Amnesty Condemns UK for Iraqi Civilian Deaths

Amnesty Condemns UK for Iraqi Civilian Deaths
By Kate Kelland

LONDON (Reuters) - Amnesty International accused the British government on Tuesday of undermining the rule of law in Iraq by failing properly to investigate suspected unlawful killings of Iraqi civilians by UK soldiers.

In a report released amid a storm of accusations about the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by both American and British forces, Amnesty said UK troops had breached international human rights standards by killing civilians who appeared to pose no threat.

"The British Army's response to suspected unlawful killing of civilians has undermined, rather than upheld, the rule of law," it said in the report.

"It has failed to conduct investigations into all killings of civilians, and the investigations that have been carried out have failed to ensure that justice was done and seen to be done in the eyes of the victims' families."

Amnesty highlighted nine specific cases of killings in the southern Iraqi areas of Basra and Amara, including one eight-year-old girl and a father of nine children who worked for 35 years as a security guard at a girls' school.

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