Detainees
39. The UK maintains a Divisional Temporary Detention
Facility (DTDF) at the Shaibah Logistics Base. This is used to
house people who are considered to be a threat to security. In
its memorandum of 6 July, the MoD states that:
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1637,
adopted at the request of the Provincial Iraqi Government, gives
Multi-National Force commanders the ability to intern people for
imperative reasons of security. It is important that they have
this power to protect both their forces and the Iraqi people but
it is a power that the UK uses sparingly and only for imperative
reasons of security.[20]
40. The DTDF opened in December 2003 and has the
capacity to hold 180 internees. According to the MoD's memorandum,
the highest number of detainees held by UK Forces was 140 in January
2004, and the lowest 7 in October 2004. The memorandum further
states that:
The UK is currently holding around 81 security
internees. The internees are all male and range in age from 22
to 56. Three of the internees are Sunni, 78 are Shia. There is
one dual UK/Iraqi national in the facility, Mr al-Jedda. The average
length of time each one has been detained is 198 days (the 18
month review point is at around 550 days). All of them are held
because they are assessed to represent an imperative threat to
the security of Coalition forces and Iraqis. The most recent release
of internees took place on 8 June, when five internees were set
free.[21]
41. The memorandum maintains that "there are
stringent review procedures to ensure that detainees are released
as soon as they cease being an imperative threat to security".
It states that:
Individuals held by the UK have their cases reviewed
by the Divisional Internment Review Committee. The first review
is within 48 hours of internment and monthly thereafter. Individuals
have the right to provide written representation at the hearings
and have regular access to lawyers…A joint Iraqi/coalition
detention committee, which is co-chaired by PM Maliki and the
MNF, in Baghdad reviews detention cases after 18 months to assess
whether continued internment is necessary.[22]
42. During our visit, it was explained to us that
the absence of a functioning courts system within the Basra area
made it very difficult to bring alleged offenders to trial.
43. In evidence to us on 20 June, Mr Ingram stated
that "everything we do is fully consistent, and in full compliance,"
with the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR 1637).
He told us that the UK detention facilities "are inspected
by the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] and…we
do not receive adverse comments". He assured us that "if
there are things which need to be attended to, then we immediately
attend to them" and that "in terms of the governance
of the facility, it is to a very high and professional level.[23]
44. The MoD's memorandum points out that:
The High Court found last year that our review
procedures met the standards of the Geneva Conventions, subject
to a small change which has now been rectified in Theatre…The
International Committee for the Red Cross, and the Iraqi Ministry
of Human Rights has unfettered access to the DTDF. The ICRC has
made regular visits to the facility since it first opened in December
2003 and is satisfied with the conditions there as is the Iraqi
Ministry of Human Rights.[24]
45. These statements echo those of the Secretary
of State for Defence, who told the House on 26 June:
Detention…is an important issue and, in
my view, there is no possibility of a sustainable and long-term
future for the new Government of Iraq beyond the point of relying
on coalition forces if they have large numbers of people in detention
and insufficient judicial capacity to deal with them…However,
hon. Members have to understand that many of those people are
detained because they are a danger to the Iraqi people. The Government's
ability to deal with those detained will be a function of their
ability to build a judicial system that can deal with that number
of people.[25]
46. We call upon the MoD to make public, on a
regular basis, the number of detainees UK Forces hold in Iraq,
how those figures have fluctuated since the opening of the Divisional
Temporary Detention Facility at Shaibah, and the grounds for detention.
Detention without trial is, of itself, undesirable, though we
understand the reasons for it.
47. In our meeting with the Iraqi Prime Minister
in Baghdad, the issue of detention by UK Forces was raised as
a key concern. Mr Maliki argued that a number of the people held
at the DTDF—particularly, those with links with political
parties—should be released and that failure to do so was
causing resentment amongst the local population. We were told
that detention was a factor in explaining why local people felt
hostility towards the Multi-National Forces and a reason for the
declining consent of the people for the continuing presence of
foreign troops in Iraq.
48. The number of people detained by UK Forces is
very small in comparison with those held by US Forces, and there
seems to be a widely held perception that detention is used more
sparingly by UK Forces. However, it was brought to our attention
that in one respect US policy was preferable: the US procedures
incorporate local Iraqis in the process for reviewing the detention
of individuals whereas, at present, the UK's procedures do not.
The MoD's memorandum stated:
We are currently looking closely at ways we can
involve the Iraqis in our review process and are in discussions
with the Iraqi Government and our Coalition partners to achieve
this.[26]
49. We are pleased that the MoD is considering
new ways of incorporating local Iraqi representatives in the review
process for detainees held at the UK's Divisional Temporary Detention
Facility.
50. We call upon the MoD to explain what its plans
are for the future of the DTDF after the closure of the Shaibah
Logistics Base.
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