ICC abandons UK war crimes inquiry despite finding 'atrocities committed in Iraq'

The International Criminal Court (ICC) inquiry into alleged war crimes committed by British troops in Iraq has been dropped, despite suggesting that soldiers had committed rape, torture, and wilful killing.

A 184-page report produced by ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's office announced the case would be closed and there would be no full-scale investigation into the matter.

Bensouda concluded that there was "reasonable basis to believe" that British troops committed wilful killing, torture, cruel treatment and sexual violence.

However he added that there was no proof that the UK had blocked investigations or was unwilling to pursue them.

At the same time, the report described investigations by the Royal Military Police as "inadequate" and "marred by a lack of independence and impartiality".

The inquiry was launched in the years after the 2003 invasion of Iraq and was reopened in 2014 after a short closure.

"Following a detailed inquiry, and despite the concerns expressed in its report, the office [of the prosecutor] could not substantiate allegations that the UK investigative and prosecutorial bodies had engaged in shielding [ie blocking inquiries], based on a careful scrutiny of the information before it," Bensouda said.

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Bensouda also highlighted that there had had been a "confined number of incidents" that "appear to correspond to the most serious allegations of violence against persons in UK custody". 

The UK's Ministry of Defence said the ICC report "vindicates our efforts to pursue justice where allegations have been founded".

Bensouda, however, in her closing remarks slammed the UK's blunt dismissal of war crimes claims.

"The fact that the allegations investigated by the UK authorities did not result in prosecutions does not mean that these claims were vexatious," Bensouda said.

"At most it means that the domestic investigative bodies could not sustain sufficient evidence to refer the cases for prosecution, or on cases referred there was not a realistic prospect of conviction in a criminal trial."

The ICC report comes as the UK moves to protect soldiers from "vexatious claims" of abuse by lawyers, with new legislation that has already passed the first stages of becoming law through the UK's House of Commons.