Lords rule rights law applies to Musa case

By Luke Baker

LONDON (Reuters) - The House of Lords ruled on Wednesday that European human rights law did apply to British troops serving in Iraq in the case of an Iraqi man who died in their custody four years ago.

Lawyers said the decision means that an independent inquiry, long resisted by the government, should now be opened into the death of Baha Musa, an Iraqi hotel receptionist who died in September 2003 after being detained, hooded and beaten by British troops.

It also means, they added, that the government may have to order sweeping changes to the way British troops operate and conduct themselves in Iraq, Afghanistan and anywhere else on deployment.

The Lords' ruling, by a majority of four to one, followed an appeal by the Ministry of Defence. The ministry was not immediately available to comment on the ruling.

"Today we've been successful in the House of Lords and that means there must now be a full, public and independent inquiry into what went wrong," said Phil Shiner, a lawyer representing Baha Musa and other applicants.

"It seems clear from the public record that serious errors of judgment have been made at senior levels both within the military and the government."

The government had maintained that soldiers serving in Iraq should not necessarily be subject to Britain's Human Rights Act or the European Convention on Human Rights because they were operating in conflict in a foreign country.

The Lords' ruling made clear, at least in the case of Baha Musa, that the legislation did apply to soldiers serving on British bases in Iraq or holding detainees in their custody.