Further memorandum from the Ministry of
Defence
Further information requested following the
evidence session on 23 June 2004.[1]
Q 21. Details of the bodies providing support
to the Ministerial Committee of National Security?
The Ministerial Committee of National Security
(MCNS) is an Iraqi Committee that issues strategic policy direction
and guidance on national security issues. It is chaired by Prime
Minister Allawi. Iraqi representatives normally include the Ministers
for Defence, Foreign Affairs, Interior, Finance and Justice, as
well as the head of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS)
and National Security Adviser. The Committee normally meets once
a week at ministerial level. MNF [Commanding Generals] and the
UK and US Ambassadors (or representatives) normally attend with
supporting staff, as invited members.
The MCNS normally meets at Deputies level once
a week, with representatives of the Ministries listed above, MNF,
and the UK/US Embassies. Ad hoc working groups have been
established to look at specific issues (such as drafting the National
Security Strategy).
The National Security Adviser's Office provides
basic administrative support to the MCNS.
Since the hand-over, the US Embassy and MNF have
set up fortnightly meetings for representatives of troop contributing
nations (TCNs). These provide an opportunity to discuss security
issues, although the meetings do not have a direct role in providing
support to MCNS.
Q 68. A note on the rules applied to British
internees after 1 July?
Since the hand over of Sovereignty, the power
to hold security internees is conferred on the Multinational Force
by UN Security Council Resolution 1546, together with letters
from the Iraqi Prime Minister and the US Secretary of State to
the President of the Security Council. The resolution read in
conjunction with the letters is sufficiently clear to amount to
an authorisation by the Security Council for internment "where
this is necessary for imperative reasons of security".
The UK also complies with Coalition Provisional
Authority (CPA) Memorandum Number 3. The procedures it sets out
confer a range of protections on internees and provide that the
operation, condition and standards of all internment facilities
must accord with Section IV of Geneva Convention 4 (albeit GC4
is not binding at this stage). The UK also reviews the process
of security internee management in accordance with the relevant
and appropriate standards set out in the Geneva Convention 4 as
a matter of policy.
Individuals held by the UK have their cases
reviewed regularly (after 10, 28, 90 and thereafter every 90 days).
This is more stringent than the six months mandated by the Geneva
Conventions. Anyone who no longer poses an imperative threat to
security is released—either to the Iraqi police if subject
to criminal proceedings, or back into the area where they were
arrested.
Internees held by the UK are generally held
in a secure compound at Shaibah. Within the compound individuals
are free to move around as they wish (ie they are not restrained
unless they pose a specific threat to coalition personnel). They
can exercise freely and can practise their religion freely as
they wish. They are provided with halal food three times a day.
If they request a change to the menu for religious reasons this
can be accommodated. They are also provided with bottled fresh
water as they require.
It is UK policy that interrogations of detainees
are carried out well within the terms of the Geneva Convention.
The Joint Service Intelligence Organisation's Training Documentation
states that the following techniques are expressly and explicitly
forbidden:
— Physical punishment of any sort (beatings
etc)
— The use of stress privation
— Intentional sleep deprivation
— Withdrawal of food, water or medical
help
— Degrading treatment (sexual embarrassment,
religious taunting etc)
— The use of "white noise"
— Torture methods such as thumb screws
etc.
Q 73. When the practice of hooding prisoners
was ended, and a note on the circumstances in which it was permitted?
Prior to Operation Telic it was standard procedure
to use hoods as a means of temporarily obscuring detainees' vision
during their initial arrest and transit to detention facilities.
The UK believes that the use of hooding during arrest and transit
is acceptable under the Geneva Conventions when there is a strong
military justification for doing so. It may for example be necessary
for security reasons—to prevent detainees viewing sensitive
information such as our own force dispositions, or to protect
the detainee from identification by other detainees.
Hooding and sensory deprivation is not used
by UK Armed Forces as an interrogation technique. Training and
doctrine make it clear to all interrogators that it is unacceptable.
The Chief of Joint Operations issued a directive
in September 2003 that the practice of hooding was to stop.
Q 79. A note on the legal position of ex-patriates
employed in Iraq as contractors, security guards and other personnel.
The Coalition Provisional Authority put in place
a number of regulations that apply to foreign contractors in Iraq.
These regulations are set out in CPA Order 17 and CPA Memorandum
17, which can be found on the CPA website at www.cpa-iraq.org.
States (in practice members of the MNF) can
award contracts according to their own laws and regulations for
the provision of personnel, services, equipment, provisions etc
to support the MNF, international humanitarian or reconstruction
efforts, and diplomatic missions. In these circumstances the contractors
are not subject to Iraqi laws or regulations in matters relating
to the terms and conditions of their Contracts, including licensing
and registering employees, businesses and corporations. They are
also immune to Iraqi legal processes with respect to acts performed
under the terms of the contract. However MNF personnel can intervene
to prevent serious acts of misconduct by Contractors, or temporarily
detain Contractors who pose a risk of injury to themselves or
others, pending turning them over as soon as possible to the appropriate
authorities of the Contractor's sending state.
Private Security Companies and their employees
operating in Iraq must comply with all CPA Orders, Regulations,
Memoranda, and any implementing instructions or regulations governing
the existence and activities of Private Security Companies in
Iraq, including registration and licensing of weapons and firearms.
All other activities of expatriates employed
in Iraq should respect Iraqi law, and the amendments to Iraqi
law defined by Coalition Provisional Authority Orders.
Q 104-5. The number of British service personnel
in total who have been subject to investigation for alleged misconduct?
The total number of Service police investigations
involving allegations of abuse against Iraqi civilians is currently
131. These investigations cover a range of incidents including
operational engagements, negligent discharges and road traffic
accidents as well as alleged physical abuse of detainees. A number
of these investigations have concluded with no case to answer.
Other investigations are in their early stages and it would be
premature to speak in terms of suspicion falling on particular
individuals. It may therefore be more helpful to consider the
number of personnel who have been reported for specific offences;
this currently stands at 352. The relevant cases are either being
considered by the chain of command under legal advice, being reviewed
by prosecuting authorities or have been directed for trial.
We continue to follow-up incidents and allegations
with determination and rigour. We therefore have a reasonable
expectation that the total of 35 will grow over time. It is nevertheless
clear that these are isolated and diverse incidents involving
only a very small proportion of the over 55,000 Service men and
women who have so far served in Iraq.
February 2005
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