Iraq and Syria, the need for a new Nuremberg

Since the start of the conflict in Syria and Iraq, the British people have been made aware of the involvement of British Jihadists through announcements of their demise on both social networks or in the mainstream media.

Sadly, never included in these announcements or reported on by the British media, are details of either their activities or the crimes committed by those UK citizens illegally present in Iraq and Syria.

As some British Jihadists have been arrested upon their return from the Middle East, it is disappointing to see that the only charges which have been brought against them are those under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

 
Considering the nature of their actions in both Iraq and Syria, charges brought under the Prevention of Terrorism legislation are completely insufficient and greatly undermine Britain’s long held beliefs of upholding both human rights and international law.

Some feel that UK citizens fighting in Iraq and Syria should also face charges relating to their crimes against both the Syrian and Iraqi people.

After World War Two ended, German officials from the Nazi Party were tried for both crimes and direct involvement in actions relating to their organisation of and participation in genocidal acts carried out in the Concentration Camps throughout occupied Europe.

Britain’s current approach is being viewed as an appeasement of British Jihadist war criminals and their lack of accountability is both an insult to the victims of their atrocities and further undermines Britain’s claims of upholding the principles laid down at the Nuremberg Trials.

The people of Britain need to be made fully aware of the grotesque and barbaric acts which are being carried out by their fellow countrymen. A British passport cannot be allowed to safeguard the immunity of those organising or participating in war crimes against the people of Iraq and Syria.

At the Nuremberg Trials, ignorance and claims to be following orders were not accepted as a defence from those wanting to diminish their responsibility in the Holocaust. Likewise, ignorance of the current war crimes of Britain’s Jihadists is as inexcusable today as Nazi crimes were to the people of Germany. 

Hussein Al-Alak is a British based journalist and is chairman of the Iraq Solidarity Campaign UK. Hussein is also a member of the Royal British Legion and a mental health advocate for Combat Stress. You can follow him on Twitter @TotallyHussein. He blogs a