• THE Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill was examined in the Lords last week.

It would introduce a “presumption against prosecution” for UK armed forces accused of war-related crimes such as murder, torture, genocide, kidnap and crimes against humanity committed overseas more than five years before.

It would also prevent soldiers from bringing legal action against the Ministry of Defence for negligence that took place more than six years prior.

The UK has 145 sites and military bases in 42 countries. In the last two years it has trained the armies of two-thirds of the world’s countries, including 15 it has rebuked for human rights violations. This bill, if passed, frames the training they will receive.

There is undisputed evidence, including from the International Criminal Court, that war crimes have been committed by the UK. And covered-up. These atrocities continue to this day with allegations of UK complicity in war crimes committed in Yemen.

Conservative Baroness Warsi calls the bill out on grounds of racism: it treats “the murder of a fellow British co-worker [as] more serious than that of say, an Iraqi or Afghan civilian”.

Some of the women and men in our networks have been victims of torture and other war crimes. We are joined in calling for the bill to be scrapped by 12 other organisations including Camden Momentum. That echoes the calls by both Amnesty International and Liberty.

Please go to RefusingToKill.net website to find out how to join our social media campaign against this murderous criminal legislation.

SARA CALLAWAY
for Women of Colour/GWS

BEN MARTIN
for Payday Men’s Network/Refusing to Kill Initiative