The British defence ministry says it is investigating a number of fresh allegations of abuses in Iraqi jails.

According to the British newspaper The Independent, 33 new cases are involved, but the ministry says the majority of these were already public knowledge. The cases date back to 2003, the beginning of the invasion of Iraq.

A lawyer acting for the detainees concerned says in some cases prisoners were piled one on top of the other and given electric shocks. A 16-year-old boy is said to have been raped by two British soldiers. For the first time, a female soldier was allegedly involved in the sexual and physical abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

British troops have now made an almost complete withdrawal from Iraq.
 

Prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib jail, Iraq - wikimedia