"Unmitigated Failure": 'IHAT' Iraq Investigation To Close In The Summer
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has announced that the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) will close as early as this summer.
Remaining investigations are set to drop to around 20 and be absorbed back into the service police.
It comes after a scathing report by the Defence committee said the probe into abuse claims against Iraq War veterans has been an "unmitigated failure".
It added that it had subjected serving and retired troops to "deeply disturbing" treatment and had "directly harmed" UK defences.
Johnny Mercer MP, chair of the sub-committee inquiry, said:
“Throughout this process there has been an almost total disregard of the welfare of soldiers and their families. We need to hold our people in the highest esteem and a repeat of IHAT must never be allowed to happen again.
"The MoD must take responsibility for allowing this to happen. They could have discriminated between credible and non-credible cases yet they lacked the will to do so."
MPs set out a litany of failures about the way the Ministry of Defence, which created IHAT, has handled the probe.
They blamed the department for empowering law firms to generate cases that lacked credibility on an "industrial scale".
Click below for Sir Michael's reaction...
MPs criticised the investigation for "serious" failings after it handed over more than £110,829 to Abu Jamal, an Iraqi middleman, while he was employed by Public Interest Lawyers (PIL), the defunct firm behind many of the claims.
The Chief of the General Staff, Sir Nicholas Carter, gave this reaction...
Phil Shiner, who ran PIL, has been struck off after being found to have acted dishonestly in bringing murder and torture claims against Iraq war veterans.
The committee said it was "deeply concerned" the MoD had used public funds to cover the costs of those who were bringing "spurious and unassessed" cases against the war veterans and about the lack of support for those accused.
IHAT investigators used "intimidatory tactics", including "deeply disturbing" methods such as impersonating the police. Serving and retired soldiers have also been spied on, the report found.
The damning report said the catalogue of serious failings in IHAT's conduct pointed to a loss of control in its management. It added:
"Both the MoD and IHAT have focused too much on satisfying the accusers and too little on defending those under investigation."
IHAT was set up by Labour in 2010 to assess claims of abuse by Iraqi civilians against troops who had served there.
It started out with 165 cases but the allegations rocketed. Most were generated by two law firms, PIL and Leigh Day.
The report states: "It is clear to us that legal firms were empowered by the MoD's approach to IHAT to generate cases against service personnel at an industrial level. The MoD cannot claim that it has been a victim of the industry; nor can it claim that it had no way of foreseeing the creation of this industry."
The government said it had not been able to shut down IHAT sooner because the conduct of the investigations is under scrutiny by the High Court and the International Criminal Court.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said:
"It was the MOD that supplied the main evidence that got Phil Shiner struck off for making false allegations against our Armed Forces. Exposing his dishonesty means many more claims he made can now be thrown out and the beginning of the end for IHAT. This will be a relief for our soldiers who have had allegations hanging over them for too long. Now we are taking action to stop such abuse of our legal system from happening again."
A statement from the Ministry of Defence said:
"The MOD understands the strain placed on our people involved in these proceedings and the department has done its utmost to stand by them - funding all their legal costs, providing pastoral support and tackling the fundamental issues in the legal system which has led to this process."
The ministry admitted that the Royal Military Police is set to discontinue around 90% of the 675 allegations of abuse from Afghanistan, many of which came from the law firm Leigh Day, which worked with Shiner on the Al Sweady allegations.
It added that in terms of legacy investigations relating to Northern Ireland, the government will ensure that veterans, and former police officers, are not dragged through the courts in disproportionate numbers compared with terrorists.
Chief of the General Staff General Sir Nicholas Carter, said:
“The Army's Leadership Code requires the highest values and standards. It is right therefore that on the occasions that there are credible allegations of unacceptable behaviour they should be investigated. However, a significant number of claims made against our soldiers have not been credible. The recent exposure of unscrupulous law firms and vexatious claims has clearly shown this to be the case."
"Mutual trust is at the heart of the Army Leadership Code as is the care of soldiers and their families. We therefore welcome the Government's commitment to ensuring we have the Nations confidence and the tools to do our jobs effectively on operations, free from the burden of unjust litigation."
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