October, 29 2015, 03:45pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
UK: donald[dot] campbell [at] reprieve.org.uk / +44 (0) 207 553 8140 US: katherine [dot] oshea [at] reprieve.org / +1 917 855 8064
MPs Right to Push for Answers Over Government's Kill Policy
Commenting on the announcement by Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) that it is to examine the Government's new kill policy, under which the Prime Minister is able to carry out 'targeted killings' around the world, often using drone aircraft, Kat Craig, legal director at international human rights charity Reprieve said:
LONDON
Commenting on the announcement by Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) that it is to examine the Government's new kill policy, under which the Prime Minister is able to carry out 'targeted killings' around the world, often using drone aircraft, Kat Craig, legal director at international human rights charity Reprieve said:
"The Prime Minister has given himself sweeping powers to kill anyone, anywhere in the world, in secret and without due process. This is a huge shift in British policy and the public deserves to know how far these powers go and what, if any, safeguards are in place. These are vital questions which the Government has so far repeatedly dodged without explanation or justification, and the Committee is right to push for answers. Ministers must be more open with the Human Rights Committee than they have been so far. The use of deadly force is one of the most potent powers the government has, and it must be open to democratic scrutiny."
Reprieve is a UK-based human rights organization that uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantanamo Bay.
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