British soldiers accused of shooting without provocation

LONDON – British soldiers have shot and killed Iraqi civilians, including an 8-year-old girl, in situations where the troops were under no apparent threat, Amnesty International alleged yesterday.

Prime Minister Tony Blair’s official spokesman rejected calls for an independent investigation, and said the Royal Military Police’s Special Investigations Branch was already probing the claims. The human rights group’s report said the military had failed to investigate many cases in which British soldiers killed civilians in Iraq, and that the inquiries they did undertake were too secretive.Kate Allen, the director of Amnesty International UK, called for independent inquiries into each of the 37 cases the organisation had raised.Of those, 18 are being investigated, she said.”This really isn’t independent or adequate enough,” she told BBC radio yesterday.Blair’s official spokesman, however, said “all the cases raised by Amnesty the MoD (Ministry of Defense) are already aware of and they have been addressed by the military.” “That means they are under investigation or have been investigated.The Special Investigations Branch has a long track record of investigating cases and allegations made against British troops.They have a long track record of establishing the truth in such matters,” Blair’s spokesman said, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity.The Ministry of Defense told The Associated Press that it would comment after it had examined the allegations in detail.Amnesty also reported that armed groups and individuals had killed dozens or possibly hundreds of civilians in British-controlled southern Iraq, and many people were afraid to even discuss the killings.It said Iraqis had little confidence that the British military or Iraqi police could protect them.”We are told in the UK that southern Iraq is comparatively safe and secure.Yet Iraqis on the ground have painted a very different picture,” Allen said.”People live in fear of armed groups who can strike with seeming impunity.” Amnesty said the allegations of killings by British forces were based on its representatives’ visits to southern Iraq in February and March.The delegates interviewed shooting victims’ families, witnesses, Iraqi police officers and Coalition Provisional Authority officials, the report said.The group said it could not estimate how many Iraqi civilian deaths British troops had caused.It said a soldier from the 1st Battalion of the King’s Regiment fatally shot Hanan Saleh Matrud, 8, in a town called Karmat ‘Ali in August.The group said a witness, Mizher Jabbar Yassin, had told Amnesty researchers a soldier aimed at Hanan and shot her from about 60 metres away.Amnesty quoted a letter from the First Battalion of the King’s Regiment that said soldiers had fired a warning shot near a mob that was throwing stones at a British patrol, and a few minutes later saw that Hanan had suffered a serious abdominal wound.”The suggestion was that this wound (was) sustained as a result of the warning shot, which has not been proven, but accepted as a possibility,” Amnesty quoted the letter as saying.Amnesty also criticised the British military’s investigative procedures, saying officers had too much discretion in deciding whether to launch an inquiry when a civilian was killed.The group also said investigations should be far more open.Britain’s Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said Monday that published photos purportedly showing British troops abusing Iraqi prisoners appeared “increasingly like a hoax.” Hoon said the type of truck seen in the photos was not deployed by British forces in Iraq.- Nampa-APThe human rights group’s report said the military had failed to investigate many cases in which British soldiers killed civilians in Iraq, and that the inquiries they did undertake were too secretive.Kate Allen, the director of Amnesty International UK, called for independent inquiries into each of the 37 cases the organisation had raised.Of those, 18 are being investigated, she said.”This really isn’t independent or adequate enough,” she told BBC radio yesterday.Blair’s official spokesman, however, said “all the cases raised by Amnesty the MoD (Ministry of Defense) are already aware of and they have been addressed by the military.” “That means they are under investigation or have been investigated.The Special Investigations Branch has a long track record of investigating cases and allegations made against British troops.They have a long track record of establishing the truth in such matters,” Blair’s spokesman said, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity.The Ministry of Defense told The Associated Press that it would comment after it had examined the allegations in detail.Amnesty also reported that armed groups and individuals had killed dozens or possibly hundreds of civilians in British-controlled southern Iraq, and many people were afraid to even discuss the killings.It said Iraqis had little confidence that the British military or Iraqi police could protect them.”We are told in the UK that southern Iraq is comparatively safe and secure.Yet Iraqis on the ground have painted a very different picture,” Allen said.”People live in fear of armed groups who can strike with seeming impunity.” Amnesty said the allegations of killings by British forces were based on its representatives’ visits to southern Iraq in February and March.The delegates interviewed shooting victims’ families, witnesses, Iraqi police officers and Coalition Provisional Authority officials, the report said.The group said it could not estimate how many Iraqi civilian deaths British troops had caused.It said a soldier from the 1st Battalion of the King’s Regiment fatally shot Hanan Saleh Matrud, 8, in a town called Karmat ‘Ali in August.The group said a witness, Mizher Jabbar Yassin, had told Amnesty researchers a soldier aimed at Hanan and shot her from about 60 metres away.Amnesty quoted a letter from the First Battalion of the King’s Regiment that said soldiers had fired a warning shot near a mob that was throwing stones at a British patrol, and a few minutes later saw that Hanan had suffered a serious abdominal wound.”The suggestion was that this wound (was) sustained as a result of the warning shot, which has not been proven, but accepted as a possibility,” Amnesty quoted the letter as saying.Amnesty also criticised the British military’s investigative procedures, saying officers had too much discretion in deciding whether to launch an inquiry when a civilian was killed.The group also said investigations should be far more open.Britain’s Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said Monday that published photos purportedly showing British troops abusing Iraqi prisoners appeared “increasingly like a hoax.” Hoon said the type of truck seen in the photos was not deployed by British forces in Iraq.- Nampa-AP