THE UK MILITARY IN IRAQ: EFFORTS AND PROSPECT FOR ACCOUNTABILITY FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMES ALLEGATIONS? A Discussion Paper 1 October 2018 Dr Carla Ferstman, Dr Thomas Obel Hansen and Dr Noora Arajärvi 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS i. Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................................... 4 I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 5 II. THE CONTEXT ....................................................................................................................................... 11 II.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 11 II.2 LEGAL PROCESSES IN THE UK ..................................................................................................... 12 a) Criminal investigations and trials in the UK ...................................................................................... 12 b) The Iraq Fatality Investigations (IFI) ................................................................................................. 17 c) Public inquiries and judicial reviews .................................................................................................. 18 II.3 The International Criminal Court’s preliminary examination .............................................................. 19 a) Overview of the ICC process .............................................................................................................. 19 b) Focus of the preliminary examination ................................................................................................ 20 c) Evaluation of information providers ................................................................................................... 20 d) Engagement with the UK Government .............................................................................................. 21 e) Assurances concerning persons testifying before the IFI ................................................................... 22 f) Current issues relating to the assessment of complementarity ............................................................ 23 g) Standards for the ICC Prosecutor’s assessment of complementarity in phase 3 of the preliminary examination ............................................................................................................................................. 24 II.4 UK Government response to the ICC and broader approach to accountability .................................... 25 III. KEY AREAS FOR ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................. 26 III.1 THE NEED FOR EFFECTIVE INVESTIGATIONS ......................................................................... 26 a) Independence and impartiality ............................................................................................................ 26 b) Robust investigations .......................................................................................................................... 29 c) Prompt investigations ......................................................................................................................... 34 d) Transparent investigations .................................................................................................................. 36 e) Victims’ rights in the investigation ..................................................................................................... 39 f) Defendants’ rights ............................................................................................................................... 41 III.2 ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SYSTEMIC ISSUES .............................................................................. 42 IV. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................... 48 ANNEX 1: TIMELINE OF ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ALLEGED CRIMES IN IRAQ ..................... 51 ANNEX 2: A SUMMARY OF APPLICABLE LEGAL FRAMEWORKS ............................................. 54 1. UK DOMESTIC LAW ........................................................................................................................... 54 a) UK military law .................................................................................................................................. 54 b) 2005 Inquiry Act................................................................................................................................. 57 2. INTERNATIONAL LAW INCORPORATED INTO UK LAW ........................................................... 57 a) International humanitarian law ........................................................................................................... 58 b) International human rights law ........................................................................................................... 59 c) International criminal law ................................................................................................................... 59 2 3 i. Acknowledgments A range of individuals, organisations and institutions have provided us with information, assistance and support in carrying out this research which we would like to acknowledge and thank. Firstly, we are grateful to our own institutions – the University of Essex School of Law and Human Rights Centre and the Transitional Justice Institute at Ulster University for hosting our research and providing the necessary institutional and administrative support. We are very thankful for the support of the University of Essex’s ESRC Impact Acceleration Account as well as faculty members of the University of Essex School of Law, who provided preliminary input on the research concept and planned methodology. This discussion paper and our wider research agenda has also benefited significantly from a workshop on accountability organised by Middlesex University School of Law in June 2017 as well as the Society of Legal Scholars Annual Seminar 2018: ‘The Legal Legacies of the 2003 Iraq War’, organised by SOAS University of London and the School of Law at the University of Sheffield. The bulk of the data upon which our research and analysis is based is open-source. This has been supplemented with select informal consultations with officials, lawyers, advisors in specialist organisations and others, as well as with formal information requests to government departments and others. We are thankful to all the individuals and organisations that supplied us with primary data, provided us with explanations to clarify certain data in our possession or provided context to missing or unavailable data. Due to the sensitivity of the subject matter, many persons with whom we have been in contact have provided analysis or background information on a personal, informal or confidential basis. We are very grateful for those inputs which have enriched significantly our findings. We are convinced that open and frank dialogue and exchange of views is essential to research, particularly on questions affecting public policy. Unfortunately, however, only a small proportion of relevant United Kingdom (UK) Government agencies with whom we have sought to be in contact have agreed to supply information or respond to requests for clarification. Official requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act have not yet led to substantive responses. We are concerned by the impact this may have on transparency and the public’s right to information. Despite these challenges, we have sought to explain and take into account governmental and other perspectives that have featured in public statements and reports. We are grateful to those agencies and institutions which agreed to answer certain questions in writing or meet with our research team to provide clarification, in particular the offices of the Iraq Fatality Investigations. This research is a collaboration between Dr Carla Ferstman at the University of Essex School of Law and Dr Thomas Obel Hansen at the Transitional Justice Institute at Ulster University. They are joined in the research by Dr Noora Arajärvi who serves as the Project’s research officer. While we are grateful for all the inputs and comments we have received as set out above, all errors and omissions are ours alone. In addition, the research was written in our personal academic capacities and does not necessarily reflect the views of the academic institutions with whom we are affiliated. 4 I. INTRODUCTION The focus of our research This research has been carried out in order to contribute to public debate about the adequacy of the official response relating to allegations of serious abuses perpetrated by the UK military during the Iraq war and occupation, also taking into account the ongoing International Criminal Court (ICC) preliminary examination concerning these allegations. The research has focused on reviewing and assessing the steps taken domestically to promote (or obstruct) accountability and developing recommendations regarding any accountability deficits concerning alleged abuses perpetrated by the UK military in Iraq. In our research we have considered the decision-making processes and rationales given for keeping open or closing domestic criminal investigations and not pursuing prosecutions, as well