Submitted on Saturday 26th September 2020
Rejected on Thursday 22nd October 2020
Current status: Rejected
Rejection code: no-action (see below for details)
Stop the Overseas Operations Bill.
The Conservative Government must remove all clauses from this bill which may violate human rights either directly or indirectly and confirm their compliance with the rule of international law.
In the current form, The Overseas Operations Bill:
*decriminalises torture
*violates essential rule of law principles such as judicial and prosecutorial independence
*defies international human rights law.
It is opposed by service personnel past and present as well as Judge Advocate General Jeff Blackett because it is to be used as a tool to limit their recourse in law against government rather than protect from "vexatious" application against themselves as has been argued.
You can't sign this petition because it was rejected. But you can still comment on it here at Repetition.me!
The Government e-Petitions Team gave the following reason:
We understand that you are concerned about the Overseas Operations Bill, but it is not clear whether you want the Government to abandon the Overseas Operations Bill, or amend it. We could accept a petition calling for either of things, but it would need to be clear whether you want this Bill to be abandoned or amended.
Further, your petition claims that the Bill decriminalises torture. The Bill does not decriminalise any activity, but changes the law around how certain alleged offences can be prosecuted. You can find out more about the effects of this Bill here: commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8983/
Your petition also claims that the Bill breaches international human rights law. The Government has published a memorandum stating that in its view the provisions of the Bill are compatible with the rights in the European Convention on Human Rights. While we could accept a petition raising concerns about the human rights implications of this Bill, we could not publish a petition that contained unqualified and unsubstantiated assertions that it breached human rights law.
We have published the following petition, which you might like to sign:
Amend the Overseas Operations Bill. Remove triple lock in cases of torture: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/549778
3.139.72.78 Fri, 19 Apr 2024 13:05:27 +0100
