BAHA-57 Response Accepted

Remove Shock of Capture Language

Recommendation

Training soldiers to maintain or prolong the shock of capture is apt to be misunderstood and should not feature in general training. Phrases such as 'calm, neutral and professional' and 'firm, fair and efficient' can properly be used as shorthand for those involved in CPErS handling.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- The Defence Secretary stated on 8 September 2011 that the government accepted this recommendation and stated that references to training soldiers to maintain or prolong the shock of capture had been removed from general training materials, replaced by guidance to be 'calm, neutral and professional' and 'firm, fair and efficient' (Government Response to the Baha Mousa Inquiry, Ministry of Defence, September 2011).
- Military training materials are internal documents not publicly available for independent verification.
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by Claude (Anthropic) on 10 Apr 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
This recommendation asks for cultural or behavioural change, which is difficult to verify from published sources alone. The evidence above reflects policy commitments rather than measured outcomes.
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Accepted
Accepted Ministry of Defence
08 Sep 2011

Accepted. References to 'shock of capture' have been removed from general training materials.

Read Full Response
Source
Report The Report of the Baha Mousa Inquiry - Volume III 08 Sep 2011
Responsible Bodies
Ministry of Defence Primary
Recommendation age 14.7 yrs
Last formal update 5013 days ago