Damaging allegations that British troops beat Iraqi prisoners "for fun" were aired on television on Friday, just hours after a newspaper editor was removed for publishing fake photographs of similar abuse.
A soldier told a prime-time current affairs show that he repeatedly saw prisoners hooded, restrained physically and beaten for long periods.
"They were beaten for fun," the man, identified only as "Soldier C" and shown only in shadow, told ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald program.
"I saw prisoners being punched, slapped, kicked, pushed around. Sand bagged, zip-tied," he said,
"I saw them in those sand bags for hours and hours on end. And then water would be poured over them. I know that some of them had trouble breathing."
Some prisoners were often "beyond" screaming or crying out, he added.
The soldier was identified as being a member of the Territorial Army part-time reserve force, who while serving in Iraq was attached to the Queen's Lancashire Regiment.
The same regiment was identified as being behind alleged abuses shown in pictures published in the tabloid Daily Mirror on May 1, photos backed up by testimony from troops including Soldier C.
The pictures, which showed what were identified as British troops apparently beating and urinating on a detainee, were rejected as fake by the British Ministry of Defence on Thursday.
On Friday evening, the Trinity Mirror group, which publishes the newspaper, said editor Piers Morgan was "stepping down" with immediate effect, apologizing to the regiment and saying it had been "the subject of a calculated and malicious hoax."
A former commanding officer of the regiment, Colonel David Black, later voiced "quiet satisfaction" at the news.
However, Soldier C said that abuse, while not systematic, had been taking place frequently.
"I knew that it was going on for long periods of time, and seeing the state of the guys that were in captivity, you knew that it was getting to a dangerous level," he said, blaming a lack of supervision by senior officers and top military command.
"I'm sure at the top level, you know, they don't condone all these sorts of acts. I believe that.
"But when it gets down to the lower levels, it's hard to control," he said.
Also See Story:
Hoax photos claim scalp of `Mirror' editor
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
A group affiliated with indicted Chinese immigrant Xu Chunying (徐春鶯) is to be dissolved for monitoring Chinese immigrants in Taiwan, a source said yesterday. Xu, the secretary-general of the Cross-Strait Marriage and Family Service Alliance, was indicted on March 24 on charges of violating the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法). The alliance “illegally monitored" Chinese immigrants living in Taiwan on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Ministry of the Interior is expected to dissolve the organization in the coming days under provisions of the Civil Associations Act (人民團體法), the source said. Xu, who married a Taiwanese in 1993 and became a Republic
RSS