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On September 15, 2003 Baha Mousa, a hotel receptionist, was killed by British Army troops in Iraq. He had been arrested the previous day in Basra and was taken to a military base for questioning. For forty-eight hours he and nine other innocent civilians had their heads encased in sandbags and their wrists bound by plastic handcuffs and had been kicked and punched with sustained cruelty. A succession of guards and casual army visitors took pleasure in beating the Iraqis, humiliating them, forcing them into stress positions in temperatures up to 50 degrees Centigrade, and watching them suffer in the dirty concrete building where they were held. Other soldiers, officers, medics, the padre, did not take part in the violence but they saw what was happening and did nothing to stop it. Some knew it was wrong. Some weren't sure. Some were too scared to intervene. But none said anything or enough until it was far too late and Baha Mousa had been beaten to death.
This book tells the inside story of these crimes and their aftermath. It examines the institutional brutality, the bureaucratic apathy, the flawed military police inquiry and the farcical court martial that attempted to hold people criminally responsible. Even though a full public inquiry reported its findings into the crimes in September 2011, its mandate restricted what it could say. The full story, told with the power of a true-crime expose, shows how this was not simply about a few bad men or 'rotten apples'. It shines a light on all those involved in the crime and its investigation, from the lowest squaddie to the elite of the army and politicians in Cabinet.

The Centre for Human Rights in Practice is undertaking a joint project with Mekelle University Center for Human Rights to identify the human rights and equality impacts of trade agreements in Ethiopia. The study aims to undertake a scoping study on the human rights impact of Ethiopian accession to the WTO and the Economic Partnership Agreement between African Caribbean and Pacific countries and the European Union.

The report is planned to be launched in Septmber.

Charra Tesfaye Terfassa, lecturer at Mekele University and the main author of the study said " We hope that the results of the scoping study will serve as the basis for a full scale study which we will seek funding for. In addition, this will the be the first equality and human rights impact assessment in relation to the trade agreements of a Least Developed Country. This study therefore hopes to offer insights in to how other studies of LDCs might be produced in the future."

Dr James Harrison, Co-Director of the Centre for Human Rights in Practice (CHRP), commented "It is great to this kind of initiative taking place. We very much hope that this will be the start of a longer term relationship between our two Centres."

To read more about CHRP's work on EHRIAs, please clck here.

On 14th March 2012 the Julia Kerr Prize for Human Rights & the Law was awarded to a current law student at a public lecture and prize giving on campus. This prize was set up by Julia's husband John Kerr in memory of Julia, who studied Law at Warwick between 1972 and 1975.

The lecture was given by Abubacarr Tambadou, a senior prosecutor at the Rwandan International Criminal Tribunal. Abubacarr was responsible for the case against General Bizimungu the former Chief of Staff of the Rwandan Army who was depicted in the movie "Hotel Rwanda".

The Julia Kerr Prize was established to commend law students who have made important contributions to human rights in the community (local, national or international). A prize of £500 was awarded to the winner, Steven Hare, to commend his work with the Warwick Death Penalty Internship & Attorney Support Programmes. Steven commented:

"I'm delighted to receive this prize, especially from such an esteemed Warwick alumnus as Abubacarr Tambadou. I would like to thank John Kerr and his family, the panel and everyone who takes part in the Death Penalty Programmes for all their support and hard work over the last four years."

Steven joined the programme in his first year at Warwick and was given the opportunity to help run the project from his second year onwards.