The UK in Basra and the Death of Baha Mousa

Abstract

This chapter discusses the Baha Da'oud Salim Mousa case and its ramifications in the context of thinking about approaches to investigating operational incidents. It considers the implications of the UK experience with the Mousa case in light of the three conference themes of law, justice and politics. First, the chapter considers the legal framework governing British forces in Iraq. Mousa's death was considered in three legal contexts, as a war crime prosecuted in the military justice system in the court martial of Corporal Payne and others, as a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and in the context of an official inquiry into the case and its handling led by the Right Honourable Sir William Gage, which completed its work and issued its final report in September 2011. Second, the chapter discusses the question of whether justice was served by these proceedings. Keywords: Baha Da'oud Salim Mousa; Corporal Payne; European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR); Iraq; military justice system; politics; Sir William Gage; UK