The High Court supported lawyers for the family of hotel worker Baha
Mousa, 26, who had argued that the European Convention on Human
Rights applied to British forces abroad.

However, five other families had applications for judicial reviews
rejected because the court said their relatives had not been in the
custody of British forces when they died.

Mousa was arrested on September 14, 2003 by British troops in the
region of the southern Iraqi city of Basra and died in their custody.

Both the family and the government were granted permission to appeal
Tuesday’s ruling.

Lawyers for Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon had argued the convention
did not apply to British troops in Iraq as it was outside European
jurisdiction.

They contended the Human Rights Act, which incorporated the
convention into British domestic law, was, with rare exceptions,
"exclusively territorial" and could only be applied inside British
territory.

The court ruling could affects some 30 other similar cases.

"Today is a historic day for human rights and the rule of law in the
United Kingdom," said Phil Shiner, a lawyer for the Iraqi families.

"The High Court has ruled that in the cases of civilians killed or
tortured in detention in Iraq the European Convention on Human Rights
applies to British forces," he added.

"It has ruled that there has been a violation of articles two —
right to life — and three — prohibition of torture — and in
particular the obligation to carry out an independent investigation,"
he said.

In a summary of their ruling, the judges said they were was only
concerned with whether the deaths took place within British
jurisdiction and fell within the scope of the Human Rights
Convention.

They then tried to determine if there had been a breach of articles
concerning an adequate inquiry into the deaths.

They ruled that a state’s jurisdiction was "essentially territorial",
but in certain exceptions extended "to outposts of the state’s
authority abroad", such as embassies and consulates.

The judges said this exception could apply "to a prison operated by a
state party in the territory of another state with the consent of
that state".

But it did not apply "to the total territory of another state which
is not itself a party to the Convention" even if its territory was
"in the effective control of the first state".

A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said "obviously we’ll need
to study" the judgement. "I’d also like to point out that a separate
criminal case is currently being considered by the army."

Mousa’s father, Daoud Mousa, a colonel in the Basra police force who
came to England seeking a fresh investigation, told the court earlier
how he was "horrified" by the state of his son’s body and could not
bear to look upon him.

The "last words" of the 26-year-old were described in a witness
statement from fellow hotel worker Kifah Taha al-Mutari.

He told a packed court detainees were hooded, deprived of sleep, had
freezing water poured over them and became the victims of "soldiers’
games", including a version of kickboxing in which British troops
would compete "as to who could kickbox one of us the furthest".