Iran, which is a signatory to the Geneva Convention, is blatantly violating it by showing the captured British sailors on TV. They’ve just published a “confession” that one of the sailors made, saying they were in Iraqi waters.
One of the 15 British service members held captive in Iran appeared Friday on state television and said he apologized “deeply” for entering Iranian waters, and the country released a third letter supposedly from the one woman in the crew saying she has been “sacrificed” by Britain.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose government has insisted that its navy personnel were captured in Iraqi waters, immediately condemned Iran’s treatment of the captives, saying it “doesn’t fool anyone.”
In the video Friday, Royal Marine rifleman Nathan Thomas Summers was shown sitting with another male serviceman and the female British sailor Faye Turney against a pink floral curtain. Both men wore camouflage fatigues with a label saying “Royal Navy” on their chests and a small British flag stitched to their left sleeves. Turney wore a blue jumpsuit and a black headscarf.
“We trespassed without permission,” Summers said, adding he knew that Iran had seized British military personnel who strayed into their waters three years ago.
“This happened back in 2004 and our government said that it wouldn’t happen again,” Summers said. “And, again, I deeply apologize for entering your waters.”
From Article 13:
Likewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity.
One of the 15 British service members held captive in Iran appeared Friday on the government’s Arabic-language TV and said he apologized “deeply” for entering Iranian waters without permission.
Iran also released a third letter supposedly from the only woman in the group saying she has been “sacrificed” to the policies of the British and U.S. governments.
I fully expect to hear all the human rights watchdogs protesting this blatant violation of the captured sailors’ human rights.
Well, no, not really. Because I searched Human Rights Watch’s website, and found nothing at all regarding the illegal capture and holding of the British soldiers. I found nothing at all about forcing the only woman sailor to “confess” that she was in Iraqi water and write notes home. I saw nothing at all about the British sailors being repeatedly shown on TV in direct violation of the Geneva Convention.
We heard plenty about the Guantanamo detainees being pictured in the media, and we heard about it from every corner of the globe—yet we still have exactly zero calls by Human Rights Watch for the return of Gilad Shalit or Eldad Reged and Ehud Goldwasser, the two soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah. The Red Cross says it has been trying to get access to Gilad Shalit, but Hamas constantly denies them the right to visit the prisoner—another violation of the Geneva Conventions that goes overlooked by most of the world. Ditto for the soldiers being held by Hezbollah, an army that claims to speak for Lebanon—which makes Lebanon in violation of the Geneva Conventions.
I guess the Conventions only count when they are able to be used against the West.
