ISIS terrorist killed by drone after human rights laws ‘stopped SAS from seizing him so he could answer for his crimes’
A TERRORIST was killed by a drone after human rights laws prevented the SAS from seizing him, an ex-minister claims.
The ISIS suspect was taken out in the RAF strike instead of facing a court in the UK to answer for his heinous crimes.
He was among several killed after snatch operations were ruled out because of European human rights laws, the former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told The Spectator magazine.
The terrorist, who was making biological weapons, died in Syria in 2022 in a Hellfire missile blitz.
Mr Wallace said lawyers told him the European Convention on Human Rights made it illegal to hand over suspects to Syria due to the risk of torture.
It was also illegal to take them to Britain as there is no extradition treaty with Bashar Al-Assad’s regime.
READ MORE ON HUMAN RIGHTS LAWS
He told the magazine it was a “frustrating” outcome.
In many cases, he would have preferred a UK trial “rather than making those who seek to do us harm into martyrs”.
The former Army officer said his options often narrowed to a drone strike when MoD lawyers said a suspect could not be rendered across a border, or handed to a pariah regime like Syria.
He added: “We simply could not put British personnel into that position on the ground.
Most read in The Sun
"The only option therefore to stop the threat was often a kinetic strike.”
And Mr Wallace told The Sun: “If there is no extradition treaty or ECHR compliant pathway, then you can’t do ops that risk anyone surrendering nor can you embark on snatch squads.”
It comes after a trio of top SAS veterans warned the elite regiment is under attack from European human rights laws.
The ex-commanders even warned that it the issues could soon lead to the SAS ceasing to exist as we know it.
They said that recent pressures around prosecuting SAS volunteers for breaches of the law is set to scare away needed volunteers.
The Ministry of Defence said: “It is the longstanding policy of successive governments not to comment on UK Special Forces activity.”
General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith has also said serving troops feel abandoned over legal witch hunts.
The Special Air Service, whose motto is Who Dares Wins, are facing multiple legal probes into missions in Northern Ireland, Syria and Afghanistan.
A report to MoD chiefs warns troops are “confused” about how to tackle their enemies.
The author, a top ranking SAS veteran, said the threat of legal action will lead to “operational incoherence and ineffectiveness”.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
The dossier, seen by The Sun, states: “If this situation remains unresolved, it is potentially terminal for UK Special Forces.”
George Simm, an ex-SAS Regimental Sergeant Major, wrote to defence chiefs in April claiming laws that guarantee the “Right to Life” were at odds with the Special Forces’ job to kill people.
