Detainee Abuse During Op Telic ― ??Few Rotten Apples'?

The United Kingdom is the first Western democratic state to be subject to a preliminary examination by the International Criminal Court. The focus of the examination is the conduct of British personnel in Iraq who are accused of systemic and systematic abuse of detainees. This book reviews the substantive allegations of ill-treatment during detention operations including arrest, transit and tactical questioning and interrogation. Challenging the notion of 'a few rotten apples' being responsible for the abuse, the distinction between dispositional and situational behaviour is examined with a particular emphasis upon powerful psychological states, for example, dehumanisation, and the importance of specific training, adequate resources and effective leadership to counteract these adverse influences. To contextualise the alleged abuse, the Legal Paradigm is reviewed featuring the uneasy relationship between international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including the recent case of Serdar Mohammed.

Group Captain Tim Wood LLM MA RAF (retired) is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies, Massey University, New Zealand. While in the RAF, he deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as the legal adviser to the Commander. His final RAF post was with the Iraq Historic Allegations Prosecution Team.