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Ministry of Defence

Answer

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many prisoners in British military custody have been transferred to US custody since September 2001, including those transferred under the auspices of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq; and what assurances about their rights and treatment were sought from the US authorities. [184549] Mr. Ingram :[holding reply 19 July 2004]: 341 Prisoners of War taken by United Kingdom forces in Iraq were handed over to the US in April 2003. All but three were subsequently released. The cases of the remaining three are being considered by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. We have also detained around 2,000 security internees since the end of the conflict. Between April 2003 and December 2003, they were held by the US. All but one of those individuals were either returned to UK custody or released. The UK Government takes its responsibilities to safeguard individuals taken into custody by UK forces very seriously. In March 2003, the UK and US Governments agreed a Memorandum of Understanding which contains mutual assurances on the treatment of all transferred persons in Iraq and confirms that such persons are entitled to the full protection of the Geneva Conventions. During the period from April 2003 to December 2003, when large numbers of UK-held persons were in US custody at Camp Bucca, their treatment was monitored continuously by a UK Prisoner Monitoring Team and Prisoner of War Registration Unit. The UK team were not aware of any incidents of deliberate detainee mistreatment at the Camp.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

426 c1830W;426 c1834W; 184549

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Detainees Iraq Prisoners

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk