London, England (CNN) -- Scores of Iraqis who claim they were abused by British troops are demanding an independent inquiry into their treatment, via a lawsuit against the British government this week.
At least 125 Iraqis allege they were subjected to mistreatment including sleep deprivation, hooding, being forced to stand or kneel in stress positions, or being exposed to "loud pornography".
The mistreatment was not the work of rogue soldiers disobeying orders, but part of a "deliberate policy of abuse being used to assist interrogation," lawyer Philip Shiner argues.
The "allegations indicate systematic abuse of detainees which reflect policies of the Armed Forces or at least tolerated and widespread practices," he says in court papers.
He showed interrogation videos in court on Friday and planned to introduce more evidence Monday and Tuesday, he told CNN.
The allegations center on a unit known as the Joint Forward Interrogation Team, about which Shiner says he has been able to obtain little information.
In court papers he says it was responsible for detainee interrogation and control, calling it "effectively a black hole, a segregated and tightly controlled environment operating under a separate chain of command".
The Ministry of Defence did not immediately respond to CNN questions about the interrogation team.
The European Convention on Human Rights requires the government to establish an independent investigation in the abuse allegations, Shiner says.
Defence Minister Liam Fox, the defendant in the High Court case, is "very concerned" by allegations of abuse and is determined to "get to the bottom" of all such allegations, his lawyers said Monday.
CNN
