International Criminal Court Reopens Probe of Alleged U.K. Soldiers' Abuse of Detainees in Iraq

This Tuesday May 13th the International Criminal Court has announced that it has reopened a preliminary probe into alleged systematic abuse of detainees by U.K. soldiers in Iraq from 2003-2008. It has been reopened due to new information on the alleged war crimes. 250 pages of testimonies and analysis was submitted to the ICC in January by the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and U.K.-based Public Interest Lawyers. It was reported that more than 400 previously detained Iraqis had allegations of mistreatment. The public version of the documents underlines how the detainees recall the incidents, "U.K. soldiers beat them brutally—often in front of their families or while they were hooded or blindfolded—deprived them of food, drink and sleep by playing loud music or pornographic movies." The U.K. signed up to the ICC therefore, the crimes committed by its nationals on foreign territory fall under the ICC's jurisdiction. The secretary-general for the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, said, “...the ICC may, for the first time, assign responsibility for alleged war crimes to Western officials." The first thing the ICC will do is conduct a preliminary investigation. It is also stated that many probes take years to lead to formal charges.

Alexandra Avery
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