TWO British servicemen have been sent home from the Gulf after refusing to fight in the war against Iraq. They face possible court martial and up to two years in jail for disobeying orders.

The “refuseniks” are a private and an air technician from 16 Air Assault Brigade, a frontline unit which has been engaged in heavy fighting in southern Iraq. The two men have told their commanding officers that they will not fight in a war involving the deaths of innocent civilians.

Their lawyer says they were ordered to return to the brigade’s barracks in Colchester, Essex, after raising their objections earlier this month. The cases were confirmed this weekend by Justin Hugheston-Roberts, a solicitor advocate who chairs Forces Law, a nationwide group of 22 law firms that acts for service personnel and their families.

“These cases are being handled by a very experienced lawyer,” he said. “They raise extremely serious issues as to the conscience of the individual over and above the necessity to obey lawful commands.”

Gilbert Blades, a Lincoln-based lawyer,, said the Ministry of Defence was trying to hush up the cases because it feared a public relations disaster. Blades said the men were likely to use human rights legislation to defend themselves in any prosecution.

“The MoD are trying to disenfranchise our servicemen by preventing them from exercising their rights under article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights to express their genuine concerns about the wisdom of prosecuting the war against Iraq,” he said.

If the war in Iraq falters, and civilian casualties grow, any suggestion of disobedience among even a small number of the 45,000 British servicemen and women in the region could cause the government problems.

A third serviceman, a reservist who refused to travel to the Gulf despite orders from his commanding officer to do so, has also told his lawyers he fears prosecution.

One lawyer who specialises in military affairs said of the private from 16 Air Assault Brigade: “He told his superiors that he wasn’t prepared to enter into a conflict that involved the killing of innocent civilians.

“He was removed from theatre and returned to his unit in the United Kingdom.”

The lawyer added that he understood other service people had objected to participating in the war on religious grounds.

The Ministry of Defence said it could find “no record” of the men from the brigade being returned to their units because they opposed the deaths of innocent civilians.

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