November 22, 2019

British war crimes in Iraq must be brought to light

topic:	Human Rights
located:	United Kingdom, USA, Iraq, Afghanistan
editor:	Gurmeet Singh

The American and British wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were disasters. They were not only legally dubious, they were also executed with clumsiness and inadequate intelligence preparations. Both the US and the UK continue to deal with the fallout of both wars (indeed, American presidential-contenders still have to present plans for how to proceed with the situations in Afghanistan and of course Syria – the latter being directly linked to the war in Iraq), nearly twenty years after the conflicts began.

Iraq and Afghanistan have been devastated by the conflicts. The lives lost as a result continue to grow, as terrorist events and local conflicts related to the wars escalate. Both countries’ economies are in ruins, and both have failed to reintegrate into the global economic system effectively. It goes without saying that the Neo-Conservative dream of ‘spreading democracy’ from both regions now sounds laughably quaint.

But now, thanks to a BBC Panorama investigation, more is being unearthed about the UK’s failure in particular. The investigation alleges that the UK repeatedly covered up war crimes. Human Rights Watch states:

“British judges have concluded in case after case that some British soldiers mistreated Iraqis in detention during the Iraq war. Abuses include deliberately depriving detainees of sleep or food, or repeatedly beating them. In some cases, judges found that Iraqis died as a result of ill-treatment, such as Baha Mousa, a hotel receptionist who was beaten to death in British custody. Many of these abuses, amounting to torture or other war crimes, were the result of broader systemic failures.”

It’s sadly predictable that war crimes took place. With the American actions in Abu-Ghraib prison, the American legalisation of torture and extraordinary rendition, as well as the innovative ways both countries found for carrying out far-distance murders of innocents, it’s not surprising that the UK is also implicated. Again, Human Rights Watch writes: “The BBC investigation alleges a cover-up to stop some prosecutions, and it’s clear that successive British governments have indeed tried to deny what happened. In 2017 the then-Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, shut down the unit investigating alleged UK army abuses in Iraq before it had completed its work, transferring a handful of cases to a new body – a clear example of political interference in the justice system.”

Children were killed, and then special forces tried to cover it up, as did potentially the UK government. The government needs to conduct a full investigation into both the crimes and the cover-ups, and any people found guilty need to be brought to justice. It’s the only way the endless conflicts in both countries can be given the full respect they deserve.