Conscientious objector

Presented by Jeremy Paxman.

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UNNAMED MAN 1:
Do you want to come in?

UNNAMED MAN 2:
Yeah.

ALAN BATES:
T-O-C-A... I'm Bombardier Alan Bates. In my normal trade, I'm a grave digger. It's really a case of when you go out now, not a case of if. Just my number's come up at this time. I've accepted it. I've got to hit the floor with my feet running and just take whatever happens.

GUNNER PHIL RENNIE:
My name's Phil Rennie and I'm unemployed. I'll be honest, I'm a bit frightened, but I'm also a bit excited.

JON MANEL:
Did any part of you think, "I don't want to go?"

GUNNER PHIL RENNIE:
Oh yes, a big part of me. But a big part of me also knew that at the end of the day, one day this could happen.

JON MANEL:
This is the biggest call-up of Britain's reserves since 1956 and the Suez Crisis. With the armed forces desperately overstretched, 7,500 reservists have been forced to fill in the gaps. Many are former servicemen and women who thought their military days were history. Others, like members of the Territorial Army, thought soldiering was just their part-time hobby. But not this year.

QUARTER MASTER:
Cleaning kit. 14 items, including the case. And obviously, your weapon.

JON MANEL:
A quarter of those currently involved in Operation Telic - the British deployment in Iraq - are from the reserves. Have you ever had any doubts about the mission you're going on?

GUNNER PHIL RENNIE:
No. It's not for me to say it's right or wrong. That's left to Tony Blair and the rest of them. It's nowt to do with me. I get paid to do a job and that's what I'll do.

JON MANEL:
Of more than 12,000 reservists who've received call-up papers so far, around a quarter applied for deferral or exemption, some here at this mobilisation centre near Nottingham. We don't know the details of those applications - but we do know about one man who refused to take part, because his case ended up in court.

MOHISIN KHAN:
I took an oath to protect this country, to protect the people, the land, the Queen. I did not take an oath to say I'd fight in an illegal war killing innocent people or support it. I am willing to protect this country to the last drop of my blood but I'm not willing to support a war that inflicts damage on innocent people, children. That's not right.

JON MANEL:
Mohisin Khan had thought he'd never have to wear his RAF uniform again. He'd wrongly assumed his days as a leading aircraftman had come to an end two and a half years ago. The 24- year-old thought he was back in civvies street for good, playing snooker every evening and working for an insurance company. Then, in January, he was given just 12 days' notice to report for duty. But he believed to take any part in Operation Telic would be against his religion. Why didn't you raise it at the call-up centre?

MOHISIN KHAN:
Why? Because I thought it would be something against the law of this state. That as a person, as a Muslim, it would be wrong to say I don't want to take part in this military action because I'm a military person and I signed up for it and I thought I could get jailed for it.

JON MANEL:
So instead Mohisin Khan told the officer who interviewed him that he couldn't serve as he was needed in the family restaurant and had to look after his mentally disabled mother. His application for exemption was rejected. The Reserve Forces Act sets out the terms for exemption from service. Copies are sent out with call-up papers. Reservists can only apply if they are looking after a child, or someone with a severe disability, if they're studying or if they could suffer serious financial harm. Applications for exemption can also be made on compassionate grounds. Mohisin Khan's reason for not wanting to be part of Operation Telic didn't fit into any of these categories. Since leaving the RAF, Mohisin Khan had become more religious. And he felt that playing any part in the war, even a supporting role in the UK, would conflict with the teachings of Islam. Faiz Siddiqi is a Muslim scholar and an advisor to Mohisin Khan's legal team.

HAZRAT PIR FAIZ SIDDIQI:
In Islamic law, you can only participate in a war where somebody has either invaded your property or territory or has actually constructively damaged your interests. In this war, neither was the case.

JON MANEL:
With his application for exemption refused, this is where Mohisin Khan was sent. RAF Honington, near his home in Suffolk. But after going away for refresher training, he didn't return. Ten days later he was arrested, charged and sentenced for being absent without leave. Mohisin Khan just wasn't made aware of the fact that he could be exempted from serving on the grounds of conscience. His call-up papers mentioned every other conceivable reason but not conscientious objection. And the alarm bells didn't even start sounding here at his base when he made clear how he was feeling when he was absent without leave. For a whole week his superiors failed to tell him that he could become a conscientious objector. According to court transcripts, in the two days after he went AWOL, he had three conversations with his superiors. He said, "He didn't want to fight against members of his religion." But Flight Sergeant Penfold told him he "wasn't aware of any specific procedures for dealing with members of the Islamic faith," nor the "procedures for those claiming exemption on grounds of conscience." He also said there was "no precedence for a Muslim objecting to serve." In one call, Mohisin Khan said he was "willing to go to jail rather than return to base."

MOHISIN KHAN:
I didn't know what the right thing was to do so I absented myself from work. When they did call me up to say why have you gone absent from work, I gave my reasons. The replies I got was there was no precedence laid out for me and I have no rights, I have to go back and work. And that made me think, "I have to make a decision here." They're telling me I don¿t have a right to be a conscientious objector. Well, I can't go against my beliefs. That's more important to me, and whatever the punishment is I'll take it.

JON MANEL:
The right to apply to become a conscientious objector was enshrined in law in the 1916 Military Service Acts, which brought in conscription for the First World War. So it's hardly a recent innovation. It's open to any member of the armed forces with a sincere religious, political or moral objection. So why wasn't Mohisin Khan made aware of his rights?

MOHISIN KHAN:
If someone says to you, "We don't have a procedure" when it does exist, it doesn't make sense.

JON MANEL:
So if you had been aware, if you had known...

MOHISIN KHAN:
I would've gone through that procedure.

JON MANEL:
And would you have gone absent without leave? Not at all.

MOHISIN KHAN:
There was no need for me to. That is the only reason I went because there was no procedure laid out before me.

JON MANEL:
For those who know about it and have the time to find it, the Queen's Regulations for the RAF do indeed mention conscientious objection. It's in chapter 10, section 8, paragraph 626, sub-section 5, under the heading "Discharge on Extreme Compassionate Grounds." It doesn't say a lot, it just refers to a separate document, Air Publication 3392, Volume 5 leaflet 113. And that document has to be specifically requested. Mohisin Khan wasn't aware it existed. He hasn't been the only reservist with objections to the war in Iraq. At the mobilisation centre near Nottingham, they've had to deal with other cases of conscientious objection.

LIEUTENANT COLONEL PAUL KELLETT:
We have a very set procedure to deal with conscientious objectors. We've had to deal with that. It is a process which I don't believe was particularly tried and tested but we have dealt with several over the last 10 months.

JON MANEL:
Can you tell me how many?

LIEUTENANT COLONEL PAUL KELLETT:
Three.

JON MANEL:
And what happened in those cases?

LIEUTENANT COLONEL PAUL KELLETT:
The process involves me writing a paper to my general. I was in the process of doing that on their behalves and in fact all three failed their medicals.

JON MANEL:
But we've discovered that level of awareness isn't always the case. In fact, an officer who used to hold one of the most senior positions in the British armed forces admitted even he didn't know that the right to become a conscientious objector still existed. A former naval officer, who used to train new recruits, admitted he didn't know. And all but one of 20 serving officers he spoke to again didn't realise that all servicemen and women have that right. We've spoken to other former high ranking members of the MoD, who again displayed an astonishing lack of awareness.

FORMER DEFENCE CHIEF:
I thought it only applied to a conscripted service.

RETIRED ARMY GENERAL:
I don't think I was ever aware of a procedure to become a conscientious objector.

FORMER DEFENCE MINISTER:
The point doesn't arise. It arose during conscription.

FORMER MOD SENIOR CIVIL SERVANT:
My instinct is there isn't a right to conscientious objection as a volunteer.

JON MANEL:
The RAF along with the Army and Navy have for some time been trying to increase the diversity of their employees, almost 4.5% are now from the ethnic minorities. Some argue that Mohisin Khan's case shows that while the personnel might be changing, the services themselves are standing still.

HAZRAT PIR FAIZ SIDDIQI:
The armed services are still aloof from ethnic minorities. Quite clearly the situation of Mohisin Kahn was typical because the person counselling him was somebody who was not qualified to council him - he was a Christian pastor.

JON MANEL:
After losing his appeal, Mohisin Khan's case goes to the high court, his legal team believes conscientious objection is a human right and should be a defence against the crime of going AWOL. For the ministry of defence, Khan's experience is an embarrassment. Especially at the time when reservists are playing such a crucial role.

MOHISIN KHAN:
Concerning myself, what I've been through, they definitely weren't able to show themselves as a, you could say, equal opportunities employer. You don't go in there thinking I'm going to go out there and fight unjustified wars or illegal wars, do you? You go out there to protect your country, to fight for the right reasons. So that why I joined up, that's what the military¿s there for.

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This transcript was produced from the teletext subtitles that are generated live for Newsnight. It has been checked against the programme as broadcast, however Newsnight can accept no responsibility for any factual inaccuracies. We will be happy to correct serious errors.