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17 Dec 14
19:15
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Date Joined:
05 Apr 06
Allegations of murder and torture made against British soldiers by Iraqi detainees were "deliberate lies", a five-year public inquiry has ruled.
The £31m Al-Sweady Inquiry found claims that up to 20 Iraqis were killed and mutilated after a 2004 battle were "reckless speculation".
The murder allegations were withdrawn from the inquiry earlier this year.
The report also found British soldiers mistreated nine Iraqi detainees, but it was not deliberate ill-treatment.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the inquiry "puts to rest once and for all these shocking and, as we now know, completely baseless allegations".
Inquiry chairman Sir Thayne Forbes said the "most serious allegations" which "have been hanging over these soldiers for the past 10 years" have been found to be "without foundation."
A Number 10 spokesman said: "Where there are allegations of mistreatment, it is right and proper we look into and learn lessons from the past."
Mr Fallon said the inquiry - set up in 2009 - has cost the taxpayer £31m.
The report said that soldiers responded to the ambush with "exemplary courage, resolution and professionalism" but that the conduct of some individual soldiers, and some of the procedures of the military, "fell below the high standards normally to be expected of the British army".
It found that:
The detainees should have been given some privacy while being strip-searched and should have been given proper food when they were first detained
They should not have been deprived of sleep before they were questioned or shouted at during interrogation
They were deprived of sight by being made to wear blacked-out goggles for prolonged periods when this had no security purpose
It also described as "ill treatment" an interrogator banging a tent peg on a table and walking around a blindfolded detainee blowing on the back of his neck.
It is understood that the former Iraqi detainees - who are now known to have been armed insurgents at the time - will not pursue claims of compensation.
The £31m Al-Sweady Inquiry found claims that up to 20 Iraqis were killed and mutilated after a 2004 battle were "reckless speculation".
The murder allegations were withdrawn from the inquiry earlier this year.
The report also found British soldiers mistreated nine Iraqi detainees, but it was not deliberate ill-treatment.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the inquiry "puts to rest once and for all these shocking and, as we now know, completely baseless allegations".
Inquiry chairman Sir Thayne Forbes said the "most serious allegations" which "have been hanging over these soldiers for the past 10 years" have been found to be "without foundation."
A Number 10 spokesman said: "Where there are allegations of mistreatment, it is right and proper we look into and learn lessons from the past."
Mr Fallon said the inquiry - set up in 2009 - has cost the taxpayer £31m.
The report said that soldiers responded to the ambush with "exemplary courage, resolution and professionalism" but that the conduct of some individual soldiers, and some of the procedures of the military, "fell below the high standards normally to be expected of the British army".
It found that:
The detainees should have been given some privacy while being strip-searched and should have been given proper food when they were first detained
They should not have been deprived of sleep before they were questioned or shouted at during interrogation
They were deprived of sight by being made to wear blacked-out goggles for prolonged periods when this had no security purpose
It also described as "ill treatment" an interrogator banging a tent peg on a table and walking around a blindfolded detainee blowing on the back of his neck.
It is understood that the former Iraqi detainees - who are now known to have been armed insurgents at the time - will not pursue claims of compensation.
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Another fortune for the legal parasites.
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Yes, for some of them it's a "favourite fun thing to do", taking the British Army to court on the most fatuous grounds.
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Dotchinite spot on, probably only 2nd to Brussels in the "gravy train stakes".
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As Dick famously said in Henry 6
"let's kill all the lawyers." |
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The Guardian has this headline... down the page
Al-Sweady inquiry: Iraqis mistreated but UK troops did not murder insurgents ... note the positioning of the word "mistreated" in the headline. Only later do we find out the relatively minor extent of the "mistreatment" but enough to pre-prejudice anybody who doesn't actually read the story. |
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Another fortune for the legal parasites.
yes but perhaps Leigh Day and Co (the firm of solicitors involved) needed the money so they could make another £33k donation to the Labour Party, perhaps comrade Pandora could comment? |