guardian.co.uk,
Ian Cobain, Thursday 1 December 2011
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| The father of Baha Mousa outside the inquiry into his son's death. Mousa's family are urging the DPP to consider whether Peter Madden\ should be prosecuted. Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian |
The
director of public prosecutions has been asked to consider bringing criminal
charges against a Roman Catholic priest who was found to have witnessed the
shocking condition of a group of prisoners in Iraq, which included Baha Mousa,
who was tortured to death, but did nothing to raise the alarm.
Lawyers for
Mousa's family and the other prisoners are urging the DPP to consider whether
Father Peter Madden should be prosecuted for misconduct in public office or
even for breaching the Geneva Conventions.
Madden was
serving as padre with the rank of captain with the 1st Battalion, the Queen's
Lancashire Regiment in Basra in September 2003. He has since left the army and
is a parish priest in Warwick.
He faced
scathing criticism from an official inquiry after he repeatedly maintained that
he was unable to recall whether he had entered the detention facility where
Mousa and nine other men were being tortured.
Several
soldiers told the inquiry that Madden had visited the detention centre on a
number of occasions.
Private
Gareth Aspinall said he decided not to make any complaint about the abuse
because the padre had made no objections. "When people like that have come
in, of high authority, you start to think, well, if I was going to report it,
who – is anyone bothered?"
Public
Interest Lawyers said it had submitted the complaint to the DPP after the
church failed to take any action.
Phil
Shiner, a lawyer at the Birmingham-based firm, said: "This Catholic priest
crossed the road when he saw what was happening to Baha and the other men. If
he had intervened Baha would still be alive – it is as simple as that.
"He
must now face criminal investigation as the archbishop of Birmingham has
swatted away my formal complaint telling me that it is a private matter between
him and Madden. That is an outrageous response which is a blatant attempt to
sweep this matter under the carpet".
The
archdiocese of Birmingham said in a statement that the archbishop, the Most Reverend
Bernard Longley, had interviewed Madden and discussed the matter with the
senior Roman Catholic chaplain in the British military, and had "found no
grounds for taking further action in relation to Madden's current
responsibilities as a parish priest in the Archdiocese of Birmingham".
Madden told
the Observer that the inquiry had been mistaken and his "conscience is
clear".
The inquiry
heard from several soldiers who said they saw Madden in the detention facility
where Mousa and the other men were tortured over a 36-hour period. After Mousa
died he was found to have suffered 93 separate injuries.
The inquiry
also heard that a number of soldiers approached him after Mousa's death to
discuss their concerns.
When Madden
gave evidence under oath, he was asked 12 times whether he had visited the
detention facility, replying each time that he "wouldn't be able to
say" or that he had "no clear recollection".
The inquiry
chairman, Sir William Gage, described Madden as "a poor witness"
whose evidence had been inconsistent. He concluded that the priest had visited
the temporary detention facility, or TDF, on the second day of the prisoners'
ordeal, in the hours before Mousa died,.
"If
find it inconceivable that when Madden went into the TDF he could not have
observed what others had seen and described, namely the appallingly squalid
conditions in the TDF and the obvious distress of the Detainees. Having reached
this conclusion, it is inevitable that Madden, in my opinion, ought either to
have intervened there and then or, more realistically, straight away reported
it up the chain of command.
"It is
a matter of regret that he did not find the courage to do either."
A statement
issued on Madden's behalf described Gage's findings as "erroneous"
and said the priest had given honest answers to the questions that had been put
to him. He was "absolutely certain that he did not see the abuse described
in the report" and would have intervened and reported the matter if he
had.
Just one
man, Donald Payne, a former corporal, has been held to account for the death of
Mousa, being jailed for a year and dismissed from the army after he pleaded
guilty to a charge of inhuman treatment. Six others were cleared after a court
martial.
A number of
soldiers were suspended following the publication of Sir William's report last
September.
General Sir
Peter Wall, head of the army, said the force's provost martial will investigate
whether anyone else should be disciplined in the light of fresh evidence
unearthed by the inquiry.
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