An ISIS fighter was blown up by an RAF drone because European human rights law meant troops could not capture him, a report claims.
A Reaper drone reportedly fired two hellfire missiles at an ISIS biological weapons engineer in a village in northern Syria in December 2022.
The man’s phone and computer were believed to contain plans for a possible ISIS attack or names of others in his network – but if troops seized his devices, they would have had to let the ISIS fighter go even if he committed suicide. had thrown up.the Spectator reports.
Under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), it is illegal to transfer terrorist suspects to Syria because of the risk of torture, and it is also illegal to bring them to Britain because there is no extradition treaty.
Therefore, it was reportedly decided to send the RAF drone to kill the Yemeni man.
Robert Jenrick, the shadow Secretary of State for Justice, said SAS soldiers were being forced to kill terrorists rather than capture them because “the European Court will release them”.
Former Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said he ordered many such strikes but would have preferred a British trial “rather than making martyrs of those who would do us harm.”
It comes as SAS members face scrutiny following an investigation into allegations they killed innocent people in Afghanistan and planted weapons on them during the war.
A Reaper drone (pictured) reportedly fired two hellfire missiles at an ISIS biological weapons engineer in a village in northern Syria in December 2022.
Robert Jenrick (pictured), the shadow Secretary of State for Justice, said SAS soldiers were being forced to kill terrorists rather than capture them because the ‘European Court will set them free’.
Robert Jenrick, the shadow Secretary of State for Justice, said SAS soldiers were being forced to kill terrorists rather than capture them because the ‘European Court will set them free (file image of special forces soldiers during military maneuvers)
These types of investigations have been criticized by former SAS commander Colonel Richard Williams for not being ‘mad dog’ killers.
‘Special Forces are not above the law. Period,” he told the Spectator, but said they should “have the freedom to carry out important actions on behalf of the state.”
The investigation goes as far back as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, with a former soldier telling the Spectator that he had tried to commit suicide after being left in legal ‘limbo’ for 20 years after his squad killed four members of the IRA’s East Tyrone had killed. ‘brigade’ in 1992.
Soldier M, who served in the SAS for 34 years, said he had to give statements about that night several times, including at an inquest organized under Article 2 of the ECHR, which protects ‘everyone’s right to life’ .
“We are being scapegoated (…) and subjected to the whims of successive governments (…) When this latest investigation began, I found myself in a downward spiral,” said Private M.
Another former SAS member, George Simm, said the mood at SAS base Hereford was ‘dark’.
The former regiment sergeant major added that soldiers usually serve 10 to 15 years in the SAS, but “the rest of your life is haunted by lawyers” because of actions soldiers took while in the armed forces.