Armed Forces Bill

Clearly, these charges are being brought under English law. Charges cannot be brought in any other way in an English court. The question still arises whether they would have been brought had it not been for the existence of the ICC. The Secretary of State will be aware that in a debate in the other place on 14 July a number of significant contributions were made. I draw the Secretary of State’s attention to the contribution of Lord Campbell of Alloway, who spent five years in Colditz. He is not a man who is unfamiliar with military matters. He drew attention to a letter that had been sent by the Adjutant-General on 24 March to ““CGS and CIC Land”” in respect of what I think was Trooper Williams’ case. My hon. Friend the Member for Canterbury referred to it and it is worth putting it on the record again. The Adjutant-General wrote:"““With current legal, political and ginger group interest in the deaths of Iraqi civilians during operation telic: our investigation and subsequent failure to offer for prosecution could become a cause celebre for pressure groups, and a significant threat to the military justice system.””" I submit that it is not a threat to the military justice system; it is a threat to our armed forces. They are being treated in a fashion where they are being used effectively as guinea pigs to satisfy a demand for what amounts to a pretty rough justice. In that letter, one of the most senior generals in the British Army said that we were under pressure to bring prosecutions. That is not acceptable.