‘Charge returning ISIS fighters with genocide’ MP calls for radical rethink over prosecutions of extremists
ABIRMINGHAM MP has called for returning British ISIS fighters to be charged with genocide after revealing not one of the hundreds now back in the UK has been prosecuted as war criminals.
Liam Byrne represents the Hodge Hill constituency, an area that was identified earlier this year as an “extremist hotspot”.
The MP told the Birmingham Post that Britain needed to send out a clear message to fighters returning to the country from Iraq and Syria.
He said: “We’re in a generational fight against Daesh and Al Qaeda.
“As they are beaten in Syria they will lash out abroad.
“But if we’re to win the battle of ideas with their army of evil, we have to send the clearest possible message about their true character – they are genocidal war-criminals.
“That’s the charge we need to lay wherever possible at the door of those British foreign fighters who fled home. They should be shipped off forthwith to the International Criminal Court.”
Mr Byrne was speaking in the wake of last week’s bomb on the London Underground. He has also written an article for The Times newspaper in which he revealed the extent of British fighters returning from the Middle East.
He wrote: “Last week’s tubbomb on the Tube is this month’s reminder of our generational struggle. So why have we not yet thrown the full weight of international law against our enemies with prosecutions for genocide? “MI5 believe that over 800 of our fellow country men and women went to fight in Iraq and Syria. Over 400 have come home. “Answers to me in parliament last w e e k con- firm that not a single returning fighter has been prosecuted either for genocide or war crimes.”
Foreign Office minister Burt confirmed Mr Byrne’s earlier this week.
He said: “To date, no British citizens have been charged in the UK with war crimes or genocide in relation to Daesh activities.”
In his article, Mr Byrne also said that we must be “realistic” when deciding how to deal with extremists.
He wrote: “Let’s be honest, bringing criminals to justice in Iraq, never mind Syria, will be a long and winding road. So we cannot and should not stand back.”
In April, the Birmingham MP urged Home Secretary Amber Rudd to introduce tough new laws against companies that share extremist materials online.
He’s also the author of a book on extremism, Black Flag Down, published last year.
Thinktank The Henry Jackson Society revealed earlier this year that Birmingham had become a “major terrorism hotspot”. Its report also identified the Hodge Hill constituency as producing a particularly high number of extremists. Alistair words