Wolverhampton MP blasts EU ruling on soldiers
Jun 3 2009 by Jonathan Walker, Birmingham Post
A court ruling that soldiers must be protected by European human rights laws in combat is the equivalent of sending them into battle with no guns, a Midlands MP has claimed.
Ken Purchase (Lab Wolverhampton North-East) warned that British troops would be held back by the rules – giving their opponents an advantage.
It followed a decision by three senior judges who ruled that the Ministry of Defence had a duty to protect the Human Rights of soldiers on duty, and could be sued if it failed to do so. The case followed the death of Private Jason Smith, aged 32, of the Territorial Army, who died of heatstroke in Basra six years ago.
Andrew Walker, the assistant deputy coroner of Oxfordshire, criticised the Ministry of Defence for sending troops to war allegedly with defective equipment, saying this amounted to a breach of his human rights.
But the Ministry argued that soldiers were not covered by the Human Rights Act when they were serving overseas.
That argument was rejected by Sir Anthony Clarke, the Master of the Rolls, and two other judges, in a ruling which made the Ministry of Defence liable to civil prosecutions by families of soldiers who die on operations overseas.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Purchase urged Defence Secretary John Hutton to appeal against the decision. He said: “This is a very serious matter, and I urge the Secretary of State to consider wisely and make an appeal as necessary. We are witnessing the possibility of sending serving soldiers into battle with no guns or other weapons, and with their hands tied behind their backs. It is an impossible situation – unless we can enforce human rights codes on the opposition, such as Hezbollah or the Taliban; that would be a step in the right direction.
“In the meantime we must treat the matter seriously and regard it as a matter of high principle for the Government, and ensure that our soldiers have the proper protection that they need when going to war on our behalf.”
Mr Hutton told him: “I have a lot of sympathy with his point. When our troops are committed to battle, the public want and expect only one thing: that they can do everything they need to do to win the battles that they are fighting.
“Anything that makes it harder to win the fights that they are in must be resisted strongly. I can say that we are still examining the judgment carefully, and we will decide shortly whether to appeal.”
