London, Jan 13
British government has rejected accusations of "systematic" torture of Iraqis by the British armed forces in Iraq after lawyers and public interest groups made a formal complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
"The Government has always been clear, and the armed forces have always been clear, that they absolutely reject allegations of systematic abuse by the British armed forces," Xinhua reported citing British Foreign Secretary William Hague in a televised statement.
British law firm Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) and Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) made a formal complaint to the ICC Saturday, to push for an investigation into the alleged war crimes committed by British politicians and senior military figures, according to a BBC report.
The cases of over 400 Iraqis involve "thousands of allegations of mistreatment amounting to war crimes of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment," according to a dossier submitted by the two groups to ICC.
By:IANS