§ Lord Lamont of Lerwickasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the practice of hooding prisoners at the moment of arrest has been used in Iraq; and why it was not stopped by Ministers when it was reported on television. [HL2786]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach):The practice of temporarily obscuring the vision of an apprehended person is used for security reasons, for example, to prevent those persons who have been apprehended from recognising locations. The MoD does not believe that using hoods in such circumstances is illegal. None the less direction was given in September 2003 that UK forces should completely cease the practice and that blindfolds should be used instead.