Ruling Raises Hopes for Public Inquiry

The ruling yesterday that the death of Iraqi hotel worker Baha Mousa, who suffered 93 injuries at the hands of British soldiers, was in contravention of the Human Rights Act may lead to a public inquiry into the events surrounding his detention.

Mr Mousa's father welcomed the judgment. "It means that I have not lost hope of getting justice for my son. I hope that as a result of this judgment the truth will come out and that no other family should have to experience what me and my grandchildren have gone through," Colonel Daoud Mousa said.

His lawyer, Phil Shiner, said: "This is a massive breakthrough in my clients' efforts to secure accountability for deaths and torture in detention."

However, Des Browne, the defence secretary, said: "The law lords have not addressed, and were not asked to address, the question of whether the investigation and trial in the Baha Mousa case have been sufficient to meet the requirements of the European convention on human rights, and have certainly not directed that there should be a public inquiry."

Mr Mousa, 26, a father of two, was detained in 2003, along with a number of other Iraqis, by members of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment. They were hooded, stressed and deprived of food and sleep.

A postmortem examination found Mr Mousa's injuries were consistent with a "systematic beating ... over a period". He died after struggling on the floor of a detention centre operated by British soldiers.

In spite of a £20m military investigation and court martial, a proper narrative of how Mr Mousa came to die has never emerged because of what Mr Justice McKinnon, a military judge advocate, described as a "closing of ranks".

The court martial this year led to the conviction of one member of the QLR, Corporal Donald Payne, 35, who became the first British convicted war criminal after he admitted treating the Iraqis inhumanely. He was jailed for a year and dismissed from the army. Others in the QLR, including the former commander in Iraq, Colonel Jorge Mendonca, 43, were cleared on a judge's orders due to lack of evidence.

Yesterday, the law lords ruled the Human Rights Act did not apply in the cases of five other Iraqis who died in incidents involving British soldiers: Hazim Jum'aa Gatteh al-Skeini, 23, who was shot dead in the street; Muhammad Abdul Ridha Salim, a teacher, 45, shot and fatally wounded at his brother-in-law's house; Hannan Mahaibas Sadde Shmailawi, 33, killed during an exchange involving a military patrol; Waleed Sayay Muzban, 43, shot dead by a military patrol while driving a minibus; and Raid Hadi Sabir al-Musawi, a police commissioner, 29, shot and fatally wounded by a patrol in the street.