BBC report on unlawful SAS killings 'broadly accurate', MoD concluded

Ministry of Defence officials concluded privately successful a 2019 missive that allegations to beryllium aired successful an upcoming BBC Panorama connected alleged SAS warfare crimes were “broadly accurate”.

Despite the interior warning, the MoD’s effect successful 2019 sought to contradict the claims, pointing retired Royal Military Police investigations into the alleged warfare crimes had resulted successful nary prosecutions.

The letter, from a elder MoD authoritative to then-defence caput Sir Ben Wallace, was 1 of respective interior documents cited connected Monday astatine the Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan.

The enquiry is examining whether determination is credible grounds that the SAS unlawfully killed radical connected nighttime raids.

Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials concluded privately successful a 2019 missive that allegations to beryllium aired successful an upcoming BBC Panorama connected alleged SAS warfare crimes were “broadly accurate”.

Despite the interior warning, the MoD’s effect successful 2019 sought to contradict the claims, pointing retired Royal Military Police (RMP) investigations into the alleged warfare crimes had resulted successful nary prosecutions.

The letter, from a elder MoD authoritative to then-defence caput Sir Ben Wallace, was 1 of respective interior documents cited connected Monday astatine the Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan.

The enquiry is examining whether determination is credible grounds that the SAS unlawfully killed radical connected nighttime raids and whether the RMP investigations into the alleged killings were adequate.

The missive informed Sir Ben that “the level of detail” successful Panorama’s petition for remark “suggests they person spoken to well-placed sources”.

It went connected to pass him that determination was “a hazard that these sources volition person provided Panorama with documents that volition alteration them to substantiate these allegations”.

The petition from the BBC related to allegations that the SAS had repeatedly killed unarmed detainees and civilians connected nighttime raids successful Afghanistan, arsenic good arsenic allegations that RMP investigations into the alleged killings had been improperly closed down.

The BBC subsequently reported successful 2022 that 1 SAS portion had unlawfully killed 54 radical successful in 1 six-month tour.

Sir Ben told the enquiry that helium had ever wanted to get to the bottommost of the allegations against the SAS, and that erstwhile made alert of concerns astir peculiar forces operations successful Afghanistan helium had repeatedly sought much accusation astir those concerns.

The interior MoD documents disclosed successful tribunal connected Monday showed that, contempt the department’s decision that determination were “broadly accurate” allegations successful the missive from the BBC, officials “should proceed to defy allegations of wide systemic maltreatment and transgression behaviour” and “should rebut Panorama’s allegations astir investigations and decisions being improperly influenced”.

Another papers shown successful tribunal revealed that earlier signing disconnected the reply to the BBC’s petition for comment, Sir Ben had sought retired and work a classified memo written by a precise elder subordinate of UK Special Forces that outlined superior concerns implicit alleged SAS murders successful Afghanistan.

The memo, written successful April 2011, said that determination appeared to beryllium "an unofficial policy" among SAS squadrons to termination immoderate fighting-age Afghan antheral during a raid "regardless of the contiguous menace they airs to our troops".

It added: "In immoderate instances this has progressive the deliberate sidesplitting of individuals aft they person been restrained by [the SAS] and the consequent fabrication of grounds to suggest a lawful sidesplitting successful self-defence."

The BBC revealed past twelvemonth that the memo was locked distant successful a safe, contempt a instrumentality which requires each commanding serviceman successful the equipped forces to study immoderate grounds of warfare crimes to the Royal Military Police.

Asked astir the memo successful tribunal connected Monday, Sir Ben said the memo was a “very important papers and the allegations that followed from it were precise important”.

He added that helium was “concerned” astir the contents of the memo, “but I besides notation you to the day – it was a decennary earlier my time”.

Sir Ben said helium would person expected the commanding serviceman of the peculiar forces portion responsible, and the then-director peculiar Forces, General Jonathan Page, to notation the allegations to the RMP.

“There was nary excuse for the commanding serviceman oregon the Director Special Forces not to person referred that to police,” helium said. “It is inexcusable.”

Pressed by the enquiry squad astir whether helium had sought retired the root of the allegations successful the memo – a whistleblower from wrong peculiar forces – Sir Ben acknowledged that helium had not.

At the clip Panorama wrote to the MoD up of its programme, successful 2019, the ministry was preparing to denote the closure of Operation Northmoor, a wide-ranging RMP probe into much than 600 allegations against the British military.

Northmoor was closed down successful precocious 2019 with nary charges. Senior officers from the RMP’s Northmoor squad person told the BBC that their probe was closed prematurely, contempt the squad having obtained credible grounds suggesting UK Special Forces committed extrajudicial killings successful Afghanistan.

One papers shown successful tribunal connected Monday, titled “How to code the allegations raised successful the Panorama letter”, shows that MoD officials were pushing to denote the closure of Operation Northmoor up of the airing of the BBC programme.

Ben Sanders, the lawman manager of the MoD’s Department of Judicial Engagement Policy, wrote to Sir Ben advising that:

“BBC Panorama are finalising a programme – which we expect to beryllium highly captious – connected the humanities transgression investigations from Afghanistan and Iraq … It would beryllium highly advantageous for MoD to denote the closure of Operation Northmoor successful advance.”

Sir Ben told the enquiry connected Monday that helium did not travel Mr Sanders’ advice, and alternatively instructed that the closure not beryllium announced earlier the programme aired.

He told the tribunal that helium believed announcing the closure up of the programme would beryllium ill-advised earlier knowing the nonstop contents of the broadcast. He added that Mr Sanders’ missive was “one submission compared to each the different submissions saying ‘all was fine’”.

Asked by the Oliver Glasgow KC, a barrister for the enquiry team, whether helium followed up with Mr Sanders to enquire however the MoD ineligible authoritative had travel to the decision that the allegations were “broadly accurate”, Sir Ben replied that helium did not.

Get successful interaction utilizing SecureDrop, a highly anonymous and unafraid mode of whistleblowing to the BBC which uses the TOR network.

Or by utilizing the Signal messaging app, an end-to-end encrypted connection work designed to support your data.

SecureDrop: http://kt2bqe753wj6dgarak2ryj4d6a5tccrivbvod5ab3uxhug5fi624vsqd.onion/

Signal: 0044 7714 956 936

Please enactment that the SecureDrop nexus volition lone enactment successful a Tor browser. For accusation connected keeping unafraid and anonymous, here's immoderate proposal connected how to usage SecureDrop.