In September, a three-year probe into abuse of military detainees in Iraq was finalized with the release of a report [JURIST report] that found numerous British soldiers were involved in specific episodes of abuse of Iraqi citizens. The independent inquiry was led by retired judge William Gage and focused on the detention of 10 Iraqis arrested at a hotel in 2003 on suspicion of insurgency. One man, Baha Mousa, died in custody from what was concluded [AFP report] to be a combination of soldier-inflicted injuries and a generally weakened state resulting from his detention. Mousa and the other Iraqi detainees were hooded, handcuffed and held in stress positions by the British soldiers and were subjected to a series of violent assaults. Mousa, a father of two, served as the hotel's receptionist and died about 36 hours after being detained, sustaining 93 separate injuries including fractured ribs and a broken nose. Although the use of hooding and painful stress positions was banned by the British government in 1972, Gage found a lack of knowledge of this prohibition, which he reportedly blamed on "corporate failure" by the UK's Ministry of Defence (MOD) [official website]. The report also accused other soldiers of having knowledge of the abuse but not the "moral courage" to report the incidents.

The release of the remaining prisoners, including those cited above convicted for breach of existing laws who do not pose a threat to the stability of State and public tranquility, in the interest of national races, will not only enable them to participate in whatever way they can in the nation-building tasks but also will in a way help promote national unity. Accordingly, the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission again humbly requests the President as a reflection of his magnanimity to include those prisoners when a subsequent amnesty is granted. If for reasons of maintaining peace and stability, certain prisoners cannot as yet be included in the amnesty, the Commission would like to respectfully submit that consideration be made for transferring them to prisons with easy access for their family members.

In October, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official profile] welcomed [statement] the release of political prisoners by Myanmar's president, while urging the government to release all political prisoners [JURIST report] in accordance with the rule of law. Days earlier, US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell indicated that Myanmar's civilian-led government was planning dramatic changes including releasing hundreds of political prisoners [JURIST report] and consequential dialogue with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. Myanmar has sought to improve its international reputation following a transfer of power from a military regime to a civil system in March after holding its first elections in 20 years. Myanmar's government formed the MNHRC [JURIST report] in September to promote and safeguard the country's constitutional rights. In August, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tomas Ojea Quintana urged the government of Myanmar to investigate human rights abuses [JURIST report] and improve its rights record. In May, Myanmar began releasing as many as 15,000 prisoners [JURIST report] as part of an amnesty program after a visit from a special envoy from the UN secretary-general, but rights groups claim the government has not gone far enough.