British terror suspects at Camp X-Ray to get judicial review

British terror suspects captured in Afghanistan and held by the United States military at Camp X-Ray have won the right to challenge their detention in the High Court in London.

A ruling by the Court of Appeal yesterday opens the door for a full hearing later in the year at which judges will, for the first time, be able to scrutinise UK foreign policy in relation to the detention of all seven Britons suspected of fighting for the Taliban.

The Government has said the treatment of the British prisoners is a matter for the Americans and has refused to campaign on their behalf.

Three months ago a High Court judge ruled that British courts did not have jurisdiction to hear the case.

But the Master of the Rolls, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, overturned that decision yesterday, ruling in favour of Feroz Abbasi, 22, a Taliban suspect from Croydon, south London. Lord Phillips said Mr Abbasi had the right to argue his case before a British court.

Nicholas Blake QC, representing Mr Abbasi, told the Court of Appeal that the British Government had failed to provide his client with a lawyer or make representations to the Americans about the conditions of his detention. Instead, said Mr Blake, the British Government had decided to send MI5 officers to interview Mr Abassi and the other suspects at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba.

At the High Court hearing three months ago Mr Justice Richards refused permission for a judicial review. He said: "The challenge seeks to involve this court in an area of international relations and foreign policy for which the judicial process is manifestly unsuited." Mr Abbasi's solicitor, Louise Christian, said after yesterday's judgment: "The obligation of the British Government to its citizens to behave towards them in a way that respects their fundamental human rights is not a duty which exists just when they are on British soil and it is not a matter of foreign policy."

She added: "I fully expect the other detainees to be represented in this case when it gets to court. Guantanamo Bay was given to the Americans as a lease in perpetuity – but in reality it is a no-man's land for human rights where there is no jurisdiction." She said a parallel legal challenge on behalf of British detainees in the American courts had been adjourned and "looked likely to be struck out".

Mr Abbasi's mother, Zumrati Juma, a nurse, said her son received a third visit from MI5 officers in May, but they had failed to make representations to the United States government on his behalf.

"I understand that Feroz told them that he did not want to speak to them without a lawyer being present and that he asked them to ask the US camp commander if he could have a lawyer," she said.

"The Foreign Office told me that they had asked the commander and he had refused. I am disturbed that the request was only made to the camp commander once they had arrived in Guantanamo and that the British Government has made no formal request to the US government to secure my son's rights before sending MI5 out there."

Mr Abbasi is one of five Britons being held at the prison camp after being captured by US troops in December while allegedly helping defend the last Taliban stronghold of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan.

Stephen Solley QC, chairman of the Bar's human rights committee, said the Court of Appeal ruling was a "tremendous step forward and a great fillip for the families". He said it was significant because the courts had accepted that there was an arguable case.