British Prime Minister Theresa May. AFP.
London (dpa) – The British government on Tuesday announced measures to end “vexatious” claims against its troops, saying it planned to remove the application of European human rights law to future conflicts.
“Over the past decade a series of court judgments have extended the extra-territorial jurisdiction of the European Convention on Human Rights to the battlefield,” the government said in a statement.
Exempting British troops from the human rights convention will protect them “from the kind of persistent legal claims that have followed recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan on an industrial scale,” it said.
“It will help to protect our troops from vexatious claims, ensuring they can confidently take difficult decisions on the battlefield,” Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said.
Fallon said the change will allow Britain “to spend more of our growing defence budget on equipment for them rather than fees for lawyers.”
“Combined with the biggest defence budget in Europe, the action we are laying out today means we will continue to play our part on the world stage, protecting UK interests across the globe,” Prime Minister Theresa May said.
Opting out of human rights during war. Why is this an “opt out” situation? Soldiers, regardless of what side of anything they find themselves on, often commit despicable acts, that’s hardly any sort of secret. There has to be some way to stop full scale despicable acts, at the very least, acknowledging that everyone on a field is human, and has fundamental rights is one small way to keep people accountable, but now it’s opt out. I am appalled.
Via Raw Story.
The UK has just become, by its own action, an explicit outlaw state.
I guess the UK would be very upset if others decided to “opt out” of human rights when it comes to UK citizens.
Together with plans to force doctors to work for the NHS for little money, schools to disclose immigration status of students, companies to disclose their non-British workers (will they have to wear some sort of sign on their lapels?) and the hostage-holding of EU citizens working in the UK as bargaining chips, Britain is sliding into fully throated fascism following Brexit. Time they got out of the EU, we have enough fascists with Orban.
Can I “opt out” of having my taxes go to the DoD?
The US has basically asserted that the international humanitarian law just doesn’t apply to it -- thus it is not possible to commit war crimes. Genius!!
Oh, those vexatious claims and those pesky people in foreign countries! Can’t they just accept the peace and democracy being brought to them in a hail of lead? Honestly, it’s for their own good.
This government has a history of labelling awkward claims of wrongdoing as “vexatious.” Why, it’s almost as if the country were being run by a bunch of over-privileged, toffee-nosed, public-school* Hooray-Henries who’ve grown up with the idea “accountability” is a concept which applies only to others. As if that could ever be the case…
*Which is, in fact, a private school by any plain English definition. It did make sense at the time the term was coined though.
Has UK ever thought human rights apply to colonial wars?