While the invasion of Iraq by UK was an excess which exhibited scant respect for
the sovereignty of another country, news of torture of Iraqis especially civilians by British troops jolt the faith we had in our men in uniform. The government's reluctance to go into the whole episode much after instances of torture and excesses by the army came to light only made things worse. The government's acceptance this week to appoint a judicial review to look into the torture of Iraqi civilians in deference to the High court's order comes as a victory not only to the 102 torture victims and their lawyers who have been demanding justice but to all fair minded people in the country.
The court observed that these were not one off instances of misbehaviour which could be dismissed as a whim of the concerned officer and seemed to be a case of torture being carried out on specific orders from above. The court has clearly ruled that given the nature and enormity of the crime and the public interest in it the judicial review should be carried out openly in a civilian court where it would be transparent and open to the public. A lot seems to have been hidden already and any attempt to conduct the proceedings behind the high walls of the Ministry of Defence would only be construed as an attempt to hush up the episode further. The Ministry of Defence while conceding to the court's request to look into the matter, feels reluctant to go for a full public enquiry. This would only make people fear the worst and add to the prevailing distrust on the army.