The International Criminal Court (ICC) will not prosecute Tony Blair for war crimes related to the 2003 Iraq War, according to the Telegraph. The ICC said [Telegraph report] Saturday that the decision “by the UK to go to war in Iraq falls outside the Court’s jurisdiction.” The ICC also said that it will be analyzing the “Chilcot Report” for evidence of war crimes committed by British soldiers. Mr. Blair served as the Prime Minister of UK throughout the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Iraq War [JURIST backgrounder] has been plagued with accusations of war crimes and atrocities, aimed at the different parties and countries involved in the conflict. The “Chilcot Report” is an inquiry into the Iraq War. The inquiry will examine the period before the UK ended their troop presence in Iraq in 2009 and after the summer before the September 11 attacks. The report has been named after the inquiry’s chair, Sir John Chilcot and it has been reported that the inquiry’s objective was not to answer [Guardian report] whether the Iraq War was legal. The report has taken approximately seven years to culminate and will be published on Wednesday.