WIN: In a major u-turn, the Government has now announced it will exclude war crimes from the Overseas Operations Bill’s block on prosecutions. This follows a separate concession last week excluding acts of torture 1/
The Reprieve community has been campaigning for this for months alongside @FreeFromTorture, @redresstrust, @libertyhq, @AmnestyUK and @cmjhq. Today’s concession ensures offences like inhuman treatment and unlawful killing can still be prosecuted 2/
Survivors of war crimes deserve justice. This Bill still makes it harder for some to get justice. But there’s no longer a block on prosecutions for torture, genocide, crimes against humanity, and other war crimes after five years 3/
The Government conceded after people across this community raised their voices against the decriminalisation of torture. Together, we were backed by former military commanders, judges and defence secretaries in the House of Lords 4/
The Bill is still a backward step for justice, but it would have been much, much worse for survivors without this win. Campaigning works.
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