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EU court orders UK to investigate deaths of six Iraqi civilians

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, July 7, IRNA – The highest court in Europe – the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Thursday ordered the UK to investigate the deaths of six civilians killed in Iraq in 2003 in incidents involving British soldiers.

Public Interest Lawyers (PIL), which represents over a hundred Iraqi civilians seeking justice, described the court's ruling as “one of its most important judgments ever, involving the alleged ill-treatment and unlawful killing of Iraqi citizens by UK Armed Forces.”

“The immediate ramifications for the Ministry of Defence are highly significant. The Court’s ruling means that a whole host of Iraqi victims, previously prevented from accessing justice, are now finally to seek redress for their abuse. For the first time,” PIL said in a statement obtained by IRNA.

“They will be able to go to the High Court in London and force Liam Fox, the Secretary of State for Defence, to order a public inquiry into the actions of British soldiers in their cases,” it said.

In its ruling, the ECHR took into consideration the exceptional circumstances deriving from the United Kingdom's assumption of authority for the maintenance of security in south east Iraq from 1 May 2003 to 28 June 2004 and the UK having jurisdiction under Article 1 (obligation to respect human rights) of the European Convention on Human Rights in respect of civilians killed.

“There had been a failure to conduct an independent and effective investigation into the deaths of the relatives of five of the six applicants, in violation of Article 2 (right to life) of the Convention,” it said.

“This is a monumental judgment. Today is a historic day for human rights in Europe and beyond, and an important day for our clients, many of whom can now force what the MoD has long-denied them – a public inquiry uncovering the truth about what the British Army did to them and their loved ones,” said Phil Shiner of PIL.

Cases the MoD now must face include eight year-old Hanaan Salih Matrood, who died of massive abdominal injuries after being shot by a British patrol whilst playing in an alleyway near her home on 21 August 2003.

Another is 62 year-old grandmother Sabiha Khudur Talib, who was dragged from her home uninjured during a night raid by British troops in November 2006, before her corpse was found later in a British body-bag on the Az-Zubayr Highway.

There is also a teenage boy, known only as Samir, alleged raped by two British soldiers in succession in May 2003 and 12 year-old Memmon Al-Maliki, injured a month earlier by munitions lying near his home whilst he was playing football.

PIL are currently acting for over 130 Iraqis who allege that they or their family members were unlawfully detained, ill-treated, or killed by UK forces since the 2003 invasion.