Tuesday, December 14, 2004
EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS APPLIES IN IRAQ _ DOES IT APPLY IN EUROPE?
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7088460
"- In a test case over British troops' alleged abuse of Iraqi civilians, a London court on Tuesday backed demands for an independent inquiry into claims a Basra hotel worker was beaten to death by UK soldiers.
It said the European Convention on Human Rights was valid in British territorial outposts such as prisons, even when they were on another state's territory."
This may be useful for Kosovo where, for 4 years, the UK has been responsible for defending law, providing "protection" & disarming the KLA & has intead assisted in the genocide & ethnic cleansing of 350,000 people. There would appear to be a prima faci case that each of those people can sue the European, tho' not American, members of Nato for certainly 10s & probably 100s of thousands apiece.
A UK defence in any such case would seem to depend on saying that the officially disarmed KLA were the ones doing the murdering & that our government had done everything possible to protect the locals. Since it was us who set up the KLA, didn't disarm them, appointed them as police, looked the other way, occasionally released KLA members caught fleeing the scene (caught by ordeinary squaddies who actually thought they were there for some humanitarian purpose) & of course demonstrated exactly what was possible in the way of bombing to take over Kosovo in the first place. It would take a very corrupt court to support the government in that case so they are clearly in with a chance.
"- In a test case over British troops' alleged abuse of Iraqi civilians, a London court on Tuesday backed demands for an independent inquiry into claims a Basra hotel worker was beaten to death by UK soldiers.
It said the European Convention on Human Rights was valid in British territorial outposts such as prisons, even when they were on another state's territory."
This may be useful for Kosovo where, for 4 years, the UK has been responsible for defending law, providing "protection" & disarming the KLA & has intead assisted in the genocide & ethnic cleansing of 350,000 people. There would appear to be a prima faci case that each of those people can sue the European, tho' not American, members of Nato for certainly 10s & probably 100s of thousands apiece.
A UK defence in any such case would seem to depend on saying that the officially disarmed KLA were the ones doing the murdering & that our government had done everything possible to protect the locals. Since it was us who set up the KLA, didn't disarm them, appointed them as police, looked the other way, occasionally released KLA members caught fleeing the scene (caught by ordeinary squaddies who actually thought they were there for some humanitarian purpose) & of course demonstrated exactly what was possible in the way of bombing to take over Kosovo in the first place. It would take a very corrupt court to support the government in that case so they are clearly in with a chance.
