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| UK troops in Iraq face new court threat |
| 2004-11-29 |
| The Government has suffered a legal setback after a European court ruling that could see British soldiers taken to court over the deaths of Iraqi civilians in Basra. In a landmark judgment, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that European troops who are in control of a foreign country can be prosecuted under human rights law for breaching the civil rights of local people. It comes days before the High Court in London is due to rule on a case involving the death of the hotel receptionist Baha Mousa and more than 30 other Iraqis who were allegedly killed, tortured or ill-treated by British troops after last year's war. That case hinges on claims that British forces in Iraq are bound by the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights even outside Europe - the same issue at the centre of the ruling by the court in Strasbourg 12 days ago... Well, just because the ECHR would do this to the British is no proof that the ICC would ever do this to American soldiers. Right. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #5 Did you see the same clips I did? I make two assumptions about the two clips: 1) the clips weren't edited and 2) the cameraman was showing the most exciting/violent activities he could safely find on both sides. Thumbnail: (fuller description here) There were three volleys. The first seems to have been completely warning shots, nobody hurt. A lot of the crowd seems to have dispersed then, and the residue were angrier and a few had crossed the line by the fence when the second volley came. Some people hit the dirt, some stolled away: the French were mostly firing in the air, I think, but at least one person was shot in the leg. The cameraman was in the back when the third volley came, so there's no evidence for/against provocation; but some of the wounded were in the middle of the crowd, not the front. The simplest interpretation I have (bearing in mind my assumptions above) is that some protestors crossed one line too many by the road, and the French let loose on the whole remaining crowd. |
| Posted by: James 2004-11-29 4:29:52 PM |
| #4 As much as I despise the French, the video I saw had NO evidence against those troops. I wish people would stop hyping it; the whole thing's starting to sound like an echo of the Moonbat Choir. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-11-29 12:47:31 PM |
| #3 3dc - If you can, get them on film as you hand it to them. And tell them you'll be checking back to see how their case against France is going. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2004-11-29 10:18:48 AM |
| #2 I made a VCD of the French massacre. Any good address to send it too? I plan to stick one on the local Amnesty office to shame them. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2004-11-29 9:36:14 AM |
| #1 The European Court can start with the French massacre of unarmed civilians in the Ivory Coast. It's all on video and an easy slam dunk case. Fat chance. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-11-29 9:17:19 AM |