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Monday, May 29, 2006 |
Independent: "The notorious US detention camp in Guantanamo Bay has been hit by fresh allegations of human rights abuses, with claims that dozens of children were sent there - some as young as 14 years old.
Lawyers in London estimate that more than 60 detainees held at the terrorists' prison camp were boys under 18 when they were captured."
11:05:22 AM 
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TheHerald: "More than 1100 soldiers, the equivalent of two frontline infantry battalions, have deserted the Army since 2001and are still missing, the Ministry of Defence has acknowledged.
Another 2725 went absent without leave last year, mainly for domestic crisis reasons, and later returned to their units to face punishment.
The figures were released to counter the claim by John McDonnell, the Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, that the number absconding had trebled since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Mr McDonnell said later: 'My understanding is that there are a lot more seeking to avoid service through different mechanisms. I think what the MoD says flies in the face of all the other evidence and the experience of soldiers on the ground.'
The MP told parliament last Monday that the numbers had tripled since 2003 and that more soldiers were 'questioning the morality and legality of the occupation of Iraq'.
Figures for those still on the run are 86 from 2001, 118 from 2002, 134 from 2003, 229 from 2004, 377 from 2005, and 189 for this year so far, bearing out Mr McDonnell's claim.
Justin Hugheston-Roberts, the solicitor who represented RAF Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith when he was sentenced to eight months for refusing to serve in Iraq, said: 'We are seeing an increase in the number of people who have absented themselves from service who come to us for advice.'
MPs are currently debating the Armed Forces Bill, one clause of which would make refusal to serve in overseas operations punishable by sentences ranging from two years to life imprisonment."
BBC: "Proposals for British soldiers to get life sentences for desertion have been criticised as inhuman and barbaric."
USAToday: "At least 8,000 members of the all-volunteer U.S. military have deserted since the Iraq war began, Pentagon records show, although the overall desertion rate has plunged since the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
Since fall 2003, 4,387 Army soldiers, 3,454 Navy sailors and 82 Air Force personnel have deserted. The Marine Corps does not track the number of desertions each year but listed 1,455 Marines in desertion status last September."
With a volunteer army you don't have to desert, you simply don't join the army.
10:57:04 AM
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