12 Jun 2007

At 10:00 on Wednesday 13 June on St. Stephens Green, Liberty Director Shami Chakrabarti and Public Interest Lawyers solicitor Phil Shiner will react to a landmark Law Lords ruling which will determine if Iraqi civilians abused by UK soldiers are subject to human rights protections.

The Al-Skeini v Secretary of State for Defence case, brought by six families of Iraqi civilians who died at the hands of UK soldiers, will determine if the families can seek mandatory public inquiries using the Human Rights Act. One of the dead, Baha Mousa, died in UK detention while the other five died when UK soldiers used lethal force against them while patrolling the streets of Basra.

Liberty Director Shami Chakrabarti said:

“One way or another, this judgment will be a landmark. Our Governments went to war in the name of human rights and then argued that the Human Rights Act had no application. Shouldn’t our forces be better trained and equipped do deal with the aftermath of conflict? Shouldn’t soldiers and civilian detainees be protected from abuse wherever it occurs?”

WHAT: Press conference about landmark Law Lords decision on human rights laws applying to UK soldiers operating in Iraq

WHO: Liberty Director Shami Chakrabarti and solicitor Phil Shiner of Public Interest Lawyers

WHEN: 10:00 – 10:30 on Wednesday 13 June 2007

WHERE: St. Stephens Green in front of the House of Lords

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

Notes to Editors:

In the R (on the application of Al-Skeini and Others) and the Secretary of State for Defence, the appellants and their stories are as follows:
• Baha Mousa, (digital post-mortem photos of Mr. Mousa are available) aged 26, was arrested during a raid by UK Armed forces at Haitham Hotel, detained and allegedly beaten to death by UK soldiers. He had been taken with eight others to the UK’s Temporary Detention Facility. The individuals were allegedly subjected to prolonged hooding with sandbags, prolonged stress positions such as sitting on an imaginary chair, prolonged sleep deprivation, ritualised abuse through kickboxing games where soldiers apparently competed to kick the detainees further across the room and prolonged beatings including kicking. On 13 March 2007 a military court martial at Camp Bulford found Corporal Payne of the Queen’s Lancashire regiment guilty of inhumane treatment and found not guilty the remaining officers and soldiers charged with various offences relating to the incident.

• Hazim Al-Skeini, aged 23, was shot dead in the street by British troops in August 2003. Al-Skeini’s father said his son left the house to join what he believed to be a tribal funeral, which is associated with gunfire.

• Muhammed Salim, a 45-year old teacher, was shot dead in his brother-in-law’s home in November 2003 when a patrol entered the home on a search and arrest mission.

• Hannan Shmailawi was killed by a sudden burst of machine-gun fire from outside her home as she sat at the dinner table with her family in November 2003.

• Waleed Sayay Mezban, 43 years old, was killed as he drove his minibus home from work in August 2003.

• Raid Al-Musawi, a 29-year old Iraqi police commissioner, was shot and wounded by a British soldier during a power failure and died in hospital nine weeks later.



2. In Al-Skeini v Secretary of State for Defence, the appellants argue that the six Iraqi civilians killed during the occupation of Iraq had their rights breached under Article 2 (the right to life) and/or Article 3 (the prohibition against torture) of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Government is therefore obliged to hold an independent inquiry into their treatment. The High Court and the Court of Appeal found that the Human Rights Act applies in situations where an individual is detained by a British authority, in this case, the military. The House of Lords heard the appeal in April 2007.



3. Interveners in the case include Liberty, the Aire Centre, Amnesty International, the Association for the Prevention of Torture, the Bar Human Rights Committee, British Irish Rights Watch, Interights, Justice, Kurdish Human Rights Project, the Law Society of England and Wales and the Redress Trust.