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Three UK armed forces personnel are being investigated by military lawyers over the alleged abuse of Iraqi detainees, a court has been told.
They have been referred to prosecutors and could face war crimes charges.
The High Court is being asked to order a public inquiry into mistreatment claims by more than 200 civilians in UK-controlled detention sites in Iraq.
A government lawyer revealed the ongoing inquiry as he argued that a public probe was unnecessary.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We have acknowledged that if these allegations do prove to be true then they could be prosecuted as war crimes under the ICC [International Criminal Court].
"That is why we have set up the Iraq Historical Allegations Team to investigate allegations thoroughly. They remain allegations and if untrue, making such serious allegations falsely would be a heinous slur on members of the Army."
The judges reserved judgement in the case.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Three UK armed forces personnel are being investigated by military lawyers over the alleged abuse of Iraqi detainees, a court has been told.
They have been referred to prosecutors and could face war crimes charges.
The High Court is being asked to order a public inquiry into mistreatment claims by more than 200 civilians in UK-controlled detention sites in Iraq.
A government lawyer revealed the ongoing inquiry as he argued that a public probe was unnecessary.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We have acknowledged that if these allegations do prove to be true then they could be prosecuted as war crimes under the ICC [International Criminal Court].
"That is why we have set up the Iraq Historical Allegations Team to investigate allegations thoroughly. They remain allegations and if untrue, making such serious allegations falsely would be a heinous slur on members of the Army."
The judges reserved judgement in the case.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.