ICC to Examine British Troops’ War Crimes in Iraq

Local Editor

The International Criminal Court [ICC] will examine claims that deal with a series of war crimes of "systematic detainee abuse" by British troops following the invasion of Iraq, as a statement released according to Reuters on Tuesday.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the ICC said: "The new information received by the office alleges the responsibility of officials of the United Kingdom for war crimes involving systematic detainee abuse in Iraq from 2003 until 2008."

"The reopened preliminary examination will analyze, in particular, alleged crimes attributed to the armed forces of the United Kingdom deployed in Iraq between 2003 and 2008," it added.

The court is to conduct a preliminary examination of what have been estimated to be 60 alleged cases of unlawful killing and claims that more than 170 Iraqis were mistreated while in British military custody during the conflict.

The ICC has already seen evidence suggesting that British troops did commit war crimes in Iraq, concluding after receiving a previous complaint in 2006: "There was a reasonable basis to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the court had been committed, namely wilful killing and inhuman treatment."

Currently, the Iraq Historic Allegations Team, the body set up by the Ministry of Defense to investigate complaints arising from the five-year British military occupation of the south-east of the country, is examining 52 complaints of unlawful killing involving 63 deaths and 93 allegations of mistreatment involving 179 people.

The unlawful killings include a number of deaths in custody and the complaints of mistreatment range from relatively minor abuse to torture.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team