SHOCKING new allegations of torture and abuse by British troops in Iraq were made by lawyers acting for detainees yesterday amid threats of legal action against the Government.

The alleged victims were pivotal to the court martial of three soldiers jailed in February, but their evidence was never heard during the five-week trial in Osnabrück, Germany.

Three Iraqis made statements that were offered to the Army Prosecuting Authority (APA) shortly before the end of the case, but their solicitor claimed that he had been threatened by the Attorney-General with contempt of court proceedings if he made them public.

Since then, another six men who claim to have been tortured or abused at Camp Bread Basket, a huge food store near Basra, in May 2003 have come forward to make witness statements.

Phil Shiner, the human rights solicitor who is representing all nine, called for an independent inquiry into the allegations — possibly leading to High Court action.

The men were detained in Operation Ali Baba, which was designed to catch pilferers at the camp, but claim that they were innocent and now are considering suing for damages.

Aqeel Jassim Mohammad, 29, a labourer, from al-Gzaiza, Basra, said that a soldier had kicked him in the genitals. “I fell down with the pain and urinated on myself,” he said. “Three months after this incident, I went to see an Iraqi doctor. He informed me that I would not be able to produce semen due to the injury. My wife has divorced me as a consequence.”

Hassan Kadhim Abdul- Hussein, a fisherman, also from al-Gzaiza, said that soldiers had broken up his boat and nets before taking him to the camp, where he was ordered to cut off the finger of a fellow detainee.

He said: “A soldier approached me and handed me a knife. I will always remember his face. He had forced an Iraqi to place his finger on a tank. He ordered me to sever the man’s finger with a knife. I refused.

“Then, to punish me, he tied my hands and feet and put me in a net. He strung me up on the forklift and started to take me up and down in the truck. Eventually the rope broke and I fell to the ground on top of an iron angular piece, which resulted in injuring my forehead.”

His plight became one of the most notorious in a series of “trophy” photographs taken by a soldier, which also included scenes of sexual humiliation.

The court martial was not told of the claim that the fork-lift truck incident was preceded by a finger-cutting incident.

Mr Shiner described the court martial as a “farce”, adding: “It was a put-up job, Alice in Wonderland stuff that bears no relation to what took place and the effort to cover it up.”

The solicitor said that he had contacted Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney-General, to inform him of the new evidence and was instructed to contact the APA in Osnabrück with the statements. He said that he had been told by the APA that the court martial would proceed without the men’s testimony and subsequently by the Attorney-General’s office that, if he revealed it publicly during the hearing, he would be in contempt of court.

Lawyers will give a dossier of evidence to Lord Goldsmith. If then they are denied an independent public inquiry, they will press for a judicial review.

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