British war crimes: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia
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Line 1: {{Short description|War crimes perpetrated by the United Kingdom and its armed forces}}
{{Original research|date=March 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} Line 283 ⟶ 280: === Headhunting and scalping === {{Main|British Malayan headhunting scandal}} During the war, British and Commonwealth forces hired [[Iban people|Iban]] (Dyak) headhunters from [[Borneo]] to decapitate suspected MNLA members, arguing that this was done for identification purposes.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Harrison |first=Simon |title=Dark Trophies: Hunting and the Enemy Body in Modern War |publisher=Berghahn |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-78238-520-2 |location=Oxford |pages=158 |language=English}}</ref> Iban headhunters were also permitted by British military leaders to take the scalps of corpses to be kept as trophies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hack |first=Karl |title=The Malayan Emergency: Revolution and Counterinsurgency at the End of Empire |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2022 |location=Cambridge |pages=318}}</ref> However, in practice this led to British troops taking the severed heads of Malayan people as trophies.<ref name=":1" /> After the practice of headhunting in Malaya by Ibans had been exposed to the public, the Foreign Office first tried to deny that the practice existed, before then trying to justify Iban headhunting and conduct damage control in the press.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Hack |first=Karl |title=The Malayan Emergency: Revolution and Counterinsurgency at the End of Empire |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2022 |location=Cambridge |pages=316}}</ref> Privately, the Colonial Office noted that "there is no doubt that under [[international law]] a similar case in wartime would be a war crime".<ref name="MAL2">{{cite book |author=Fujio Hara |title=Malaysian Chinese & China: Conversion in Identity Consciousness, 1945–1957 |date=December 2002 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |pages=61–65}}</ref><ref name="Mark Curtis 61–71">{{cite book |author=Mark Curtis |title=The Ambiguities of Power: British Foreign Policy Since 1945 |date=15 August 1995 |pages=61–71}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> One of the trophy heads was later found to have been displayed in a British regimental museum.<ref name=":1" /> In 1952, April, the [[Communist Party of Great Britain|British communist]] newspaper the [[Morning Star (British newspaper)|''Daily Worker'']] (today known as the [[Morning Star (British newspaper)|''Morning Star'']]) published a photograph of British [[Royal Marines]] in a British military base in Malaya openly posing with decapitated human heads.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hack |first=Karl |title=The Malayan Emergency: Revolution and Counterinsurgency at the End of Empire |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2022 |location=Cambridge |pages=315}}</ref> Initially British government spokespersons belonging to the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]] and the [[Colonial Office]] claimed the photograph was fake. In response to the accusations that their headhunting photograph was fake, the ''Daily Worker'' released yet another photograph taken in Malaya showing British soldiers posing with a severed head. However, Colonial Secretary [[Oliver Lyttelton]] (after confirmation from Field-Marshal [[Gerald Templer]]) confirmed to parliament that the photos were indeed genuine.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Peng |first1=Chin |title=Alias Chin Peng: My Side of History |last2=Ward |first2=Ian |last3=Miraflor |first3=Norma |publisher=Media Masters |year=2003 |isbn=981-04-8693-6 |location=Singapore |pages=302}}</ref> In response to the ''Daily Worker'' articles exposing the decapitation of MNLA suspects, the practice was banned by Winston Churchill who feared that such photographs would give ammunition to communist propaganda.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hack |first=Karl |title=The Malayan Emergency: Revolution and Counterinsurgency at the End of Empire |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2022 |location=Cambridge |pages=317}}</ref> Line 334 ⟶ 332: ===Kiruara massacre===
The Kiruara Massacre occurred on the 23 November 1952. British security forces were called to a crowd of Kikuyu who had gathered to hear the prophecies of a man who claimed to have seen a vision foreshadowing the end of colonial rule. After the crowd failed to disperse, the authorities opened fire with Sten guns. While the official death toll for the massacre stood at fifteen, it has been claimed that the death toll may have been as high as four hundred.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Elkins |first=Caroline |title=Britain's gulag: the brutal end of empire in Kenya |date=2005 |publisher=Pimlico |isbn=978-1-84413-548-6 |edition=Pimlico |series=Pimlico |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=David |title=Histories of the hanged: the dirty war in Kenya and the end of empire |date=2005 |publisher=Norton |isbn=978-0-393-32754-0 |edition=1. American |location=New York, NY}}</ref> Line 341 ⟶ 338: [[The Troubles]] in Northern Ireland was a three-decade-long ethnic-nationalist conflict between [[Ulster loyalism|Ulster loyalists]] (primarily the [[Ulster Volunteer Force]] and [[Ulster Defence Association]]) and [[Irish nationalism|Irish nationalists]] (primarily the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]]) in the region. Due to the escalating tension, the British Army was deployed into the region in 1969 to serve as a peacekeeping force under the task force [[Operation Banner]]. The soldiers were initially welcomed by the Catholic population; the relieve of the RUC from some security duties and the disbandment of the [[Ulster Special Constabulary|B specials]] brought hope that discrimination and heavy-handedness would be rooted out. The confidence in the British army, however, had vanished by April 1970, when British forces used gas canisters to quell a Catholic demonstration at Ballymurphy and later in July imposed a curfew to search for weapons in the Catholic district of Lower Falls.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alpha History |date=2020-08-02 |title=Operation Banner: the British Army in Northern Ireland |url=https://alphahistory.com/northernireland/operation-banner/ |access-date=2023-09-19 |website=Northern Ireland |language=en-US}}</ref> The main opposition to the British military's deployment came from the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA). It waged [[Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign 1969–1997|a guerrilla campaign]] against the British military [[Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions|from 1970 to 1997]]. During the Troubles, British Army personnel have been accused of war crimes,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fisk|first=Robert|date=16 May 2019|title=From the Middle East to Northern Ireland, western states are all too happy to avoid culpability for war crimes {{!}} The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/amnesty-war-crime-britain-us-trump-michael-behenna-pardon-iraq-a8916346.html|access-date=2021-10-30|website=www.independent.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=13 April 2021|title=British House of Lords votes down controversial 'war crimes' bill {{!}} Tamil Guardian|url=https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/british-house-lords-votes-down-controversial-war-crimes-bill|access-date=2021-10-31|website=www.tamilguardian.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Black |first=Rebecca |date=2021-09-25 |title=Protests take place across Ireland against British legacy proposals over Troubles |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-40706420.html |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=Irish Examiner |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=Patrick |date=24 July 2021 |title=Amnesty proposal is Nothing New for Britain - Patrick Murphy, Irish News |url=https://www.truthrecoveryprocess.ie/newsupdates/amnesty-proposal-is-nothing-new-for-britain-patrick-murphy-irish-news |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=[[Irish News]] |publisher=Truth Recovery Process |language=en-IE}}</ref> mainly in nationalist areas. The deadliest incident happened in January 1972 on [[Bloody Sunday (1972)|Bloody Sunday]], when British paratroopers killed 14 civilians and injured several more at a protest held by the [[Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association]] (NICRA). Another major incident took place at [[Ballymurphy massacre|Ballymurphy]], Belfast, where eleven [[Irish Catholics]] were killed by British Army snipers in August 1971.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Robinson|first=Joseph|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oqAvDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Northern+Ireland%22+%22war+crimes%22+%22Bloody+Sunday%22&pg=PT164|title=Transitional Justice and the Politics of Inscription: Memory, Space and Narrative in Northern Ireland|publisher=Routledge|year=2017|isbn=978-1-351-96676-4|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-10-18|title=How a generation recalls the reality of Belfast's streets in 1971|url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/19/71-vivid-memories-of-the-troubles|access-date=2021-10-31|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref> In the course of the already mentioned [[Falls Curfew]], in July 1970, four civilians were shot dead and at least 60 wounded.<ref name="hennessey">Hennessey, Thomas. ''The evolution of the Troubles, 1970–72''. Irish Academic Press, 2007. pp. 40–41</ref> Later in the conflict, there were other attacks against civilians involving the British Army, like the [[1992 Coalisland riots|riots in Coalisland]] in 1992<ref>{{Cite web |last=McKittrick |first=David |date=17 May 1993 |title=Coalisland 'soldiers not entirely innocent': Five paratroopers bound |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/coalisland-soldiers-not-entirely-innocent-five-paratroopers-bound-over-by-court-2323551.html |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> or the killings of [[Pitchfork murders|Michael Naan and Andrew Murray]] in [[County Fermanagh]] in 1972,<ref>{{Citation |title=Murder: The Killing of Michael Naan and Andrew Murray |date=2018 |work=An Army of Tribes: British Army Cohesion, Deviancy and Murder in Northern Ireland |pages=227–332 |editor-last=Burke |editor-first=Edward |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/an-army-of-tribes/murder-the-killing-of-michael-naan-and-andrew-murray/98705B97D7E726655F0A1F7D500A2267 |access-date=2023-11-27 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |isbn=978-1-78694-097-1}}</ref> [[Killing of Majella O'Hare|Majella O'Hare]] in [[County Armagh]] in ===Collusion between British security forces and loyalist paramilitaries=== Line 392 ⟶ 389: ===Iraq War=== {{Seealso|Casualties of the Iraq War}} During the [[Iraq War]], the illegal use of the [[five techniques]] by British service members contributed to the [[death of Baha Mousa]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-14825889 "Baha Mousa inquiry: 'Serious discipline breach' by army"]. ''BBC News''. 8 September 2011.</ref> On 19 September 2006, Corporal [[Donald Payne (British Army soldier)|Donald Payne]] pleaded guilty to a charge of inhumane treatment to persons, making him the first member of the British armed forces to plead guilty to a war crime.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2365393,00.html | title=British soldier is first to admit war crime | author=Devika Bhat |author2=Jenny Booth | date=September 19, 2006 | work=Times Online | location=London}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> He was subsequently jailed for one year and expelled from the army. Six other soldiers were cleared of any charges.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6609237.stm | title=UK soldier jailed over Iraq abuse | work=BBC News | date=30 April 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070915051032/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6609237.stm | archive-date=2007-09-15 | url-status=live }}</ref> [[Stuart McKinnon|Mr Justice McKinnon]] suggested that he believed there had been some level of covering-up with relation to the case.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/the-victims-of-war-93-injuries-one-killing-no-justice-440756.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091227073748/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/the-victims-of-war-93-injuries-one-killing-no-justice-440756.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=27 December 2009 | title=The victims of war: 93 injuries, one killing, no justice | work=The Independent | date=18 March 2007 | location=London | first=Raymond | last=Whitaker}}</ref> In 2021, the [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom]] found that the use of the five techniques amounts to [[torture]].<ref>[https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2020-0019-judgment.pdf "Judgement - In the matter of an application by Margaret McQuillan for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) (Nos 1, 2 and 3) In the matter of an application by Francis McGuigan for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) (Nos 1, 2 and 3) In the matter of an application by Mary McKenna for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) (Nos 1 and 2)" para. 186-188]</ref> ===Afghanistan War=== | |||