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Lawyers advise British troops on Geneva Conventions

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Dec 3, IRNA -- British troops are advised by lawyers on aspects of the Geneva Conventions while serving in overseas theatres, Armed Forces Minister Bill Rammell has disclosed.

“Trained and qualified lawyers are deployed on all standing operations and are an integral part of the targeting process, are consulted on all forms of the conduct of operations and are available for specialist queries if doubt exists,” Rammell said.

“Aspects of the Geneva Convention are applied throughout military training and will be bolstered before deployment to an operational theatre by further mandatory training, common across all the Services,” he said in a written parliamentary reply published Thursday.

Confirmation of the legal advice comes amid a growing list of court cases over alleged abuse by British troops during the Iraq war and subsequent occupation.

“Irrespective of the theatre to which a person is deploying, specific training based on the Geneva Convention as applied to UK law must be fulfilled,” Rammell said.

“This training includes: compliance with operational law, such as the legal basis for operations, the law of armed conflict, the application of the rules of engagement, the use of force, prisoner handling, understanding the powers of stop and search and the powers of arrest; culture and language training, including cultural awareness; firepower training, including identifying and engaging targets and reacting to fire control orders; and protection training, including procedures for challenging and reaction to direct and indirect attack,” he said.

The minister also said that all deployed personnel were issued with “a rules of engagement card, which specifies exactly the aspects of the law that allows them to conduct operations and react to hostile action.”

Britain is one of the high contracting parties, responsible for ensuring the respect of the protocols of the Geneva Conventions in all circumstances, but is often also criticised for refusing to bring Israel in particular to account for its persistent breaches.