Child murder, torture and sexual abuse by British troops covered up by government, report alleges The government and army have been accused of covering up torture, sexual abuse and child killings by troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
A year-long investigation by BBC Panorama and The Sunday Times is claimed to have uncovered evidence of murder by an SAS soldier, as well as deaths in custody, beatings, torture and sexual abuse of detainees by members of Scottish regiment the Black Watch.
A senior SAS commander was also referred to prosecutors for attempting to pervert the course of justice, according to leaked documents that had been kept secret by the government.
The investigation exposed new evidence from inside the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT), which investigated alleged war crimes committed by British soldiers in Iraq, and Operation Northmoor, which looked into war crimes in Afghanistan.
The government closed both inquiries in 2017 after Phil Shiner, a solicitor who had taken more than 1,000 cases to IHAT, was struck off from practising law amid allegations he had paid people in Iraq to find clients.
However, some former investigators said Mr Shiner’s actions were used as an excuse to shut down the inquiries.
No case investigated by IHAT or Operation Northmoor has led to a prosecution.
An IHAT detective told Panorama: “The Ministry of Defence had no intention of prosecuting any soldier of whatever rank he was unless it was absolutely necessary, and they couldn’t wriggle their way out of it.”
Investigators believed some of the most senior officers in the UK’s special forces had covered up the killings, but military prosecutors decided not to bring charges.
Panorama also uncovered new information about the killing of Iraqi detainees in 2003. IHAT detectives say they found evidence of widespread abuse at Camp Stephen, a British army base in Basra run by the Black Watch and used as an unofficial detention centre.
One of the detectives told the programme the abuse of prisoners was “endemic” at the base, where two innocent civilians died within a week in May 2003 after allegedly being tortured.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/52562.htmAccording to some, things like this should remain hidden and nothing done about it. Anyone who dare blow the whistle on this and/or publish it is deemed lower than a snakes belly...