Britain’s Defense Ministry will conduct an inquiry into the death of an Iraqi man who died while in British custody, officials said Wednesday.

The decision marks a victory for the family of Baha Mousa, a 26-year-old hotel receptionist who died while being held by the British military in September 2003 along with eight other Iraqis suspected of being insurgents.

The men were held in stress positions and deprived of sleep for about two days in extreme heat at a British barracks near the southern Iraqi city of Basra, prosecutors told a British military court. Mousa died from asphyxia after soldiers restrained him following an escape attempt.

Defense Secretary Des Browne said that holding a public inquiry was the right thing to do.

“It will reassure the public that we are leaving no stone unturned in investigating his tragic death,” Browne said in a statement. “The army has nothing to hide in this respect and is keen to learn all the lessons it can from this terrible incident.”

Last month, the government acknowledged breaching Mousa’s human rights and said it will also admit breaching the rights of the other eight Iraqi men, who have filed a civil suit in British courts.

The chief of general staff, Gen. Richard Dannatt, said the army would cooperate with the inquiry.

“The army expects only the very highest standards from all officers and soldiers, and any failure to achieve those standards, however rare, is unacceptable to us,” he said.