August 19, 2005

NEXT POST
Phil Shiner to speak at End Impunity Campaign meeting Solicitor Phil Shiner is to speak at the launch of the Article Seven - End Impunity Campaign in London next month. Shiner, of Public Interest Lawyers, is best known for his work representing Iraqi victims of human rights abuses by coalition forces, and the families of British soldiers killed in Iraq. The campaign will seek to change a loophole in the law, which can allow soldiers convicted of serious human rights abuses to remain in the army. The most notorious instance of this is the case of 18-year old Belfast man, Peter McBride, shot dead by two Scots Guards in 1992. The soldiers, Mark Wright and James Fisher, were convicted of murder but were freed early from jail, and were allowed to continue serving in the army. The MOD has refused to review the decision in spite of two court rulings. Wright and Fisher were later sent to Iraq with the Irish Guards, a unit which has since been accused of human rights abuses. In future, soldiers convicted of human rights abuses in Iraq could cite the treatment of Wright and Fisher as a precedent to allow them to remain in the army. The Article Seven - End Impunity Campaign seeks to change the law to ensure that soldiers convicted of serious human rights abuses such as murder, torture or rape must be discharged. The campaign launch will take place at a public meeting in the Assembly Room at London's City Hall, from 7pm on 5 September. As well as Phil Shiner, speakers will include London Mayor Ken Livingstone, prominent barrister Michael Mansfield, University of Ulster law lecturer Angela Hegarty, and Guardian writer Roy Greenslade. The Pat Finucane Centre has produced a briefing on the campaign:

TomGriffin

London Irish journalist

The Typepad Team

Recent Comments