The SAS regiment is under attack from European human rights laws and could soon no longer exist, numerous veterans have warned.
They have called on ministers to exempt personnel from the special forces unit from prosecutions taken whilst fighting terrorists. They have said that strict laws are putting off people from applying to join the SAS.
The jurisdiction from the European Convention on Human Rights, which was enshrined into UK law in 1998, has not put in place any “fair legal framework for British counter-terrorist operations”, the veterans have argued.
In a letter to The Times, Aldwin Wight, a previous commander of 22 Special Air Service regiment, as well as two other SAS veterans, slammed “successive governments” for turning their backs on the special forces unit.
The SAS regiment is ‘under attack’ from European human rights lawsGETTYThey said previous governments allowed “predominantly vexatious compensation cases against British soldiers who did their duty to the best of their abilities and are now being hounded for it”.
The letter, also written by George Simm, a former regimental sergeant major, and Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, an ex-squadron commander, stated that the public deserved to know of “this betrayal of their SAS veterans, who need their support, not least so others like them will step forward in the future”.
It continued: “30years after being the command team of 22 SAS, we set aside reservations about discussing service, because the individuals we led then are today gravely threatened.
“Since the introduction of the Human Rights Act into British law and the incremental supremacy of the European Convention on Human Rights over our laws, there has existed no fair legal framework for British counter-terrorist operations.”
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The jurisdiction is from the European Convention on Human Rights
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The three veterans said that “this represents a dangerous failure of democracy and a repudiation of the Military Covenant between the British people, their Government and the armed forces”.
The trio have urged Sir Keir Starmer to activate an emergency clause of the ECHR that voids Article 2 — the Right to Life — “in times of war and other public emergencies”.
The letter comes days after Robert Jenrick, a contender for Conservative leadership, said that the UK “must leave the ECHR”.
The SAS complete secret operations and conduct risky missions
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Citing an article by former defence secretary Ben Wallace, Jenrick said: “Our special forces are killing, rather than capturing terrorists because our lawyers tell us if they are caught the European Court will set them free.”
Following backlash from his comments, Jenrick doubled down, stating at the party conference: “I don’t want our human rights apparatus to be standing in the way of taking the right operational decisions for our national security, and for protecting the lives of the brave men and women who serve in our special forces
Wight said that the letter was not made in response to Jenrick’s comments.
The Ministry of Defence said: “It is the longstanding policy of successive governments not to comment on UK Special Forces activity.”