When U.S. forces are asked to stop taking photos of themselves, they’re less likely to do so
By MICHAEL HENRIQUIN WASHINGTON—The U.N. Human Rights Council is investigating a report that the U.K. military is asking its officers to limit their interactions with reporters to just photos of the military and its equipment.
U.K.-based human rights group Reporters Without Borders said in a statement that the military’s request to its personnel was “deeply troubling.”
The group said the request was made after a group of U.k. troops were filmed leaving a barracks and posing for photos with the front of a helicopter in September.
The video went viral and sparked a U.KS.-wide protest, which ended in the resignation of the chief of staff of the U .
K.’s armed forces.
Reporters Without Border said the U..
K. request was “shocking and completely unacceptable” in light of its violations of the privacy rights of civilians and soldiers.
“The U .
S. and the U.-K.
have a lot of common ground on freedom of expression and freedom of the press, but we must continue to push for accountability and reform when it comes to our military,” Reporters No Borders Deputy Director Daniel Sandford said in the statement.
The U-K.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in an emailed statement that it was “reviewing the report.”
It did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The U.J. Military Academy in Oxfordshire, England, said in August that it has not received any such requests.
The Pentagon has said that U.A.E. officers will be allowed to conduct patrols and take pictures with any member of the armed forces, including those on duty.
In the U-S., however, the military will only allow photos of soldiers and U.L.A.’s SWAT team.
U-K.-U.S.-UCLA Conflict Center spokeswoman Julie Fennell said U.M.
S helicopters are used to protect U.U.-L.G.I.O. personnel, but that the use of helicopters is a separate issue.
“We do not condone the use by the U.” she said.
“We have a strong policy to prevent that.
And we have a strict policy on the use and disposal of military equipment.”
The U.-M.A.-UCL Conflict Center said in March that the presence of U-L.
As, a U-M.G., and U-G.C. helicopters in U.C., U.O., and G.H.I.-C.
bases is a “prohibited practice.”