Army faces 'whitewash' claims

A three-year investigation identified a lack of training but said the behaviour had been restricted to a "tiny" minority and that huge progress had been made in preventing future abuse.

But the father of one Iraqi beaten to death while being held by UK forces angrily dismissed the report by Brigadier Robert Aitken, the director of Army personnel strategy. And lawyers called for a full public inquiry into the death of his son, hotel receptionist Baha Mousa, as Defence Secretary Des Browne said further criminal action had been ruled out.

Brig Aitken was ordered to carry out the review following allegations of cases of mistreatment during a tense period of looting and emerging insurgency in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion. They included four deaths, including that of Mr Mousa, who suffered 93 separate injuries. Six out of seven soldiers charged in relation with his death were cleared, the other pleading guilty. None of the other deaths has led to a conviction.

The report criticised "scant" training given to soldiers on dealing with such detainees and questioned why some were not aware techniques such as "hooding" had been banned for decades. It also called for the Army to improve its use of in-house sanctions against wrongdoers, and Brig Aitken said troops should be given a better understanding "between right and wrong".

While it was impossible to rule out repeat incidents, the Army had now "taken every reasonable measure to ensure we do not find ourselves in this position again", he concluded.

Head of the Army General Sir Richard Dannatt welcomed the report and said he was "satisfied that the standards of behaviour are now understood by all our people".

And Mr Browne said he accepted that everything possible was now being done to prevent further such "appalling acts" but added "we must not be complacent". In a statement to MPs, the Defence Secretary also announced that a review, which included the Attorney General, had decided "no further criminal lines of inquiry could be pursued" in the Mousa case and that "no further disciplinary action will be taken based on the current action".

In-house Army action against individuals was under consideration, he said, and representations had been invited from the family's lawyers about what form any fresh inquiry should take.

One of them, Martyn Day, said he was "appalled that the Defence Secretary has seen fit to close ranks with the soldiers who committed these terrible atrocities". Describing the report as a "whitewash" that would do nothing to prevent future abuses, he said nothing short of an independent public inquiry would do. "It is yet again an example of the Army investigating the Army. It is desperately important for everybody that there be a proper investigation and that it be held transparently, in the open, in public," he said, echoing calls by human rights group Amnesty International.