Written question asked by Lord Tyrie (Conservative) on Thursday, 23 June 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 27 June 2005. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Thursday, 30 June 2005 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Iraq

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many representations have been made to UK military authorities in Iraq by prisoners of war of (a) Iraqi and (b) other nationality in relation to rights under article 78 of the third Geneva convention.

Answer: The United Kingdom does not hold any Prisoners of War in Iraq. The UK holds a number of security internees at the Divisional Temporary Detention Facility (DTDF) in Southern Iraq. The conditions of internment of security internees are governed by Geneva convention IV. Article 101 of Geneva convention IV covers the rights of internees to express complaints about their conditions of internment.Security internees regularly make representations regarding their conditions of internment. Such representations are generally made directly with the staff at the DTDF and are not held centrally. They are taken seriously, and reasonable requests from internees, for example for changes to the menu, are accommodated where possible. Internees also have the right to make representations to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) about any issue related to their internment. The ICRC have regular and unrestricted access to the DTDF and to all internees held there.

Secondary information