Rights Court Says UK Held Qaeda Suspects Illegally

The European Court of Human Rights found Britain guilty on Thursday of unlawfully detaining nine men under an anti-terrorism law passed after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

The nine plaintiffs -- six Algerians, a Jordanian, a Tunisian and a man registered as stateless and of Palestinian origin -- were suspected of having ties with al Qaeda and held in high-security prisons.

The court 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.

While the court ruled that the detention was unlawful, it did not find Britain guilty of subjecting the men 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 Secure Mental Hospital after their mental health deteriorated, with one attempting suicide.

At the time, the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture criticised the conditions they were being held in, saying the indefinite nature of their detention had exacerbated their poor mental health.

The 2001 anti-terrorism act allowed Britain to detain foreigners without trial if they were suspected of terrorist links but there was insufficient evidence to prosecute them.

Britain's highest court, the House of Lords, ruled in December 2004 that the detentions were discriminatory and disproportionate.

The eight suspects still in prison or in Broadmoor at the time were released when the law was repealed in March 2005 but were then detained again in immigration custody.