Written question asked by Tom Cox (Labour) on Tuesday, 11 January 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 28 February 2005. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Monday, 28 February 2005 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the longest period of time that a (a) man and (b) woman has been held in detention or imprisonment by British military forces in Iraq.

Answer: Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the longest period of time that a (a) man and (b) woman has been held in detention or imprisonment by British military forces in Iraq. [208743] Mr. Ingram: The longest period of time that a male security internee has been held by the United Kingdom forces is 22 months, since April 2003. For part of this period UK security internees were held by US forces at Camp Bucca. Since December 2003. all UK internees have been held at the UK-run Divisional Temporary Detention Facility. Records indicate that the only female security internee held at the DTDF by UK forces was in custody for three months, between November 2003 and February 2004. The only people currently in UK custody are security internees. The UK does not hold any criminal detainees or other categories of prisoners.

Secondary information