British soldiers mutilated Iraqi men, Inquiry told

He lost his son in the aftermath of the battle of Danny Boy in Iraq in 2004. The Iraqis say that 28 of their men were unjustly killed near Manar al-Kabir in Southern Iraq out of which 5 were tortured and mistreated.

Mr Sweady said his son had gone out in the fields to study for his exams and when he did not return, the worried father tried searching for him but to no avail. The next day, British soldiers released some dead bodies which were driven to the hospital.

He explained that had to search through the body bags to look for his son as well as help wash the bodies and as a result saw the state of at least 20 bodies. He described a combination of injuries including missing eyes, mutilated bodies, tongues out and teeth removed. He testified that his own son’s body showed some signs of torture as well including a dislocated Jaw, a fractured right arm, bullet wounds in the middle of the neck and on the right foot as well as marks around his neck indicating electrocution.

He denied claims by the Ministry of Claims that his son was involved in an Iraqi militia at the time or that he had died in battle.

“We had to wash the body of the deceased and at that time I saw the injuries with my own eye. I saw a combination of injuries such as eyes missing, tongues cut out, noses cut off, teeth removed, bodies had been distorted and mutilated and covered in blood,” said Sweady through an interpreter.

The father, who carried a framed photo of his son to the court, has in the past given statements to the Royal Military police and when asked about why the two statements were not exactly the same he said, “There should be no difference between them, I was on oath and I said what I believed was true and I don’t take what others are saying as true.”