Now Blair demands end to Army ‘witch hunt’
Inquiries into troops’ alleged abuses should never have been ordered, says former PM
TONY BLAIR has condemned the Government’s investigations into alleged abuses committed by British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, insisting the inquiries should never have been ordered in the first place.
In a dramatic intervention into the growing row over the treatment of veterans, Mr Blair said it was wrong to put troops through the “ordeal” of a criminal investigation for events in a warzone as long as 13 years ago.
Mr Blair, speaking publicly on the matter for the first time, told The Sunday Telegraph: “I do not think this process should ever have been put in place.
“I am very sorry that our soldiers and their families have been put through this ordeal.” He added: “Our Armed Forces gave extraordinary service in both Iraq and Afghanistan and this type of investigation simply makes their job harder to do.” Mr Blair’s comments will stoke the furore over the alleged hounding of hundreds of soldiers.
The Iraq Historic Allegations Team (Ihat) which was set up by Gordon Brown, is investigating almost 1,500 allegations of mistreatment and unlawful killing of Iraqis while a separate inquiry, Operation Northmoor, is looking at more than 550 allegations of abuse in Afghanistan dating back to 2005.
Public Interest Lawyers, a law firm representing almost all the Iraqis making abuse claims against the British troops, folded in the summer after it was stripped of legal aid over claims of irregularities over its work in Iraq.
Opponents of Ihat say many of the claims are vexatious or spurious.
Mr Blair’s insistence that Ihat should never have been set up will raise questions about why Mr Brown’s administration, under pressure from human rights lawyers, allowed the inquiry.
The row follows the revelation in last week’s Sunday Telegraph that an Army major, awarded two medals for bravery, is facing prosecution with two colleagues over the death of an Iraqi teenager who drowned in a canal outside Basra in 2003. They were first investigated in 2004 and cleared in 2006.
It could now take until next year for the Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA) – the military equivalent of the Crown Prosecution Service – to decide if charges should be brought.
But even if the SPA concludes no charges should be brought, the men will then face yet another official inquiry that could last an additional two years, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.
The Iraq Fatality Investigations (IFI), chaired by a retired High Court judge, Sir George Newman, was set up to ensure that the UK complied with its
obligations under article two of the Human Rights Act to ensure that deaths as a possible consequence of state force are fully investigated.
The major’s lawyer, Hilary Meredith, said yesterday: “His nightmare never ends. This will have been hanging over my client’s head for at least 15 years. We welcome Mr Blair’s comments and agree that the Ihat procedure needs to be looked at.”
Writing on these pages, Conservative MP Johnny Mercer, who is chairing a parliamentary inquiry into the treatment of troops, says Theresa May “needs to grasp that our attitude towards looking after this Afghanistan/Iraq generation of servicemen and women will define this nation’s relationship with its military for the next 50 years”.
Mr Mercer says the country needs to set up a department for veterans’ affairs to
TONY BLAIR “I do not think this process should ever have been put in place. I am very sorry that our soldiers and their families have been put through this ordeal.”
look after the welfare of servicemen.
The Telegraph can disclose that a second soldier told he faces prosecution for manslaughter has sought mental
DAVID CAMERON “It’s clear that there is now an industry trying to profit from spurious claims lodged against our brave servicemen and women. It’s unacceptable and no way to treat the people who risk their lives to keep our country safe.”
health treatment. The soldier, also understood to be under investigation over Said Shabram’s drowning near Basra, told Mr Mercer, in a conversation the MP has
THERESA MAY “What we do need to make sure is that there isn’t an industry of vexatious allegations coming forward. I think measures have been taken.”
made public today: “I have kept this from my family and loved ones for 13 years. At no stage has the Army offered to help me in that time. The impact has been devastating.”
Mr Mercer, a former Army captain who served in Afghanistan, intends to call Sir Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, at his inquiry.
While Sir Michael has crit- icised the “witch hunt” against troops, he has not closed Ihat or Operation Northmoor. Jeremy Wright, the Attorney General, has advised ministers it would be illegal to shut Ihat down amid fears that if it is scrapped the International Criminal Court could begin its own prosecutions.
Mr Mercer also intends to call bosses from the Legal Aid Agency over its payments to Public Interest Lawyers. Critics have said they were a financial incentive for it to bring as many cases as it could.
An MoD spokesman said: “We’ve seen our legal system abused to falsely impugn our Armed Forces and we are putting an end to that.”
He said it was right to investigate “credible claims of criminal behaviour” adding: “Stamping out the many spurious claims will mean Ihat is better able to focus on the few credible ones.”
SIR MICHAEL FALLON “We don’t need these ambulance-chasing British law firms. It is not only extremely expensive but it inhibits the operational effectiveness of our troops because they start to worry about whether they will end up in a court or not.”