- The ICC could launch a new investigation into British troops war crimes in Iraq
- They said there was "reasonable basis" to support the allegations
- This comes despite another probe into abuse claims being discredited
- The U.K. government has always insisted no international probe is necessary
British soldiers could face prosecution at the Hague after the International Criminal Court said there was a "reasonable basis" to believe they committed war crimes in Iraq.
The startling threat of a renewed investigation was buried in a 74-page report on preliminary inquiries as the ICC's member states gather in New York for its annual nine-day meeting.
The new threat comes despite another probe into abuse claims being discredited. A group of U.K. lawyers who promoted allegations was found guilty of misconduct and senior lawyer Phil Shiner was struck off.
The Iraq Historical Allegations Team was shut down earlier this year after an inquiry found it took up 3,500 allegations with little credible evidence.
In 2014, The Hague-based prosecutor reopened an initial probe into war crimes allegations relating to prisoner abuse.
In the new report, chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said: "Following a thorough factual and legal assessment of the information available... there is reasonable basis to believe that members of the U.K. armed forces committed war crimes, within the jurisdiction of the Court, against persons in their custody."
Bensouda's office said individual statements received from the discredited lawyers "could be considered credible enough if substantiated with supporting material" such as detention records, medical certificates and photographs.
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Her office is now considering "complementarity and gravity" before evaluating further steps.
"The prosecutor must be satisfied as to admissibility on both aspects before proceeding," the report said.
Bensouda will then decide whether to ask ICC judges permission to launch a full-blown investigation.
Set up in 2002, the Hague-based ICC is an independent court of last resort, only to intervene and prosecute those committing the world's worst crimes if a member country is unwilling or unable to do so themselves.
The U.K. government has always insisted it will investigate justified complaints and no international probe is necessary.
A government spokesman said: "We have a legal responsibility to investigate credible allegations of wrongdoing by U.K. forces, and that is what we are already doing as part of service police legacy investigations, which is reviewing the relatively small number of remaining cases after the closure of IHAT, and through Operation Northmoor.
"We are confident that our existing efforts to investigate allegations preclude the need for any investigation by the ICC."
This article has been adapted from its original source.
