Iraqi citizen wins legal battle over hooding of suspects

Alaa’ Nassif Jassim al-Bazzouni wins case against guidance issued by UK government An Iraqi citizen has won a legal victory in London over the “barbaric” practice of hooding terror suspects. Alaa’ Nassif Jassim al-Bazzouni argued that government guidance unlawfully condoned hooding prisoners for security reasons. Lawyers for the Iraqi citizen challenged the guidance on the grounds that it explicitly and unlawfully condones the “barbaric practice” of hooding prisoners for “transit and security purposes”. Bazzouni – a father of three who lives in Basra – says he was abused and hooded by British troops in 2006, in the wake of the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Bazzouni challenged new guidance issued by the UK government on the interrogation of suspects held by foreign states. The high court heard that British troops or intelligence officers are now banned from hooding prisoners themselves. The guidance still allows them to co-operate with countries that might continue to hood for “security reasons”. On Monday, two judges ruled the guidance should be changed so that hooding was not permitted at all because of the risk it posed to physical and mental health. Phil Shiner, the solicitor representing Bazzouni, said: “This judgment represents the final nail in the coffin of the Ministry of Defence’s desperate and morally corrupt efforts to keep hooding alive as a permissible interrogation technique. “Sir William Gage’s first recommendation in the Baha Mousa inquiry report is that there must be an absolute prohibition on hooding. The MoD’s position has been that it is still legally permissible for security reasons. “This judgment slams the door shut for ever on hooding involving UK personnel anywhere in the world.” Military Iraq Middle East Human rights Torture guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 3, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.