14
HASSAN v. THE UNITED KINGDOM – JUDGMENT
had captured and processed 3,738 detainees in Iraq since the start of
hostilities and had released all but 361. Annexed to Warrant Officer
Madison’s statement were a number of screen prints showing entries on the
database relating to Tarek Hassan. They showed that an entry was made on
AP3-Ryan on 4 May 2003 at 1.45 p.m. recording the release of “Tarek
Resaan Hashmyh Ali” at 00.01 on 2 May 2003. The releasing authority was
stated to be “United Kingdom (ARMD) DIV SIG REGT”; the place of
release was stated to be “Umm Qasr”; the method of release was “By
Coach” and the ground of release was recorded as “End of Hostilities”. A
further entry was made in the United Kingdom AP3-Ryan system on
12 May 2003 at 10.13 p.m. recording that: “PW was found to be absent
from the internment facility when 100% check was conducted. PW was
released on AP3 on 12 May 03”. According to the Warrant Officer
Madison, some 400 individuals’ records included the statement “PW was
released on AP3 on 12 May 03”, when they had in fact been released earlier
and it was therefore likely that the Camp’s computer release records were
brought up to date on 12 May following a physical check. The United States
computer system did not record any release until 17 May 2003 but again,
according to the Government, this was probably explained by a
reconciliation of the United States Camp Bucca database with a physical
check of occupants of the Camp by the United States authorities on 17 May.
F. The discovery of Tarek Hassan’s body
29. According to the applicant, Tarek Hassan did not contact his family
during the period following his purported release. On 1 September 2003 one
of the applicant’s cousins received a telephone call from a man unknown to
them, from Samara, a town north of Baghdad. This man informed them that
a dead man had been found in the nearby countryside, with a plastic ID tag
and piece of paper with the cousin’s telephone number written on it in the
pocket of the sport’s top he was wearing. According to the applicant, Tarek
Hassan was wearing sportswear when he was captured by British forces.
The applicant’s cousin called him and, together with another brother, the
applicant went to the forensic medical station of the Tekrit General Hospital
in Samara. There they saw the body of Tarek Hassan with eight bullet
wounds from an AK-47 machine gun in his chest. According to the
applicant, Tarek Hassan’s hands were tied with plastic wire. The identity tag
found in his pocket was that issued to him by the United States authorities at
Camp Bucca. A death certificate was issued by the Iraqi authorities on
2 September 2003, giving the date of death as 1 September 2003, but the
sections reserved for the cause of death were not completed. A police report
identified the body as “Tariq Hassan” but gave no information about the
cause of death.
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents