Iraq Detention

The government is responsible for its human rights abuses in and cannot pass the buck to the UN, the House of Lords has ruled. In R (on the application of Al Jedda) v Secretary of State for Defence a 4:1 law lord majority said the UK government was responsible for detaining a UK/Iraqi national in Basra without trial, rejecting the government’s contention that UK forces in post-conflict Iraq were acting under the authorisation of UN Security Council Resolution 1546—which permits internment of suspects in Iraq. The law lords held that the defendant’s right to liberty under Art 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights was “qualified but not displaced” by the resolution.