25 Iraqi interpreters to sue British government

| 17-07-2009 | UK Law | Written by Matthew Bennett

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Deborah Haynes – The Times’ defence correspondent – has been a magnificent supporter of the Iraqi interpreters who helped British troops to move about their country during the war.

An interpreter works with a US soldier in Iraq.

Today, she has published an article explaining that twenty-five of the interpreters are going to undertake legal action against the British government for not protecting them from the militias when the militias consider them to be traitors.

Despite a fall in the influence wielded by the Iranian-backed militia around Basra, many still fear for their lives:

“I am worthless. I have lost my life.”

The British government decided to help only those interpreters who had helped the Army for longer than twelve months, as if the bullets and the beasts of Basra needed such an amount of time to murder.

I imagine that employment contracts – never mind working conditions in the area – were not optimal at the time, so the decision is worse still when we are talking about people who have risked their lives and those of their families to help us in our war effort in their own country.

The English lawyers who are coordinating the lawsuit say in The Times that they are seeking: “financial compensation for those who have suffered the loss of the breadwinner of the family” and “to send a message to the Armed Forces that they must have better planning for this in the future“.

I think they must be referring to the government. All of the reports I’ve seen indicate that British soldiers and their officers fully supported the interpreters’ campaign, after living with them for months in situations in which:

A father of two was forced to quit after receiving three death threats. Six of his friends, all interpreters, were killed by militants. One had his severed head dumped outside the British base where the man worked.

We can, I fear, expect more of the same from this Labour government headed by Gordon Brown, which has once again shown itself incapable of supporting those who fight on our side; the lack of support leaves our own soldiers without the proper resources to do their job, Nepalese Gurkhas without options and now Iraqi interpreters in continuing fear for their lives.

I hope they succeed in the courts where they have failed with the government. I am sure that British society supports their plight.