CONDITIONS IN DETENTION
EXTRADITION AND DEPORTATION
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
CONDITIONS IN DETENTION
The applicants in A and others v United Kingdom; (App no 3455/05) had been allegedly involved in terrorist groups with links to Al Qa’eda. They were detained under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 (ACSA 2001) which provided that certified individuals could be detained pending deportation—despite the fact that their removal from the UK was unlikely because of a risk that they would face torture or ill treatment if returned to their country of origin. Each applicant had been certified as an international terrorist and initially detained at Belmarsh Prison.
While some applicants elected to leave the UK, three were transferred to Broadmoor secure mental hospital following deterioration in their mental health, and another was released on bail because of concern over his mental health.
Following a visit to the detainees in February 2002 and March 2004, the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) published a report which was critical of detention conditions in Belmarsh Prison and Broadmoor Hospital. The applicants were considered to be in a poor