[Reuters/ICC]: “Systemic and Inhumane” The Prosecution & Their Witnesses

Yesterday, in the ICC, as the case against Tony Blair soldiers on, the prosecution began bringing in their expert witnesses for rounds of cross-examination and testimony. 

The prosecutions’ witnesses included: (1.) Lt. Col. Nicholas Mercer, the Chief Legal Officer for the British Forces during the invasion and whistleblower of torture; (2.) Wolfgang Kaleck, General Secretary, Co-Founder and Representative of the ECCHR; and (3.) Sir William Gage, the Chairman of the Baha Mousa Public Inquiry – a high level investigation into the death of Iraqi civilian Baha Mousa and torture under UK forces. 

The testimonies all expressed similar beliefs, knowledge and experiences on Iraqi torture by UK forces. Broadly, they all held that these techniques were inhumane, systemic throughout Iraq, and known to the British government who should be held accountable. The defense council motioned to strike almost each testimony from the record, all of which were overruled by the honorable court. 

Key Takeaway from the Prosecutions’ Testimonies 

Lt. Col. Nicholas Mercer, brought crucial details to the case, purporting that he’d made countless attempts at communicating the severity of conditions and detainee treatment in UK-run prisons. Mercer reached out to Tony Blair, and other officials by phone and email, weeks after the invasion to report the torture tactics being used wide-spread. Mercer emphasized hooding of detainees and use of prolonged stress positions, methods which he felt were of no concern to the nations’ leaders. The motion to strike his testimony was denied, in this case. 

Wolfgang Kaleck, provided more concrete figures and timelines of treatment. Kaleck was speaking from a position of expertise in crafting a 250 page dossier on the war crimes committed by UK forces in Iraq, published in 2014. The dossier documented 400 cases of torture across the prison centers; numbers from which Kaleck stated that he found it “difficult to believe that Tony Blair was completely ignorant” to the use of torture. Torture focused on by Kaleck included sexual violence, rape and religious humiliation. The defenses’ motion to strike his testimony was also denied. 

Sir William Gage, had led the investigation of an Iraqi civilian death under the hand of the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment in 2003. Baha Mousa, a hotel receptionist, succumbed to 93 separate injuries inflicted on him by British forces, dying because of negligence and cruelty. Such was a general pattern in Iraq against innocent civilians, who were unjustly detained, tortured and interrogated. Gage conveyed his frustration at UK oversight of such violence, stating that this action resulted perhaps not from a direct systemic policy, but out of a cultural disregard for civilians subjected to their occupying presence. 

“It is not policy that created this culture of torture and violence it is the LACK of policy the LACK of discipline. This is the main reason for what happened in Iraq.” 

Gage’s words were ultimately stricken from the record, following a motion by the defense council. 

These testimonies painted a consistent picture of torture enabled by an institutional failure of leadership, accountability, and humanity at the highest levels of the British-U.S. occupation in Iraq.