High-profile defeat inflicted on government over five-year deadline proposed in overseas operations bill

Peers have inflicted a significant defeat on the government, voting by 333 to 228 to halt plans to restrict prosecutions of torture and war crimes by British soldiers serving abroad.

A group led by former Nato secretary general George Robertson, and supported by some former military chiefs, told peers they wanted torture and war crimes to be excluded from a five-year limit on prosecutions proposed in the overseas operations bill.

Related: The UK government is attempting to bend the rules on torture | Nicholas Mercer

Related: Labour to avoid revolt by voting against overseas operations bill

This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.