Publications

The Aitken report was commissioned by General Sir Mike Jackson, the then Chief of the General Staff in February 2005. He was asked to consider what measures need to be taken in order to safeguard and improve the army’s operational effectiveness in the light of allegations of abuse in Iraq and criticism in the Defence Select Committee. REDRESS' memorandum to the UK Ministry of Defense identifies a series of shortcomings arising from the Aitken report.  

This manual is the outcome of a collaborative effort spanning several years of cooperation and involving lawyers, human rights defenders, doctors and others in the Philippines and elsewhere. The purpose of this manual is to provide practical guidance on how lawyers and other professionals can use the Istanbul Protocol to provide remedies for torture survivors in the Philippines.

This report surveys a number of specific incidents of abuse of Iraqi civilians by UK Army forces during the period when the fighting against Saddam Hussein’s forces officially stopped and the hand-over to the Iraqi authorities took place: 1 May 2003 to 30 June 2004. It seeks to examine the underlying military policies and doctrines in operation at the time, as well as the steps apparently subsequently taken within the military to prevent future abuses. Also examined is the use of the five banned interrogation techniques, as well as the UK’s pre-invasion planning or lack of it to deal with civilian detainees. Other aspect examined is the human rights training which was or was not given, not only to ordinary soldiers but to specialised interrogators, and the role of medical personnel and legal advisors.

Response to sixth periodic report of the United Kingdom, the British Oversewas Territories and the Crown Dependencies.