Some British soldiers have been charged with war crimes for mistreating detainees in Iraq. The military are very unhappy.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1532223,00.html
"Three British soldiers are - for the first time - to stand trial for war crimes against Iraqi detainees under the jurisdiction of the international criminal court (ICC), the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, said last night.
In an unprecedented move that top military commanders have feared since the ICC Act's introduction in 2001, British soldiers face prosecution for the war crime of inhuman treatment of detainees, although the men will face court martial in this country rather than being tried in The Hague.
Eleven servicemen face a range of charges in two separate cases arising from alleged incidents in the southern Iraqi city of Basra in September 2003.
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One of the detainees, Baha Da'oud Salim Musa, was allegedly inhumanely treated and killed by one of those charged, Corporal Donald Payne, 34, of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment".
More below the fold.
Britain, as a signatory to the International Criminal Court treaty is obliged to prosecute war crimes by its nationals. If it does not the International Criminal Court could prosecute.
Up to now attention has concentrated on the war crimes associated with waging an illegal war. The saga of the legal advice from the British Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, culminated in the production of some legal cover for the British armed forces, as demanded by Admiral Sir Michael Boyce (the then chief of the Defence Staff).
Transcript of an interview between Admiral Boyce and the Observer.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,1474607,00.html
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"MB: No. My concern, particularly since we were asked to sign up to the International Criminal Court (that I was never really happy about five or six years ago or whatever it was), I just wanted to make sure that if my soldiers went to jail and I did some other people go as well with me. Not to be facetious about it. And that's what I had. I had a perfectly unambiguous black-and-white statement saying it would be legal for to operate if we had to.
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AB: So if you were called to account it would also be Lord Goldsmith and the prime minister...
MB: Too bloody right"!
The war crimes now being prosecuted relate to the use of illegal methods during what may not necessarily be an illegal war. For senior military and political leaders to be held legally accountable for those sorts of war crimes, it must be demonstrated that they are so widespread as to amount to a policy.
Lord Goldsmith does not seem to be contemplating prosecuting himself or Tony Blair, but the Military Families Against the War complaint to the International Criminal Court may yet produce developments.