Torture lights

Vasily Sergeev Britain is going to try its troops for war crimes in Iraq. Eleven soldiers have already been charged with murder, torture and abuse. Unlike their American counterparts, some British soldiers will be brought before the International Criminal Court, but the trial will take place not in The Hague, but in the homeland of the accused.

The investigation into the crimes of British soldiers in Iraq lasted much longer than similar events in the United States. As a result, on Wednesday alone, UK prosecutors brought charges against 11 Britons involved in the latest military campaign in Iraq. The start of preliminary hearings was announced today by the Prosecutor General of the United Kingdom, Lord Goldsmith.

As the Prosecutor General explained, all the crimes of which the British military is accused were committed by them in 2003. The defendants are accused of killing two civilians, as well as torture, abuse and interrogation with bias. We would like to remind you that similar accusations were brought against the military by the American judicial authorities in the last few months.

However, it is immediately apparent that the British were not as keen on torture as their American colleagues. There are no descriptions of egregious atrocities in the list of charges brought today - the British did not poison the prisoners with dogs, did not smear them with excrement or shock them. Here, the leadership palm is, of course, with the Americans.

The crimes committed by members of the Royal Forces are indeed either less serious or committed through negligence. Thus, Corporal Donald Payne of the Royal Lancashire Regiment is suspected of murdering an Iraqi prisoner through negligence. Two other members of the regiment, Wayne Crowcroft and Darren Fallan, were accused of inhumane treatment of prisoners. Four more British soldiers - Sergeant of the Royal Lancashire Regiment, Colonel of the same regiment Jorge Mendonsa, as well as Mark Davis and Michael Peebles from the Intelligence Corps are accused of inhumane treatment of prisoners of war and neglect of duty.

Jorge Mendonça is the most senior of the accused, and the British press writes a lot about him. The fact is that before this criminal case, Mendonsa returned from Iraq as a hero, a Commander of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). Now he and six of his subordinates will have to answer for the death of Mahi Musa, a 26-year-old employee of an Iraqi hotel.

Musa was arrested by British troops near Basra in September 2003. The day after his arrest he died. A forensic examination found traces of strangulation and beatings on the Iraqi's body. Musa, for example, had a broken nose and three ribs.

In addition, four military personnel will stand trial for the murder of Iraqi civilian captive Ahmed Karim, which occurred on May 8, 2003 in Basra. Among them are Sergeant Karl Selman of the Scots Guards and three soldiers of the Irish Guards. They are accused of beating four Iraqis seen looting. The British drove them into a canal near Basra, where one of them, Ahmed Karim, soon drowned. As the investigation established, Karim did not know how to swim.

It is known that at least three of the 11 suspects (Corporal Donald Payne, Lance Corporal Wayne Crokeforth and Private Darren Fallan) are to be tried by the UN International Criminal Court.

The Daily Telegraph notes that these are the first Britons to appear before this international institution based in The Hague. By the way, American guards accused of torture will not face a summons to the International Court. America, unlike Great Britain, has not yet signed the agreement establishing the International Court of Justice. Therefore, all American war criminals are still being tried at home. However, none of the 11 accused Britons will have to go to The Hague for trial either. A separate clause in the treaty on the International Court of Justice stipulates that hearings may not be held in The Hague if the country in question - in this case Britain - decides to investigate war crimes of its citizens independently.

Torture lights - Gazeta.Ru