U.K. docs in Iraq feared malpractice suits

WASHINGTON, April 17 (UPI) -- British doctors refused to issue a death certificate for a prisoner at a coalition military base in Iraq because they feared malpractice charges.

The ACLU acquired under the Freedom of Information Act and posted on the Web Wednesday documents from a number of U.S. Army investigations into alleged torture and homicide of prisoners in U.S. military custody in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The documents include the file on the death of Muhammad al-Kanan, a prisoner held by the British military at Camp Bucca in Iraq, who died of "an apparent heart attack," according to the file.

A U.S. Army investigator's report concludes that British doctors refused to issue a death certificate for fear of being sued for malpractice.

Holding area "Freddie," where al-Kanan died, "was under British Coalition Forces control at the time of the detainees (sic) death and BCF refused to provide a death certificate as no doctor was present to pronounce the detainee's death and the liability issues related," reads the report.

The October 2003 Freedom of Information Act request filed by the ACLU and other advocacy groups for records concerning the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody abroad has yielded more than 100,000 pages of government documents so far, the group said in a statement.