Court Watch Tracking Current Developments in International Law
European Court of Human Rights Rules in Favor of UK: Hassan v. United Kingdom
In Hassan v. the United Kingdom, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights considered whether any human rights violations occurred under the European Convention of Hu- man Rights, when the United Kingdom captured and detained Tarek Hassan, an Iraqi National. On 16 September 2014, the Grand Chamber ruled in favor of the United Kingdom in a 13-4 ruling involv- ing the applicability of international humanitarian law and issues of extra-territorial jurisdiction.
After the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Tarek Hassan, a general manager in the National Sec- retariat of the Ba’ath Party (the governing party of Iraq led by Saddam Hussein) and a general of its private army, was arrested in April by British armed forces. When arrested, Hassan was found on the roof of his brother’s house armed with an AK-47 assault rifle. Inside, British forces found more weapons and retrieved documents of value for military intelligence. In turn, Hassan was de- tained as a suspected prisoner of war, combatant or civilian posing a threat to security, as permitted by the Third Geneva Convention.
After Hassan was arrested, he was transported by British forces and detained at Camp Bucca, a U.S. operated detention facility under British con- trol. After his detention, Hassan went through a screening process, which included interrogations conducted by both U.S. and U.K. authorities, af- ter which it was determined Hassan was a non- combatant who did not pose a threat to national security and would be released.
However, after Hassan was released by British armed forces on or around 12 May 2003, his body was discovered with bullet wounds near a town
north of Baghdad in early September 2003. On 5 June 2009, Khadim Resaan Hassan, Tarek Has- san’s brother, filed an application with the Europe- an Court of Human Rights after a British adminis- trative court dismissed proceedings that Khadim Hassan had filed in 2007, for lack of jurisdiction.
In his application, Khadim Hassan alleged that his brother’s arrest and detention by British forces in Iraq was arbitrary, unlawful, and lacking in proce- dural safeguards in violation of Article 5 §§ 1, 2, 3, and 4 (the right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights. In addi- tion, Hassan alleged that British authorities failed to investigate the circumstances of his brother’s detention, ill-treatment, and death in violation of Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (prohibition of torture an inhuman or degrading treatment), and 5 (the right to liberty and security). Conversely, the United Kingdom argued that during an international armed conflict, parts of the European Convention on Hu- man Rights should either not apply or should take into account the law of armed conflict
Ultimately, after a Grand Chamber hearing and written comments submitted by intervening third parties,
[t]he Court found that there was no evidence to suggest that Tarek Hassan had been ill-treat- ed while in detention or that the UK authorities had in any way been responsible for his death, which had occurred some four months after his release from Camp Bucca in a distant part of the country not controlled by British forces.
Therefore, UK authorities had no obligation to in- vestigate the allegations, and the complaints un- der Article 2 and 3 were inadmissible.
The Court, in its examination of the case, explained that even in situations of international armed con-
ILSA Quarterly » volume 23 » issue 2 » December 2014
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