British army was given "free rein" to torture Eoka suspects

[Paphos Life]

By Jean ChristouA military historian, Dr Brian Drohan author of "Brutality in an Age of Human Rights", has revealed that during the Eoka struggle against colonial rule in Cyprus from 1955 to 1959, the British government "had free reign to commit torture with minimal oversight"....

Read the article and chat about it below...

[Mike.1940]

Lets remember that this was a different age and now a days it would not be tolerated. Both sides did terrible things and don't forget the schoolboys in Nicosia who would walk up behind British personnel in the streets and shoot them in the back and then return to their schools as if it was a normal thing to do.There are a lot of Cypriots who came to the UK during that time because they did not like all the violence and I know some who have never returned even for a holiday.

[WHL]

Lets remember that this was a different age and now a days it would not be tolerated. Both sides did terrible things and don't forget the schoolboys in Nicosia who would walk up behind British personnel in the streets and shoot them in the back and then return to their schools as if it was a normal thing to do.There are a lot of Cypriots who came to the UK during that time because they did not like all the violence and I know some who have never returned even for a holiday.

There were more than two sides involved in this, people were shot in the back, but I can't find a link where schoolboys were involved. as for nowadays it would not be tolerated, im afraid thats far from the truth.

[William Morris]

What is an op-ed??

I do not see anything in that article that pertains to EVIDENCE. Lots of quotations, does that make it true?

[josef k]

The full article as published in the paper includes the following paragraph:

"The plaintiffs say they have eyewitnesses, declassified documents, newspaper reports and medical evidence. The arguments of the Cypriot claimants are also expecting a boost from International Red Cross archives."

I think that indicates that evidence exists.

The fact is that torture is wrong now, and was wrong then. It is vital that people and governments are held to account if the UK is to maintain it's self-image as a free, tolerant and law abiding country.

[Kili01]

I think that schoolboys were involved. I have read about Cypriot boys from the English School, Nicosia being recruited by thugs from EOKA and being given firearms and encouraged to turn out when asked for certain ‘incidents’. The times of the troubles were rough and tough. The British troops and sometimes their dependants were shot in the back for no reason, particularly on ‘murder mile’ Ledra St I believe, but also in Larnaca. Also caught in bloody ambushes. Maybe these people were subjected to some less gentle treatment from soldiers while being interrogated.
Dee

[Kili01]

I think that schoolboys were involved. I have read about Cypriot boys from the English School, Nicosia being recruited by thugs from EOKA and being given firearms and encouraged to turn out when asked for certain ‘incidents’. The times of the troubles were rough and tough. The British troops and sometimes their dependants were shot in the back for no reason, particularly on ‘murder mile’ Ledra St I believe, but also in Larnaca. Also caught in bloody ambushes. Maybe these people were subjected to some less gentle treatment from soldiers while being interrogated.
Dee

[WHL]

I think that schoolboys were involved. I have read about Cypriot boys from the English School, Nicosia being recruited by thugs from EOKA and being given firearms and encouraged to turn out when asked for certain ‘incidents’. The times of the troubles were rough and tough. The British troops and sometimes their dependants were shot in the back for no reason, particularly on ‘murder mile’ Ledra St I believe, but also in Larnaca. Also caught in bloody ambushes. Maybe these people were subjected to some less gentle treatment from soldiers while being interrogated.
Dee

You mean Torture , but because its Britain, you spin it still cant link it to schoolboys, I doubt you can either,

[emgee]

I thought that the likes of General Grivas used to dress up as women, do the shooting then disappear only to re-appear in men"s clothes shortly after.

Alan

[WHL]

I thought that the likes of General Grivas used to dress up as women, do the shooting then disappear only to re-appear in men"s clothes shortly after.

Alan

I think his bushy moustache might of given the game away, but I guess others might of done this.

[William Morris]

The full article as published in the paper includes the following paragraph:

"The plaintiffs say they have eyewitnesses, declassified documents, newspaper reports and medical evidence. The arguments of the Cypriot claimants are also expecting a boost from International Red Cross archives."

I think that indicates that evidence exists.

The fact is that torture is wrong now, and was wrong then. It is vital that people and governments are held to account if the UK is to maintain it's self-image as a free, tolerant and law abiding country.

They can SAY whatever they want. Doesnt make it real.

The quotes are from a book report. Hardly courtroom evidence.

[William Morris]

The direct ancestor to the modern op-ed page was created in 1921 by Herbert Bayard Swope of The New York Evening World. When Swope took over as editor in 1920, he realized that the page opposite the editorials was "a catchall for book reviews, society boilerplate, and obituaries".[2] He wrote:

It occurred to me that nothing is more interesting than opinion when opinion is interesting, so I devised a method of cleaning off the page opposite the editorial, which became the most important in America ... and thereon I decided to print opinions, ignoring facts.[3]

I found that definition on Wikipedia.

The most important part is the final two words.

I think that says it all really.

[Lofos-Jan]

The Metro article is on the link below about the case going to the Supreme Court. It clearly says it is not a witch-hunt and that the vast majority of British Servicemen were upstanding during the Emergency. The accusations relate mainly to some members of the Special Branch.

Best to let the UK justice system do its job and find if there is truth in it or not.

https://metro.co.uk/2018/11/13/cypriot- ... t-8135331/

Jeanne

[Dominic]

The direct ancestor to the modern op-ed page was created in 1921 by Herbert Bayard Swope of The New York Evening World. When Swope took over as editor in 1920, he realized that the page opposite the editorials was "a catchall for book reviews, society boilerplate, and obituaries".[2] He wrote:

It occurred to me that nothing is more interesting than opinion when opinion is interesting, so I devised a method of cleaning off the page opposite the editorial, which became the most important in America ... and thereon I decided to print opinions, ignoring facts.[3]

I found that definition on Wikipedia.

The most important part is the final two words.

I think that says it all really.

Fine, keep your head stuck in the sand.

[Lincoln]

A politician.jpg (5.98 KiB) Viewed 4396 times

For William Morris

[Jimgward]

It would seem ‘Special Branch’ too often got involved in these things.

[Kili01]

I suppose that the nature of Special Branch officers job was to gain intelligence. It is well known among British forces that some Greek Cypriot employees working as drivers for example couldn’t be trusted as they were capable of actually putting the occupants inside transport vehicles at risk by knowingly taking them along routes where an ambush was planned. Maybe there were reasons linked to security which necessitated using robust methods to try to obtain the truth from unwilling detainees.
Dee

[Jimgward]

You can’t all a group Terrirists, because of the tactics they employ, then use tactics like Torture - that reduces yourselves to being Terrorists - it also alienated any decent people on the civilian side, when it becomes known. That’s why people turn against peacekeepers, armies etc. Happened in Cyprus, Africa, Aden, Ireland, Vietnam, Korea, Yugoslavia (as was) and many other places -

[Kili01]

Its easy to speculate years after the event, but at the time it was literally life and death. Not just Brits and GC’s, there were also a number of TC’s as well. Both worked with/for the British forces.
Dee

[Jimgward]

There’s no doubt they were terrible times and all sides have blame....