Time to stop hounding our troops says ex-Army chief
to investigate every allegation. If allegations are made they must be investigated, but there needs to be a filter where someone looks at the cases and says, ‘This one is ridiculous. We won’t take it any further’. That filter does not seem to have been there.”
Lord Dannatt said the MoD argued there was a danger the International Criminal Court would intervene if it did not probe all allegations. But when then defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon shut Ihat last year, “the ICC did not squeak”.
“It is entirely reasonable that the investigation into Bob Campbell should be pulled,” the peer said, adding that British troops must now know precisely what they are allowed to do when taking prisoners.
“Before we embark on interventions overseas, there needs to be a very clear legal framework which sets out what soldiers are and are not allowed to do, not just regarding opening fire, but how they can detain civilians who are doing wrong – looting and rioting and so on. If there are no rules but later on someone judges the soldiers acted wrongly, we get into the mess we are in now.”
Lord Dannatt warned that the threat of being prosecuted years after an event was damaging the Army, with people “looking over their shoulders, wondering whether at some time in the future someone will come after them”.
“This is bad for morale and it damages recruiting. Why put yourself in jeopardy of someone coming along and tapping you on the shoulder 40 years later? It just is not on,” he said.
Earlier this week, Major Campbell, who also served with distinction in Afghanistan, said he had been “broken” by the repeated investigations and had not been able to sleep properly for 15 years.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme his 2004 statement had been “examined and pored over and dissected” and “what possible good can come out of this I have no idea”.