The lawyers
who helped lying Iraqi detainees launch a 'shameful' attack on the
British Army with false torture allegations were attacked in Parliament
today.
Defence
Secretary Michael Fallon welcomed the findings of an official public
inquiry, published this morning, dismissing allegations that British
troops murdered, mutilated and tortured nine Iraqi detainees.
But
he slammed the British law firms working on behalf of the Iraqi
detainees and revealed that an investigation had been launched into
their conduct by the legal profession's standards body.
Mr Fallon said: 'This was a shameful attempt to use our legal system to attack and falsely impune our armed forces.'
Detained Iraqis being guarded by a
British soldier that was shown at the The Al-Sweady Inquiry. The
long-running inquiry found that British troops mistreated nine Iraqi
detainees following a fierce battle a decade ago, but false allegations
of murder and torture were the product of 'deliberate lies'
He
said the two law firms - Public Interest Lawyers and Leigh Day & Co
- must 'bear the brunt of the criticism' for the eye-watering cost of
the 'unnecessary' public inquiry.
The
inquiry, which cost taxpayers £31million, completely exonerated the
Armed Forces of the all the most serious allegations - ruling they were
'deliberate and calculated lies'.
But
John Dickinson, of Public Interest Lawyers, which represented some of
the Iraqis, today refused to apologise - after being accused of
unnecessarily dragging British soldiers through years of 'anxiety and
uncertainty'.
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Sir Thayne Forbes, who led the long-running Al-Sweady inquiry, dismissed claims British soldiers murdered Iraqi detainees
PHIL SHINER: THE LAWYER WHOSE FIRM MADE MILLIONS DRAGGING SOLDIERS THROUGH THE COURTS
The British lawyers who represented 'lying' Iraqi detainees were attacked by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon today.
Mr Fallon said they must 'bear the brunt of the criticism' for the £31million cost of the 'unnecessary' inquiry.
The
remarks pile pressure on controversial left-wing lawyer Phil Shiner –
whose Birmingham-based firm, Public Interest Lawyers, has received
around £3million in public money for the inquiry.
His firm made its name pursuing British soldiers through the courts over alleged war crimes in Iraq.
But Mr Shiner is unlikely to be put off launching further claims against the British Army.
He
previously said he was 'not going to rest easy until I find out the
answer to the question of exactly how many died in British custody'.
The
inquiry was asked to look into the aftermath of a ferocious firefight,
dubbed the Battle of Danny Boy, at a checkpoint near Basra in 2004 when
up to 20 insurgents were killed and nine others captured and brought in
for questioning.
Iraqi
claims that prisoners were executed in cold blood after the battle were
'entirely without merit or justification', today's report found.
The
nine insurgents who were captured alive after the battle were taken to a
detention facility and were not tortured, the report found.
The
findings of the inquiry will provoke outrage that British troops
accused of the most serious crimes have had their names dragged through
the mud by publicly-funded lawyers.
In
a damning judgement, the report found: 'The work of this inquiry has
established beyond doubt that all the most serious allegations, made
against the British soldiers involved in the Battle of Danny Boy and its
aftermath and which have been hanging over those soldiers for the last
10 years, have been found to be wholly without foundation and entirely
the product of deliberate lies, reckless speculation and ingrained
hostility.'
The
public inquiry was launched in 2009 after a long legal battle between
Iraqi families – represented by Phil Shiner's Public Interest Lawyers –
and the Ministry of Defence.
The
Al-Sweady heading was examining allegations that troops executed 20 or
more prisoners and mistreated nine other after the battle at the Danny
Boy base.
It was named after Hameed Al Sweady, 19, one of those who died.
The
Iraqis, who were fighting for compensation, alleged troops from the
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders took bloody revenge at a camp and
detention facility for the massacre of six Royal Military policemen a
year earlier.
The claims were always strenuously denied by the Ministry of Defence, which insisted the men were insurgents killed in battle.
But
in a dramatic development on the final day of evidence in March,
lawyers admitted there was no evidence the insurgents were unlawfully
killed in UK custody – causing the case to collapse.
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Al-Sweady Public Inquiry released
shocking images which formed part of its investigation into the
ferocious firefight, dubbed the Battle of Danny Boy, at a checkpoint
near Basra in 2004 when a number of insurgents were killed
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Detainee 090776 with British Soldiers in an image that was shown at the The Al-Sweady Inquiry
Concluding
the report, Sir Thayne wrote: 'Very many of those baseless allegations
were the product of deliberate and calculated lies on the part of those
who made them and who then gave evidence to this Inquiry in order to
support and perpetuate them.'
He
said the approach of detainees and Iraqi witnesses, with regards to the
giving of their evidence, 'was both unprincipled in the extreme and
wholly without regard for the truth.'
He added: 'I found the military witnesses to be both truthful and reliable.'
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An aerial photo of junction and Danny Boy checkpoint where the bloody battle took place in 2004
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Pictures of the Shaibah military base
were shown at the The Al-Sweady Inquiry into claims Iraqi detainees had
been murdered, mutilated and tortured
He added British troops had responded to the 'deadly ambush with exemplary courage, resolution and professionalism'.
Sir
Thayne found there had been instances of ill-treatment during 'tactical
questioning' of the detainees at Camp Abu Naji (CAN), near
Majar-al-Kabir in southern Iraq, on the night of May 14/15.
These
included blindfolding the prisoners, depriving them of food and sleep
and using threatening interrogation techniques contrary to the Geneva
Convention.
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Mizal Karim Al-Sweady holds a photograph of his dead son Hamid Al-Sweady
The
former High Court judge also criticised British soldiers for 'tasteless
trophies' such as striking poses for photos with detainees.
It
found that British forces responded to a deadly ambush by insurgents
with 'exemplary courage, resolution and professionalism'.
And
it suggested that some of the detainees - all described as members or
supporters of the Mahdi Army insurgent group - consciously lied about
the most serious allegations to discredit the British armed forces.
Sir
Thayne wrote: 'I have come to the conclusion that the conduct of
various individual soldiers and some of the procedures being followed by
the British military in 2004 fell below the high standards normally to
be expected of the British Army.
'In addition, on a number of other occasions, my findings went further.
'I
have come to the conclusion that certain aspects of the way in which
nine Iraqi detainees, with whom this inquiry is primarily concerned,
were treated by the British military, during the time they were in
British custody during 2004, amounted to actual or possible
ill-treatment.'
Lawyers
representing the alleged victims' families had already admitted during
the public inquiry that there was no evidence of unlawful killing.
But they stood by claims that detainees had been mistreated at CAN and later at Shaibah Logistics Base.
His
report, which will now be laid before Parliament, makes a number of
recommendations including improvements to arrest records in the
battlefield.
BRITISH TROOPS INNOCENT OF 'ALL THE MOST SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS'
Soldiers
from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the Princess of Wales
Royal Regiment were ambushed by insurgents, leading to a three-hour gun
battle which became known as the 'Battle of Danny Boy' - named after a
British checkpoint near the town of Majar al-Kabir in southern Iraq.
After the battle, an order was issued to take the bodies of dead Iraqis to a nearby military base, Camp Abu Naji.
The
British Army said it wanted to check whether one of the dead was an
insurgent thought to have been involved in the killing of six Royal
Military Police officers in 2003.
It said nine Iraqi men were also taken captive and they all stayed alive.
Lawyers for the families of Iraqis claimed others were taken alive, murdered and mutilated.
These claims were only dropped earlier this year.
At
a High Court judicial review in 2009, Khuder Al-Sweady, an Iraqi
national, claimed that his 19-year-old nephew, Hamid Al-Sweady, was
unlawfully killed while in the custody of British troops at Camp Abu
Naji.
Five
of the nine men taken captive by the Army also alleged in the judicial
review that they were mistreated by British soldiers.
Today's
report found that soldiers had mistreated detainees, including
depriving them of food and sleep, blindfolding them – in breach of
Ministry of Defence rules.
But 'all the most serious allegations made against British soldiers' were 'wholly and entirely without merit or justification'.
Legal teams behind 'unnecessary' £31million trial face probe over delayed evidence
The
lawyers responsible for dragging innocent British soldiers through 'six
years of anxiety' will be investigated for failing to hand over key
evidence which could have halted their trial, it was revealed today.
Defence
Secretary Michael Fallon told MPs that Iraqi detainees and the UK law
firms acting on their behalf must 'bear the brunt of the criticism' for
the £31 million cost of the 'unnecessary' public inquiry into claims
British soldiers murdered and tortured civilians.
He
revealed that the two law firms behind the case against the British
soldiers - Public Interest Lawyers and Leigh Day & Co – were now
under investigation by their professional standards body.
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Defence Secretary Michael Fallon makes
a statement to MPs in the Commons today following the report into
British war crimes allegations
Mr
Fallon said: 'The falsity of the overwhelming majority of their
allegations, the extraordinarily late disclosure of a document showing
the nine detainees to have been insurgents and the delay by their
lawyers in withdrawing the allegations of torture and murder have
prompted the Solicitors' Regulation Authority to investigate possible
breaches of professional standards.
'The
authority is expected to complete its investigation into the two firms
responsible - Public Interest Lawyers and Leigh Day & Co - by early
next year.
'Had
the Legal Services Commission been aware in 2008 of this document they
would have refused legal aid for the judicial review which took place
then. That would have spared the service personnel a further six years
of uncertainty and anxiety.
'It
would have spared the relatives of the deceased a further six years of
false hope and it would have saved the British taxpayer a very high
bill.'
Mr
Fallon said procedural failures by the Ministry of Defence led to the
public inquiry being established – but said those who made the false
allegations who 'bear the responsibility for saddling the taxpayer' with
a £31million bill.
Mr Fallon said there was no legal provision to recover the cost of the public inquiry.
But
he said the MoD is exploring whether the claimants' failure to disclose
the 'militia document' may allow some of the judicial inquiry costs to
be recovered.
He
also said he accepted in principle the nine recommendations made by Sir
Thayne Forbes in the inquiry, adding urgent work had been commissioned
on how to implement them practically.
He said: 'In particular, we will need to make sure they do not prevent the Armed Forces from carrying out vital tasks.'
Mr
Fallon also challenged the lawyers involved from Public Interest
Lawyers and Leigh Day to issue an 'unequivocal apology' to the soldiers
'whose reputations they attempted to traduce' and to taxpayers for the
costs incurred for 'exposing these lies'.
SOURCE http://www.dailymail.co.uk