Iraqi Civilians Triumph Over British Defense Ministry in High Court

One of the UK's top judicial bodies has awarded sizeable monetary compensation to several Iraqi citizens after determining that they were subjected to mistreatment at the hands of British troops during the Iraq War.

A group of four Iraqi citizens managed to prevail in a legal battle against the British Ministry of Defense, which they sued for crimes committed during the Iraq War, in the High Court of Justice in London.

High Court Judge George Leggatt ruled that under the Human Rights Act, the Iraqis were entitled to compensation for the mistreatment and unlawful detention they were subjected to during the Iraq War.

The four claimants alleged that they were unlawfully detained during the war by British forces and were abused by their captors; the court awarded each civilian monetary compensation, ranging from about 12,000 British pounds to 33,300 British pounds.

The judge also said that the four cases in question, in which for the first time Iraqi nationals presented their testimonies in an English courtroom, "have been tried as lead cases."

"There is no assumption that these four cases are representative of others, but the conclusions reached on the legal issues and some of the factual issues raised are likely to affect many of the remaining cases in the litigation," he said, according to Independent.