Release of the Aitken
report - an investigation into cases of abuse and unlawful killing
in Iraq in 2003 and 2004
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
News Release (007/2008) issued by The Government News Network on 25
January 2008
The Ministry of
Defence has today released details of the report by Brigadier
Robert Aitken that sets out the Army's response to cases of
abuse and unlawful killing of civilians in Iraq in 2003 and the
early part of 2004.
The report focuses solely on instances where members of the
British Army are alleged or proven to have mistreated Iraqi
civilians. It found no evidence of systematic abuse by members of
the British Army but it identified areas for development to ensure
that those events will never be repeated.
The report made three recommendations for the Army:
* It must learn and implement lessons from the disciplinary
process in the same way that it does for wider operational issues;
* It needs to find better ways to entrench its core values and
standards of behaviour and discipline into the everyday lives of personnel;
* It must ensure that administrative action is used correctly.
Following the release of the report, The Chief of the General
Staff, General Sir Richard Dannatt, said:
"The British Army has performed to the highest standards
under extraordinarily testing conditions in Iraq. But I take no
pride in the conduct of a very small number of our people who
deliberately abused Iraqi civilians during 2003 and the early part
of 2004.
"This report is rightly critical of our performance in a
number of areas and it catalogues the significant number of steps
we have already taken towards ensuring that such behaviour is not
repeated. I am now satisfied that we have put in place measures
which ensure that, as far as is humanly possible, there should be
no repetition of this behaviour."
The Defence Secretary, Des Browne said:
'These are extremely important issues for the Army. I
welcome this report and support the actions that CGS and the Army
have taken to try and prevent any recurrence. The British public
should be reassured that such behaviour is not representative of
our thoroughly professional and disciplined armed forces.'
Note to Editors:
1. The report can be obtained from the MoD Website http://www.mod.uk.
2. The author of the report is Brigadier Robert Aitken. He was
commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Wales in 1977 and has
served in Bosnia, where he was Commander British Forces for the
six months prior to becoming Commander 160 (Wales) Brigade in May
2001. He attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in 2004 and
assumed his current appointment as Director of Army Personnel
Strategy in December 2004.