UK soldiers accused of war crimes

Three British soldiers have been charged with war crimes for the alleged abuse of Iraqi detainees in the first case of its kind in the country, the government said on Tuesday. A spokeswoman for Attorney General Lord Goldsmith said the men were the first British soldiers to be charged under the International Criminal Court Act 2001.

Britain, Washington's key ally in Iraq, has investigated scores of deaths and injuries of Iraqis since joining the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The British Army chief apologised to the Iraqi people in February after three British soldiers were jailed for abusing Iraqi detainees in a case which drew comparisons with the mistreatment of Iraqis by U.S. troops at the Abu Ghraib prison.

In the latest case of alleged abuse, one of the soldiers, Corporal Donald Payne, 34, was charged with the war crime of the inhumane treatment of Iraqi detainee Baha Musa, who died in custody in the southern city of Basra in September 2003. Payne, of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, was also charged with Musa's unlawful killing and perverting the course of justice. Two others -- Lance Corporal Wayne Crowcroft, 21, and Private Darren Fallon, 22, both of the 1st Battalion The Queen's Lancashire Regiment -- were jointly charged with the war crime of abusing Iraqi civilians. A spokeswoman for the attorney general said the three soldiers charged with war crimes would be tried domestically, not before the International Criminal Court in The Hague. "The International Criminal Court only kicks in ... when a state is either unwilling or unable to investigate," she said.

The attorney general said in a statement eight other British soldiers, including a former colonel, would face military tribunals in connection with the alleged abuse of Iraqi detainees. They were charged under domestic law. Four of them were charged with the manslaughter of Ahmed Kareem, an Iraqi who drowned in a canal in Basra in May 2003 after being detained by British soldiers. No date had been set for any of the military tribunals. Defence Secretary John Reid said it was proper that allegations of abuse should be investigated. "It is vital now that justice is allowed to take its course, so you will understand that I cannot comment further," he said.

IN RELATED news, the SF Gate reported in March this year:

At least 108 people have died in U.S. custody in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and roughly a quarter of the cases have been investigated as possible U.S. abuse, according to government data provided to The Associated Press. The figure, far higher than any previously disclosed, includes cases investigated by the Army, Navy, Central Intelligence Agency and Justice Department. Some 65,000 prisoners have been taken during the U.S.-led wars, most later freed.

The Pentagon has never provided comprehensive information on how many prisoners taken during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have died. The 108 figure, based on information supplied by Army, Navy and other government officials, includes deaths attributed to natural causes. To human rights groups, the deaths form a clear pattern. "Despite the military's own reports of deaths and abuses of detainees in U.S. custody, it is astonishing that our government can still pretend that what is happening is the work of a few rogue soldiers," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "No one at the highest levels of our government has yet been held accountable for the torture and abuse, and that is unacceptable."

To the Pentagon, each death is a distinct case, meriting an investigation but not attributable to any single faulty military policy. Pentagon officials point to military investigations that have found that no policy condoned abuse. Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. John Skinner said the military has taken steps to reduce the chance of violent uprisings at its prisons and the use of excessive force by soldiers, and also has improved the health care available to prisoners.

"The military has dramatically improved detention operations, everything from increased oversight and improved facilities to expanded training and the availability of state-of-the-art medical care," he said in a statement. Some death investigations have resulted in courts-martial and convictions, others in reprimands. Many are still open. In some cases, during riots and escape attempts, soldiers were found to have used deadly force properly. The most serious sentence handed out in the completed cases is three years imprisonment, which was given to two soldiers in separate cases. Pfc. Edward Richmond was convicted of voluntary manslaughter for shooting Muhamad Husain Kadir, an Iraqi cowherd, in the back of the head on Feb. 28, 2004; Richmond said he saw Kadir lunge for another soldier. Staff Sgt. Johnny M. Horne pleaded guilty to killing a critically wounded Iraqi teenager in Sadr City, Iraq, on Aug. 18, 2004. Horne described it as a mercy killing.

In Iraq, the military is currently holding around 8,900 people at its two largest prisons, Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca. At least two prisoners died during interrogation, in incidents that raise the question of torture. Human rights groups say there are others:
Manadel al-Jamadi, a suspect in the bombing of a Red Cross facility in Baghdad, died Nov. 4, 2003, while hanging by his wrists in a shower room at Abu Ghraib prison. Nine SEALs and one sailor have been accused of abusing al-Jamadi and others in Iraq. The CIA and Justice Department are also investigating the death.
Four Fort Carson, Colo., soldiers, including three in military intelligence, are charged with murder for the death of an Iraqi major general who died in November 2003. The CIA has also acknowledged that one of its officers may have been involved and referred the case to the Justice Department for investigation.
Of the prisoner deaths: At least 26 have been investigated as criminal homicides involving possible abuse. At least 29 are attributed to suspected natural causes or accident. 22 died during an insurgent mortar attack on April 6, 2004, on Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. At least 21 are attributed to "justifiable homicide," when U.S. troops used deadly force against rioting, escaping or threatening prisoners and investigations found the troops acted appropriately.

The majority of the death investigations were conducted by the Army's Criminal Investigation Division, as most prisoners are held in Army-run facilities. In many of the cases, resolution has not been swift. Military officials have attributed this in part to the difficulties of conducting investigations in war zones, and they say accuracy is more important than speed. "Our special agents have literally been mortared and shot at while going about investigative duties," said Army spokesman Christopher Grey. Grey said Army investigators have looked into 79 deaths in 68 incidents. Most were in Iraq. No prisoners have died at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the third major site for prisoners since the Sept. 11 attacks.

A Navy official said the Navy Criminal Investigative Service has investigated eight deaths. One of those, of al-Jamadi, has also been investigated by the Army and is counted among their numbers, officials said. The CIA and Justice Department have looked into four deaths that may have involved agency personnel or contractors. One CIA contractor has been charged with assault in connection with a third death investigation in Afghanistan. The fourth death was attributed to hypothermia, not mistreatment.