Decisions of British Courts during 2017 Involving Questions of Public or Private International Law

Abstract

Belhaj/Rahmatullah involved two joined appeals arising out of allegations that the UK government assisted foreign states in rendition, torture and unlawful detention. In the first appeal, Belhaj, a Libyan national and former political opponent of the Gaddafi regime, and his wife, Boudchar, alleged that British officials assisted the United States of America in kidnapping, detaining and torturing them in Malaysia and Thailand, before taking them to Libya, where they were detained and tortured. On the way to Libya, the US-registered plane refuelled in Diego Garcia, an atoll in the Chagos Archipelago. Belhaj was detained and allegedly tortured in Libya for nearly six years, while Boudchar, who was pregnant at the time of the kidnapping, was released to give birth. In the second appeal, Rahmatullah, a Pakistani national, was detained by UK forces in Iraq before being transported to US custody. He was then transferred to Afghanistan and detained at Bagram...