Government's Overseas Operations Bill is ‘not about helping veterans’
Peace campaigners say the Bill's purpose is aimed at ‘protecting the MoD’
THE government's bid to give stronger legal protections to British forces fighting overseas is “not about helping veterans” but about protecting the armed forces “as institutions,” peace campaigners argued today.
MPs voted on the second reading of the Overseas Operations Bill, which would create a “triple lock” for troops and veterans, including protections against being prosecuted for alleged offences committed more than five years ago.
Human-rights groups have condemned the proposed legislation, warning that it would effectively “decriminalise torture.”
More from this author
In an exclusive investigation, BETHANY RIELLY looks at how the state targeted leading politicians and campaigning groups — labelling many well-known figures 'extremists' and 'subversives' for attempting to hold the police to account
On September 4, 16 Eritrean asylum-seekers were arrested at a protest against their country’s dictatorship and its supporters here. Since then, questions have been raised about whether the British authorities are doing enough to protect activists and asylum-seekers from the ‘long arm’ of the regime in Asmara
