Despite "confirmed war crimes of willful killing, torture, and rape," the ICC closes probe into abuse of Iraqis by British troops
Key Quotes from the ICC Prosecutor's Statement:
The Office "confirmed, that there is a reasonable basis to believe that members of the British armed forces committed the war crimes of wilful killing, torture, inhuman/cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, and rape and/or other forms of sexual violence."
"the more than ten year long domestic process, involving the examination of thousands of allegations, has resulted in not one single case being submitted for prosecution to date: a result that has deprived the victims of justice."
"the only professionally appropriate decision at this stage is to close the preliminary examination and to inform the senders of communications. My decision is without prejudice to a reconsideration based on new facts or evidence."
The AP reported that the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said she is closing a preliminary probe into allegations of killings and torture of Iraqi prisoners by British troops from 2003-2008 and will not open a full-scale investigation because U.K. authorities have investigated the allegations.
The global court only takes on cases of crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious international offenses if a member state is unwilling or unable to investigate them or has carried out investigations that were not genuine with a view to shielding suspects from justice.
In a statement, Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said her office confirmed that there is “a reasonable basis to believe that members of the British armed forces committed the war crimes of wilful killing, torture, inhuman/cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, and rape and/or other forms of sexual violence" against Iraqi detainees.
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