MOSCOW, January 12 (RAPSI, Ingrid Burke) - Legal advocacy groups filed a communication with the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) requesting that action be taken in connection with abuses and mistreatments allegedly carried out by UK forces against Iraqi detainees between 2003 and 2008, according to a statement released by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) Friday.

According to the statement, the 250-page communication was filed jointly by the ECCHR and a second advocacy group, Public Interest Lawyers Birmingham UK (PIL).

Featuring factual and legal analyses stemming from accounts brought forward by upwards of 400 former detainees that claim to have been subjected to “grave mistreatment” by UK and multinational forces in Iraq during the five-year period, the communication concludes – in the words of the statement – “that the systemic abuse against detainees during the UK’s presence in Iraq meets the threshold of war crimes.”

Asserting that the UK has failed to adequately investigate and prosecute those considered to be most responsible for the alleged abuses, the statement explains that the organizations are now urging the ICC to launch a formal probe targeting certain high-ranking civilians and military officials.

By way of names, the statement notes: “In particular, Secretary of State Defense Geoffrey Hoon, and former Minister of State for the Service Personnel Adam Ingram knew or should have known of the widespread patterns of abuse, and turned a blind eye to them.”

In February 2006, former ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo issued a letter stating that the OTP had received upwards of 240 communications expressing concerns about the situation in Iraq, and then outlining the reasons that an investigation at that point and in that context would have been impossible.

In the words of the letter: “While sharing regret over the loss of life caused by the war and its aftermath, as the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, I have a very specific role and mandate, as specified in the Rome Statute. My responsibility is to carry out a preliminary phase of gathering and analysing information. I can seek to initiate an investigation only if the available information satisfies the criteria of the Statute.”

The OTP analysis featured a variety of considerations, including: the OTP’s mandate, issues of personal and territorial jurisdiction, allegations regarding the legality of the conflict, alleged war crimes – including specifically “Allegations concerning wilful killing or inhuman treatment of civilians,” and admissibility issues.

With regard to the willful killing and inhuman treatment of civilian allegations, the letter explained: “After analyzing all the available information, it was concluded that there was a reasonable basis to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court had been committed, namely wilful killing and inhuman treatment. The information available at this time supports a reasonable basis for an estimated 4 to 12 victims of wilful killing and a limited number of victims of inhuman treatment, totaling in all less than 20 persons.”

More broadly, the office concluded that at that point, the statutory threshold to launch an investigation into the Iraq situation had not been met.

Still, the letter noted, “This conclusion can be reconsidered in the light of new facts or evidence.”

With reference to the 2006 decision, Friday’s ECCHR statement asserted: “Eight years later, it is clear that an investigation by the OTP is not only proper, but compelling. Hundreds of abuse allegations, spanning across time, technique and location indicate that the UK military had a sustained policy of committing abuse against Iraqi detainees in order to prepare them for interrogation. This alone warrants the ICC to intervene.”