Torture

(asked on 22nd September 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the proposed provisions of the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill on the UK’s international reputation for opposing torture.


Answered by
Johnny Mercer Portrait
Johnny Mercer
Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
This question was answered on 30th September 2020

The Government unreservedly condemns the use of torture and we remain fully committed to our obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, including the UN Convention Against Torture.

The Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill does nothing to undermine these obligations and does not prevent allegations of wrongdoing more than five years ago - including war crimes and torture - from being investigated and, where appropriate, prosecuted.

A decision on whether to prosecute for such criminal offences will continue to be for the independent prosecutor to make - and the Bill does not change this position.

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