The European Court of Human Rights found Britain guilty yesterday of unlawfully detaining nine men under an anti-terrorism law passed after the September 11th attacks on the United States in 2001.
The nine plaintiffs -- six Algerians, a Jordanian, a Tunisian and a man registered as stateless but of Palestinian origin – were suspected of having ties with al-Qaeda and held in high security prisons.
The court also ordered Britain not to deport one of the men, Jordanian preacher Abu Qatada, before it had examined an appeal he had made to the court in which he said he faced the risk of torture in his own country.
Britain’s highest court, the House of Lords, ruled on Wednesday that Abu Qatada should be returned to Jordan despite the threat he may face torture there.
The court in Strasbourg ruled against two further plaintiffs, a Frenchman and a Moroccan, because they were held for a shorter period and released after requesting repatriation to their home countries.
The 11 men said they were imprisoned arbitrarily and without charge, and that they had suffered degrading, inhuman treatment.
The British government denied the accusations and said all 11 had ties with Islamist militant groups. It was not immediately clear if the British government would appeal against the ruling.
As part of its decision, the court awarded Abu Qatada, once described as Osama bin Laden’s “right-hand man” in Europe, €2,800 compensation for his treatment, a move that angered British politicians.
“This decision will horrify most reasonable people in Britain,” said Chris Grayling, chief spokesman on home affairs for the opposition Conservative party. “Frankly, it makes a mockery of the concept of human rights if we can’t protect ourselves against people who are out to destroy our society.”
While the court ruled that the detention of the men was unlawful, it did not find Britain guilty of subjecting them to inhuman and degrading treatment.
All were detained between December 2001 and October 2003 and were initially held at Belmarsh Prison in London. Three were later transferred to Broadmoor mental hospital after their mental health deteriorated, with one attempting suicide.