British government and army accused of 'hiding war crimes' in Iraq and Afghanistan

The British government and the military have been accused of hiding innocent civilian casualties during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The BBC Panorama and the Sunday Times spoke to 11 British investigators about the investigation, which they claim to have found authoritative evidence of war crimes.

The British Ministry of Defense has dismissed the allegations of covering up war crimes as baseless.

This new evidence was provided by the Iraq Historic Election Team (IHAT) and 'Operation Northmore'.

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The IHAT investigated the alleged war crimes committed by the British Army during the occupation of Iraq, while Operation Northmore investigated the alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

The government decided to shut down IHAT and Operation Northmore when a lawyer, Phil Shiner, was dismissed from his office after allegations that he had sought clients to pay for fixers in Iraq.

Phil Shiner had taken more than a thousand cases of this kind to the IHAT.

But former investigators at Operation Northmore and IHAT say Phil Shiner's actions were used to end war crimes investigations.

No one was convicted as a result of an investigation by IHAT and Operation Northmore.

An IHAT investigator told Panorama: "The Defense Ministry had no intention of punishing any soldier. Even if the same soldier has no rank, or if it becomes inevitable and they cannot escape it. '

According to another former investigator, victims of war crimes were badly disappointed.

'I use the word hate for it. And I sympathize with these families because they have not received justice. How can you as a British citizen raise your head? '

Panorama has re-evaluated the evidence for several war crimes cases. One case being investigated by the IHAT is in Basra in 2003 where a British soldier patrol killed an Iraqi policeman.
Iraqi soldier Raid al-Mousavi was shot dead in an alley while he was leaving his home. The crash was investigated by the then British military commander, Major Christopher Suss Frankinson.

Within 24 hours, Major Susan Frankson came to the conclusion that the shooting was legal because the Iraqi police officer first fired and the British soldier fired for his rescue.

According to his report, the British soldier had seen the shooting and confirmed that Iraqi had fired first.

IHAT investigators investigated the case for two years and interviewed 80 British soldiers, including a British soldier who allegedly saw the shooting.

In his statement to the IHAT, this soldier made a direct contradiction with Major Susan Frankson's report, saying, 'This report is false and it creates the impression that I was an eyewitness. This is not correct.'

He said he heard only one gunshot, which seems to indicate that the policeman had not fired at all. This was confirmed by other witnesses interviewed by the IHAT.

Investigators came to the conclusion that the soldier who shot Raad should be prosecuted for murdering an Iraqi police officer and covering up the entire incident on Maj. Susan Frankson. But the military prosecution has not yet taken anyone to court.

Maj. Susan Frankson's lawyer said: "My client has not seen the contents of the IHAT and the quality of the evidence collected by IHAT investigators, their credentials, and why it is subject to British law on a soldier. Insufficient for the case, can not comment. '
The government set up Operation Northmore in 2014, which examined 52 alleged illegal deaths.

And before the Royal Military Police investigators had the opportunity to interview key Afghan witnesses, the government abolished the commission.

An investigator from Northmore said: 'I will not come to that conclusion unless I talk to both parties. If you are coming to the conclusion and you only have a British position, then what is this investigation? My view is that each of these casualties should be reviewed and the legal requirements should be met. '

The Defense Ministry said military operations are under the law and the allegations have been widely investigated.

A ministry spokesman told the BBC that "the investigation and the decision to prosecute someone is legally independent of the Ministry of Defense and has included external surveillance and legal advice."

He said: “The independent prosecuting authority has decided not to prosecute after closely reviewing the cases sent to him. The BBC's claims have been forwarded to the Service Police and the Service Prosecuting Authority, who are ready to look into the allegations. ”

The Panorama War Crimes scandal will be shown on BBC One on Monday 18 November at 9pm ET.