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Lt Felix Carman subjected to psychological torture in Tehran |
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Written by Staff Writer
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Apr 06, 2007 at 02:29 PM |
ROYAL MARINES BASE CHIVENOR, England (AFP) - The 15 British naval personnel held by Iran told Friday how they were stripped, blindfolded and handcuffed as part of "psychological" intimidation during their detention.
A day after their return to Britain, the group said they feared for their lives if they resisted and were threatened with seven years in jail if they did not confess to being in Iranian waters.
Royal Navy Lieutenant Felix Carman told a news conference told a press conference of the mind games he said were used by their captors to get information and confessions.
"It was mainly psychological, emotional. The isolation was a major part of this: a complete suffocation in terms of information from the outside world," he added, describing questioning as "aggressive" and handling as "a bit rough".
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"When we first went to prison we were put up against the wall, hands bound, blindfolded and people were cocking weapons in the background, which as you can imagine is extremely nerve wracking occasion."
Iran has insisted that the 15 were in Iranian waters when detained. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced the release of the navy personnel on Wednesday, calling it a "gift" to the British people.
Carman said that on the second morning of their detention they were flown to Tehran and taken to a prison.
"Throughout our ordeal we faced constant psychological pressure," he said. "Later we were stripped and then dressed in pyjamas. The next few nights were spent in stone cells, approximately 8 feet by six feet, sleeping on piles of blankets. All of us were kept in isolation."
The eight sailors and seven Royal Marines were captured in the northern Gulf on March 23 while carrying out what they said was a routine anti-smuggling operations.
Amid claims they surrendered too easily, Royal Marines Captain Chris Air said the Iranians, whom he said "came with intent" and to resist would have caused loss of life and a major international incident.
"From the outset it was very apparent that fighting back was simply not an option. Had we chosen to do so then many of us would not be standing here today. Of that I have no doubts."
Air, 25, was one of the captive servicemen shown on Iranian television admitting that the group had trespassed into Iranian waters.
But on Friday, he rescinded that statement, stressing they were "well inside" Iraqi waters when captured.
Carman, 26, backed him up, describing their detention as "clearly illegal."
"Let me make it absolutely clear, irrespective of what has been said in the past, when we were detained by the IRG (Iranian Revolutionary Guard) we were inside internationally recognised Iraqi territorial waters and I can clearly state we were 1.7 nautical miles from Iranian waters."
The only woman in the group, Leading Seaman Faye Turney, 26, was separated from the men straight away and later told that the others had gone home four days earlier, the 15 said in a joint statement.
"She coped admirably," Air said, condemning the Iranians for using her as a "propaganda tool".
"This is deeply regrettable," he added.
Turney was not present at the news conference at the Royal Marine Base Chivenor in Devon, southwest England, where the 15 spent their first night of freedom after being reunited with their families.
Before the news conference, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band praised the sailors' bravery and dignity and rejected suggestions that they should not have made "confessions" about breaching Iran's territorial waters.
"They weren't on combat operations. They weren't like people shot down in Tornados in the (first) Gulf War," said Band, who as First Sea Lord is head of the Royal Navy.
"I don't think there is any doubt from the statements some of them made, and certainly the letters, that they were under a certain element of psychological pressure," he told BBC radio.
Band also said Britain had suspended boarding operations in the Gulf and opened an official inquiry to look at the rules of engagement, intelligence gathering, equipment and procedures to prevent any repeat of the incident.
The group's return made headline news in Britain Friday, but coverage was tempered by the deaths of four soldiers, including two women, in a roadside bomb attack in southern Iraq on Thursday.
The deaths bring the British death toll in Iraq in the last week to six and 140 since the start of the US-led invasion in March 2003.
Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday repeated his assertion that "elements" in Iran were backing insurgent attacks in Iraq, although he said it was too early to say whether there were definite links for the latest attack. |
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Last Updated ( Apr 07, 2007 at 06:41 PM )
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