26 Oct 2007

States around the world will be watching House of Lords proceedings on 29-31 October which will determine whether they can rely on United Nations authority or involvement to escape legal liability for human rights abuses during military engagement.

The UK Government will argue that the language of UN Security Council Resolution 1546 permits indefinite internment of Iraqi nationals without Britain’s legal responsibility. The Government will also argue that UK forces in post-conflict Iraq are under UN [not UK] control and beyond the reach of UK human rights standards.

Liberty will argue that responsibility for British forces has not been ceded to the UN and therefore our legal standards apply to detainees in British custody. The right to a fair trial was not displaced or modified by UNSCR 1546, which suggested indefinite detention of suspects in Iraq in 2004.

Alex Gask, Liberty’s Legal Officer who intervened in the case, said: “The United Nations was always designed to preserve peace, law and human rights in the world. It would be ironic if British and other forces could wave its flag to avoid liability for human rights abuses.”

The case is being brought on behalf of Mr. Al-Jedda, an Iraqi-British dual national with four British children, who has been held by UK forces in Iraq for three years without charge or trial, after he returned to Iraq in 2004 to visit relatives.

Contact Jen Corlew on 0207 378 3656 or 0797 3 831 128

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. Hilal Abdul-Razzaq Ali Al Jedda v the Secretary of State for Defence will be heard by the Law Lords on 29 – 31 October 2007. For a copy of the intervention submitted by Liberty and Justice contact jenc@liberty-human-rights.org.uk

2. UNSCR 1546 was issued after the occupation of Iraq formally ended and applied to troops from all countries taking part in the UN authorised multi-national force in Iraq, including the UK.

This case follows the July 2007 House of Lords decision in Al-Skeini v Secretary of State for Defence, in which the Law Lords found that the protections within the Human Rights Act and European Convention on Human Rights apply to anyone held in British custody, even overseas.

UNSCR 1546 was based in part on a letter submitted by the-then United States Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2004 which referred to the use of internment.

Facts of the case: Mr Al-Jedda was born in Iraq in May 1957 and is now 48 years old. He was a distinguished basket-ball player, and as a young adult he spent time in the United Arab Emirates ("the UAE") and then in Pakistan, before he moved to this country with his first wife in 1992. He made a claim for asylum and was granted indefinite leave to remain. He was subsequently granted British nationality. All four of his children by his first wife are British citizens. Prior to September 2004 the claimant was living in London, drawing incapacity benefit and income support. He says that he decided to travel to Iraq in September 2004 in order to try to obtain British visas for his wives and to introduce his four British children to their Iraqi relatives.

Mr Al Jedda’s evidence is to the effect that on 10th October, while he was visiting his sister, US troops accompanied by Iraqi national guards surrounded and entered his parents' house, searching for him. They then moved on to his sister's house, where they found him and arrested him. The evidence on behalf of the Secretary of State is that the arrest was affected by UK troops as part of an operation undertaken by UK troops. The reason for his arrest and detention was that he was suspected of membership of a terrorist group. He maintains that he has not been involved in any terrorist activities. Mr Al-Jedda seeks to secure both his release from detention in Iraq and his return to this country. He says that he will undertake to co-operate with a voluntary return, notwithstanding that he recognises that if he does return he may be liable to prosecution under the Terrorism Act 2000 or to stringent measures of control under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005.