Dec 4, 2017

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said Monday there is a "reasonable basis" to believe that some British soldiers committed war crimes after the US-led invasion of Iraq.

The disclosure came in a 74-page report on preliminary inquiries as the ICC's member states gather in New York for its annual nine-day meeting to discuss matters relating to the tribunal.

"Following a thorough factual and legal assessment of the information available... there is reasonable basis to believe that members of the UK armed forces committed war crimes, within the jurisdiction of the Court, against persons in their custody," Bensouda said.

The Hague-based prosecutor in 2014 reopened an initial probe into war crimes allegations relating to prisoner abuse after rights groups and lawyers alleged that at least 1,071 Iraqi detainees were tortured and ill-treated between March 2003 to Dece

mber 2008.