The death of Baha Mousa is not an isolated tale...

WESTERN military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan during the past decade have brought a number of abuse scandals for both the US and UK armies. Here are four of the most notorious:

Bagram

In 2005, the New York Times obtained a US army report about the killing of two unarmed Afghan prisoners – both civilians - by military personnel in 2002 at the Bagram Detention Centre in Afghanistan. The prisoners, Habibullah and Dilawar, were chained and beaten, resulting in their deaths. Military coroners ruled the prisoners' deaths homicides. Autopsies revealed severe trauma to both prisoners comparable to "being run over by a bus". Seven soldiers were charged.

Darul Dhyafa

Twenty-six-year-old Iraqi hotel receptionist Baha Mousa died in British Army custody at their Darul Dhyafa base near Basra in September 2003. He was arrested after guns were found at the hotel where he worked, despite protests from staff that the weapons were used for personal security. While in the custody of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, the receptionist was beaten to death, sustaining 93 separate injuries. On September 19, 2006, Corporal Donald Payne became the first member of the British armed forces to plead guilty to a war crime in relation to Mousa's death. He was jailed for one year and expelled from the army. Six other soldiers were cleared of any wrongdoing at the time. In the report by Sir William Gage, published yesterday, 19 soldiers were named in connection with the assault on Mousa – 14 are still serving in the army.

Abu Ghraib

The most notorious case of military abuse involved physical, psychological and sexual abuse, torture, rape and murder of prisoners held in the US controlled Abu Ghraib prison (also known as the Baghdad Correctional Facility) in autumn 2003. In 2004 a report on the television current affairs programme 60 Minutes, based on a New Yorker magazine story – which included photographs depicting the abuse of prisoners – created a major scandal for the US and other coalition countries. Among 11 US soldiers convicted by courts-martial was Lynndie England, famously photographed dragging an Iraqi prisoner along the ground on a leash (above). She was sentenced to three years, but was released in March 2007 after 521 days in the brig before receiving a dishonourable discharge.

Abu Naji

Another inquiry into allegations of murder and abuse by British troops is currently under way. The Al Sweady Inquiry is named after 19-year-old Hamid Al Sweady, one of 20 Iraqis who died following a battle between UK soldiers and Iraqi insurgents at a checkpoint known as 'Danny Boy' on May 14, 2004. The Ministry of Defence maintains that the 20 Iraqis died on the battlefield. But relatives accuse the British Army of having tortured and murdered them. The inquiry is due to begin new hearings on September 21.

Shaibah

In November 2010, the Guardian reported the alleged systematic and brutal mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at a secret interrogation centre at the British Army's Shaibah logistics base near Basra, that became known as 'the UK's Abu Ghraib'. Evidence of the abuse between 2004 and 2007 came to light during high court proceedings brought by more than 200 former inmates. The court was told there was evidence that detainees were starved, deprived of sleep, subjected to sensory deprivation and threatened with execution at the Shaibah facility operated by the Joint Forces Interrogation Team, or JFIT. Lawyers representing the former JFIT inmates have argued for a public inquiry to determine the extent of the abuse, and to establish responsibility in the military chain of command. ·