UK government to close Iraq abuse investigation unit

'False claims' made by lawyers representing alleged abuse victims leads to dissolution of Iraq Historical Allegations Team after almost seven years of investigations.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

11 February, 2017

IHAT will be wound up over the summer, leaving remaining cases to army police [Getty]

The UK government has said it will close down a unit investigating claims of historic torture and unlawful killing by British soldiers in Iraq.

The move follows revelations that a law firm representing alleged victims made false claims.

"This will be a huge relief to hundreds of British troops who have had these quite unfair allegations hanging over them," Defence Minister Michael Fallon said in a statement.

"We will put in place new measures now to ensure this never happens again and that there are proper safeguards to prevent completely malicious and unfounded allegations being made against our brave servicemen and women."

Set up in 2010, the Iraq Historic Allegations Team [IHAT] has looked into over 1,700 allegations of mistreatment or unlawful killings.

No convictions have resulted from the inquiries.

In December, human rights lawyer Paul Shiner admitted to misconduct charges over his handling of allegations of abuse.

Shiner has said he paid an agent to find him clients and acting improperly in claiming UK armed forces mistreated and murdered civilians.

His now-defunct firm Public Interest Lawyers brought forward more than 2,000 cases against the ministry of defence.

In December, IHAT said it expected to be investigating around 60 cases in mid-2017, with more due to be completed by the end of 2019.

The new announcement, however, means that the body will be closed over the summer, with a few remaining allegations to be taken over by the armed forces' police services.