In September 2003, British soldiers raided a hotel in the southern Iraqi city of Basra during operations there. They had detained several Iraqi citizens, including Baha Musa, a receptionist at the hotel whom British soldiers had suspected being an insurgent. Musa was detained with several other Iraqi's, blindfolded, subjected to stress positions, and beaten over a 36 hour period. He died later from injuries suffered during his detention, including broken ribs, a broken nose, and 93 other injuries. During the hotel raid, five Iraqi civilians were executed by members of British armed forces. Relatives of the Iraqi's had appealed allegations that UK human rights laws did not apply in their cases.
The executions, as well as the death of Musa, occurred while Britain was an occupying power under international law. The House of Lords yesterday ruled 4-1 that UK human rights law did indeed apply to Musa's case because he was in British custody at the time of his death. The government had appealed, stating that neither Britain's Human Rights Act, nor the European Convention on Human Rights applied because British forces were operating in a foreign country during war time. Britain had also dropped a 1972 ban on interrogation techniques, including hooding, stress positions, and sleep deprivation. The House of Lords, however, ruled that prisoners held in British custody are protected by European human rights laws.
Human rights groups hailed the decision. The ruling holds the human rights laws were applicable to any detainee in British custody in any facility in the world. Shami Chakrabati, director of the civil rights group Liberty, stated that "There could now never be a British Guantanamo The British will never be able to build a prison anywhere in the world and say it is a legal black hole." In contrast, the U.S. Congress passed legislation in 2006 stating that alleged militants held in the naval detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba were afforded no constitutional rights. The U.S. attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, also stated that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to those in U.S. custody from current conflicts.
The British army officer, Cpl Donald Payne, plead guilty to inhumane treatment of civilian detainees, including Musa. Cpl Payne was detained for a year and dismissed from the army. His is the first Brit convicted for war crimes.
Commentary; It seems more and more that the European Union and its members are evolving to the more socially responsible entity in the international arena. EU membership is being used as a carrot to detain Kosovo suspects, address Turkish human rights issues, and its members are increasingly involved in UN peace keeping forces. This move by the House of Lords seems to be a further segregation of European conduct and American conduct regarding the laws of war.
