UK medic opposed to Afghan war appeals against jail sentence

A medic in Britain's Royal Navy was appealing to the High Court in London Thursday against a seven month sentence in a military correction centre for disobeying orders. Leading Medical Assistant Michael Lyons was convicted at a military tribunal in July after he asked not to participate in rifle training since he had applied for conscientious objector status due to his opposition to the war in Afghanistan. Lyons also said that he objected to being armed, that he had not been required to handle a weapon since 2005 and is not required to do so under the Geneva Convention. The appeal at the High Court is seen as a test case after a ground-breaking ruling was made by the European Court of Human Rights that states have a duty to respect individuals' right to conscientious objection to military service. Lyons last year requested to leave the navy as a conscientious objector, saying his commitment to medical ethics led him to object to question that treating Afghan civilians would be a 'waste of resources'. He also objected to the level of civilian casualties in Afghanistan, but his application for dismissal on the grounds of conscientious objection was turned down by the navy. It was also rejected by the Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objection (ACCO) in December, which claimed that his objection were 'political' rather than 'moral'. His case is being supported by ForcesWatch, a network concerned with ethical issues around the armed forces, which said it highlights the lack of respect shown for the human rights of forces personnel. 'There are a number of significant concerns about the way that Michael Lyons' case has been handled - within the chain of command, by the committee that dismissed his claim to conscientious objection as 'political', and in the conclusions of the court martial,' said ForcesWatch co-ordinator Emma Sangster. 'The simple injustice of Michael's treatment illustrates how the government and the Ministry of Defence repeatedly fail to recognise conscientious objection in practice,” Sangster said. “We hope the recent recognition given to those who object on moral grounds to military service by the European Convention on Human Rights will create a change of attitude in the UK armed forces,' she added.