Iraqi abuse claims: Abd Al-Waheed
IN oUR December 15 article headlined ‘Another human rights fiasco!’ about a case in the High Court which saw compensation awarded to four Iraqis for unlawful imprisonment and ill-treatment by British forces, we reported claims made by the soldier who captured him that a ‘suspected Iraqi insurgent’ Abd Al-Waheed had been ‘caught red handed with bomb’, and that he was awarded £33,000 for being kept in custody ‘too long’. We are happy to clarify that, while Mr Al-Waheed was captured during a raid on his sister’s home, this was in fact targeted at his brother-inlaw, who was suspected of involvement in insurgent activity. His brother-in-law was not there at the time, but during the raid a number of explosives were found.
Despite a British Army Review Committee deciding that Mr Al-Waheed had no connection with his brotherin-law’s activities and did not pose a threat to security, he was detained for a further 33 days, which a High Court judge ruled to be unlawful.
Mr Justice Leggatt concluded that the claim made by the British soldier that Mr Al-Waheed had been found ‘handling’ a bomb was a ‘false embellishment made to strengthen evidence against him’, and dismissed similar claims as ‘pure fiction’. The judge also found that Mr Al-Waheed was not an insurgent and that ‘none of the claimants was engaged in terrorist activities or posed any threat to the security of Iraq’.
Compensation was subsequently awarded against the MOD for the unlawful actions of its soldiers. As we have already clarified, and as the article stated, £33,000 was the total compensation awarded to Mr Al-Waheed, of which £15,000 was for beating, £ 15,000 for inhuman treatment and £3,300 for unlawful detention. We apologise if any contrary impression was formed.
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