claim for damages.
* Jabbir Hmoud Kammash 70-year-old tribal leader is bringing action over claims he was hooded and beaten during a raid at his home in Basra in April last year.
* Ahmer Jabbar Kareem and Ayad Salim Hanoon Teenagers forced to swim a canal, resulting in the drowning of Kareem, 15. Kareem's father and Hanoon are pursuing a claim for damages.
- INDEPENDENT
