The Washington Center for Human Rights (WCHR) is deeply troubled by revelations made by ex-members of the United Kingdom’s Special Forces that war crimes are rife within the ranks of their peers who have operated in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In disturbing eyewitness accounts broadcast by BBC Panorama, ex-SAS and SBS veterans reported a “lawless” situation where unarmed civilians, including children and handcuffed prisoners, were brutally murdered in a systematic fashion. One veteran claimed, “They handcuffed a boy and shot him. He was obviously a child, not even near fighting age.” Others spoke of “routine” murders, planting guns to create staged evidence, and falsifying records to avoid military justice.
Systematic abuse and high-level awareness
The evidence — collected from over 30 former UK Special Forces members — stretches across a decade and incriminates not only individuals but the wider UKSF command structure. “Everyone knew,” one veteran explained, exposing a deep-seated culture of impunity.
Allegations are:
- Cold-blooded killings of unarmed soldiers, wounded individuals, and prisoners.
- Psychological breakdown among the troops, with certain troops demonstrating “psychopathic tendencies” and a “mob psychology.”
- Made-up reports of operations cleaned up with the help of counsel to stifle possible investigations.
- Weapon planting — including the use of dummy grenades and small guns — to falsely rationalise deaths.
Witnesses also alleged that then-Prime Minister David Cameron was “repeatedly warned” about these illegal killings by Afghan leaders, including former President Hamid Karzai.
WCHR demands independent international inquiry
WCHR calls on the international community, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and NATO allies, to seek a transparent, independent inquiry into these claims. The UK Ministry of Defence’s current internal investigation, while welcome, is not sufficiently impartial to tackle crimes of this scale.
What the World is seeing is not merely battlefield misconduct — it is systemic, orchestrated cruelty facilitated by a culture of complicity and silence. These acts are war crimes and serious breaches of international humanitarian law. They deserve justice, and those responsible must be held to account.
The Washington Center for Human Rights urges:
- Immediate widening of the UK’s public inquiry to include the entire period of the allegations, rather than the present three-year window.
- Complete collaboration with global human rights and legal institutions, including possible ICC participation.
- Legal and psychological assistance to whistleblowers and impacted Afghan and Iraqi families.
- Public recognition and apology by the UK government for civilian deaths and institutional abuses.
- Reform of NATO and other allies’ military monitoring mechanisms to prevent future breaches.
This testimony could be the most extensive description to date of supposed war crimes by one of the globe’s most skilled military units. As human rights activists, we cannot let these serious abuses get buried beneath redacted reports and political convenience.