UK servicemen to face courts martial

The three are the first British troops to be charged with a war crime under the terms of the International Criminal Court Act 2001.

One of those charged under the Act, Corporal Donald Payne, 34, also faces an allegation of manslaughter.

They are among 11 servicemen charged in connection with two separate cases arising from incidents in Iraq.

In the second case, four servicemen are charged with manslaughter.

Although charged under the 2001 Act, the three servicemen involved in the first case will face proceedings before a military tribunal in this country, rather than being tried by the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

In a written Parliamentary statement issued last night, Attorney General Lord Goldsmith said that the Army Prosecuting Authority decided that in case one, seven servicemen should face a court martial.

Colonel Jorge Mendonca, 41, the highly decorated commanding officer of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment in Iraq at the time of the incident, who is now part of the Army's General Staff, is charged with negligently performing a duty, contrary to the Army Act 1955.

The case relates to incidents in the southern Iraqi city of Basra between September 13 and 15, 2003.

The accused are alleged to have committed a number of offences against Iraqi detainees who were arrested following a planned operation.

One of the detainees, hotel receptionist Baha Da'oud Salim Mousa, was allegedly inhumanely treated and killed by Corporal Payne, also of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment.

Corporal Payne is also alleged to have inhumanely treated other detainees.

He now faces charges of manslaughter, inhuman treatment of persons - the ICC Act offence - and perverting the course of justice.

It is further alleged that two other members of the regiment - Lance Corporal Wayne Crowcroft, 21, and Private Darren Fallon, 22 - inhumanely treated internees, who sustained injuries following repeated assaults. They too have been charged under the ICC Act.

A fourth regiment member, Sergeant Kelvin Stacey, 28, is alleged to have assaulted a detainee and faces a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm, alternatively common assault.

Warrant Officer Mark Davies, 36, and Major Michael Peebles, 34, both of the Intelligence Corps, are charged with neglecting to perform a duty and negligently performing a duty respectively.

Lord Goldsmith said that cases against all seven were reviewed by prosecutors at the Army Prosecuting Authority, which was satisfied that there is "a realistic prospect of convicting all defendants and that the prosecutions are in the public interest."

In the second case, the authority directed that four servicemen should stand trial for the manslaughter of Ahmed Jabbar Kareem Ali, another Iraqi civilian.

That allegation relates to an incident in Basra on 8 May, 2003.

It is alleged that the four servicemen detained four suspected looters, including Mr Ali.

The servicemen allegedly punched and kicked the looters before forcing them into the Shat Al-Basra canal. Mr Ali, who could not swim, drowned.

Three of those charged are: Sergeant Carle Selman, 38, of the Scots Guards; and Guardsman Martin McGing, 21, and Guardsman Joseph McCleary, 23, both of the Irish Guards.

Another 21-year-old Lance Corporal, also with the Irish Guards, has yet to be informed of the charge against him and has not yet been named.

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