Lords vote to block limit on trying troops for war crimes

THE Government was last night defeated in the House of Lords in its attempt to secure a potential time limit on prosecuting soldiers for war crimes.

The Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill, which cleared the Commons, sought to limit false and historical allegations arising from deployments by introducing a statutory presumption against prosecution, which would make it exceptional for personnel to be prosecuted five years or more after an alleged incident.

But the Lords backed, by 333 votes to 228, a move to ensure the most serious of offences were not covered by legislation aimed at protecting service personnel from vexatious battlefield claims.

The Government sustained further defeats to the Bill, with peers backing changes aimed at preventing personnel facing delayed and repeated investigations into allegations arising from foreign deployments and removing a planned six-year time limit on troops bringing civil claims against the MOD.

The Bill was criticised for not excluding war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and torture from its scope, as it did for rape and sexual violence. Critics argued this risked damaging the UK’S reputation abroad and could lead to service personnel ending up before the International Criminal Court.

Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK director, said: “It’s hugely welcome that the Lords have made this principled stand. MPS should reflect on this and drop the Bill altogether. Yet again it has fallen to the Lords to act as the UK’S moral compass. Granting troops a licence to torture would set a very dangerous international precedent.”