A PUBLIC inquiry could be held into the death of an Iraqi civilian after The Law Lords ruled that UK human rights laws do apply to the case.

They upheld part of an appeal by relatives of 26-year-old hotel worker Baha Mousa, who died while he was in the custody of soldiers from the former Queen's Lancashire Regiment in Basra in 2003.

Mr Mousa's death happened while the UK was an occupying power under international law.

The UK returned power to the Iraqi government in 2004.

Cpl Donald Payne, 36, was jailed for a year and dismissed from the Army after he pleaded guilty to inhumanely treating civilian detainees, including Mr Mousa.

His admission resulted in him being Britain's first convicted war criminal.

Six other soldiers, including the commander of the former QLR Colonel Jorge Mendonca, were cleared of abusing Mr Mousa.

The Human Rights Act protects anyone detained by British authorities anywhere in the world.

The Law Lords, sitting in the House of Lords, agreed by a majority of 4-1 that the UK's Human Rights Act applied to Mr Mousa because he had been detained by UK forces in Iraq.

Carla Ferstman, director of pressure group for torture victims Redress, said: "The decision will give a huge boost to the family who have been fighting for years now to find out what happened to Baha Mousa. Regrettably, the court martial raised more questions than it answered, and now there must be an effective investigation getting to the bottom of this tragedy once and for all.

"The effect of this ruling will rightly have far-reaching consequences for all those detained by UK soldiers anywhere in the world."

Phil Shiner, solicitor acting for Baha Mousa's father, Daoud Mousa, and for other Iraqis alleg-ing they were abused and tortured by UK troops, said: "This is a massive breakthrough in my clients' efforts to secure accountability for deaths, and torture, in detention."