It has been reported that a British soldier serving with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers has been arrested on suspicion of torture.
Apparently the soldier returned home and took the film from his camera for development at a local photo-lab. The lab reported the contents of the film to the police. It is alleged that at least one of the exposures featured an Iraqi POW apparently bound. gagged, and suspended in a cargo net from the tines of a fork-lift truck.
Other pictures are reported to show acts directed at POWs with the intent of humiliating them.
No word on who the POW was, or whether he suffered any physical injury.
Unlike the case (investigated and dropped) against Lt. Col. Collins by the unfortunate Major Re Biastre, this accusation appears to be based on more than hearsay evidence.
At present, the alleged torture does not seem to have been in the same league as the common practice in the old Ba’ath regime, but commentators are already making the point that, as representatives of free and democratic societies, our troops are held to much higher standards.
Until further information becomes available it is not possible to determine exactly what was happening, or why.
In the meantime, when does “horseplay” become “torture”?
It would seem to me that treating a POW in this way represents a serious offence, and I find it difficult to imagine any circumstances which would justify the behaviour.
Another point just made by a British officer in a TV interview raises the question of command and control within the regiment. The British army regiments operate on a “family” basis with most offences being handled within that family. If this soldier was able to return home and present the film for development, it would seem that no-one within the regiment was prepared to report the offence or act on such reports.