Human Rights Victory For Soldiers

Well done to the three senior judges who overruled the Ministry of Defence’s claims that British soldiers can only be protected by the Human Rights Act within the confines of a military base.

The Guardian reported on this ruling today:

http://http//www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/may/18/human-rights-army-jason-smith-inquest

This means that it is now a legal human right for every soldier to be equipped with the highest standard of equipment. This will mean an awful lot to soldiers. When I sat down for a meal with soldiers on a training exercise in Macedonia in 2007 and asked them about their profession in general, this was one of the things that came up. The lack of adequate equipment affected the way they viewed themselves through the eyes of those telling them what they have to do – i.e. the Government.

In this case, the Human Rights Act is not being applied in the kind of naive way that Shadow Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, is suggesting, whereby every soldier is ensured the right to life on the battlefield; it is ensuring that soldiers’ lives are valued.