ICC prosecutor to examine alleged British crimes in Iraq war
International Criminal Court to reconsider accusations of abuse by UK troops in Iraq between 2003 and 2008 after receiving new information
The International Criminal Court reopened on Tuesday a preliminary examination of allegations of “systematic detainee abuse” by British troops in Iraq between 2003 and 2008 after receiving new information.
The Hague-based court had previously concluded an examination of similar accusations in 2006, but it did not launch a full investigation because the information did not meet the “required gravity threshold”.
“I received earlier this year substantial information, much more than what we had in 2006, on alleged crimes that were committed by the UK forces,” ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told reporters at the United Nations after she had briefed the UN Security Council on the court’s cases in Libya.
“I received earlier this year substantial information ... on alleged crimes that were committed by the UK forces.”
In January, a Berlin-based human rights group and a British law firm submitted what they describe as 250 pages of analysis to Bensouda’s office. They said more than 400 Iraqi former detainees had made allegations of grave mistreatment, of which 85 had been chosen as “representative cases”.
Bensouda’s office said in a statement earlier on Tuesday: “The communication alleges a higher number of cases of ill-treatment of detainees and provides further details on the factual circumstances and the geographical and temporal scope of the alleged crimes.”
The British government rejected the allegations that British troops had carried out systematic abuse in Iraq.