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Government confirms armed forces have ‘closed the doors’ on war crimes investigations in Iraq
The ‘bungled and delayed investigations have seen inquiries abandoned, victims denied justice and some suspects and witnesses kept waiting for years,’ peace campaigners warn
A British soldier on patrol in the area of Ahmed Al Ahamadi near Camp Dogwood, Iraq, in 2004
ANTI-WAR campaigners said today that justice has been denied after the government confirmed that armed forces police have closed all investigations into alleged war crimes by British military personnel in Iraq.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced on Tuesday that the Service Police Legacy Investigations (SPLI) has “officially closed its doors,” having brought no prosecutions despite investigating 1,291 cases.
The minister said that he wanted to “draw a line under the legacy of our operations in Iraq,” after offering a brief apology that certain investigations in Iraq had failed to collect the required evidence.
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