January 2004. The mobile phone footage shows a group of British soldiers grab four Iraqi boys on the street and drag them into their barracks following a riot. One of the soldiers walks up to one boy and kicks him between the legs. Another punches a boy in the head and stomach. The soldier filming this horror says “Oh yes! You’re going to get it” and, imitating the victims’ screams for mercy, “Oh please! Please no!” Other soldiers pass in and out of shot, apparently indifferent.
This frightening episode was just one of many crimes committed by British soldiers in the regions they were sent to ‘liberate’. What is even more horrifying, this and other crimes against children and civilians were covered up by the officials. All the soldiers from the footage were identified and questioned, but none of them was punished for their actions though the case provoked much controversy.
Since the Falklands War, the UK has participated in combat operations solely as an ally of the United States. For this reason, Britain can be called a direct accomplice in all war crimes of its military ally. On the other hand, this status does not exclude the fact that British soldiers commit war crimes and must be held accountable not only according to the laws of the United Kingdom, but also before an international tribunal.
A year before the violent footage, a British soldier beat to death an Iraqi citizen a href=”https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-14825889″ target=”_blank” Baha Mousa, 29. Mousa died with 93 injuries in British army custody in Basra.
In 2004, following reports of the Battle of Danny Boy, the British soldiers were accused of torture and murder of prisoners. To this day, it remains unknown whether the people killed were prisoners of war or civilians. The allegations were investigated during so-called al-Sweady inquiry that cost British taxpayers nearly £25 million and found no credible evidence to support them.
Soon, information appeared in the press about the systematic beatings and bullying committed by British troops against prisoners at the notorious ‘Camp Breadbasket’, a humanitarian aid distribution center in Basra. Soon, it became known not only about the torture, but also about the killings that the British military committed in a local prison. Despite the protests of the local population, even an investigation was not launched, and military officials just ignored it.
More and more Iraqis who were detained during the Iraq war have described abuse at the hands of UK forces. Their testimonies show a pattern of violent beatings, sleep and sensory deprivation, “stress positions,” deprivation of food and water, sexual and religious humiliation and in some cases sexual abuse.
The response of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to the hundreds of allegations against British soldiers was the creation of IHAT (Iraq Historic Allegations Team), which was to investigate the war crimes of British troops in Iraq. However, the officials wanted to achieve slightly different goals than establishing justice, which affected the authority of this organization. The main goal of IHAT’s activity was the collection and systematization of the evidence of the British Army unlawful activity and the subsequent transfer of this information directly to the military prosecutor’s office, which, in turn, decided whether to open a case or not.
Thus, MOD received a fully controlled organization detecting crimes of the British military and having no authority to prosecute the soldiers who committed the crimes it collected information about.
Moreover, IHAT did not regulate in any way who was responsible for the crimes committed, direct participants or senior officers, on whose orders criminal actions were carried out. And this is despite the fact that it is clearly established in the Geneva Convention.
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IHAT officials also investigated the crimes of British soldiers committed during Operation Northmoor, which was carried out by units of the British army in Afghanistan. The investigation revealed 52 murders committed by British soldiers without any military expediency. Moreover, this operation was praised by MOD.
Moreover, IHAT investigators provided information on the murders committed by SAS soldiers, as well as on crimes committed by Scotland’s Black Watch regiment fighters, which included cases of physical and sexual abuse of prisoners.
At the beginning of 2017, IHAT employees were informed that all their investigations were suspended and all materials transferred to the Royal Military Police (RMP). After that, IHAT employees were accused of allegedly paying witnesses to testify. Сurrent British foreign minister Dominic Raab stated explicitly that the activities of IHAT not only harm the national interests of Great Britain, but also jeopardize its security. These actions of the British military and civil authorities can be qualified as a direct obstruction of justice, as well as a complete neglect of international law.
The creation of various human rights organizations and monitoring groups stemmed from the fact that in British society there is no unity on the issue of the participation of the British military in combat operations as part of the international alliance led by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan. The authorities only pretend that they are seeking justice when in fact their real goal is to nip the scandal in the bud.
Read the original article (https://peacedata.net/war-crimes-committed-by-british-troops/)
Originally written by Jake Sullivan, Peace Data (https://peacedata.net/war-crimes-committed-by-british-troops/)
Published by Harry Miller, Canada News Media
