BAHA-52 Response Accepted

Restraint Positions Guidance

Recommendation

Greater clarity and guidance should be given in training in relation to the concept of 'restraint positions'. More must be done to give practical guidance to help service personnel distinguish between unlawful stress positions and the legitimate use of force.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- The Defence Secretary stated on 8 September 2011 that the government accepted this recommendation and stated that clearer guidance on distinguishing unlawful stress positions from the legitimate use of restraint had been developed (Government Response to the Baha Mousa Inquiry, Ministry of Defence, September 2011).
- Joint Doctrine Publication 1-10 (Captured Persons) was first published on 1 October 2011, shortly after the Baha Mousa Inquiry report (8 September 2011), and has since been updated to a Fourth Edition published 28 September 2020, incorporating lessons from the Baha Mousa and Al-Sweady inquiries as well as Supreme Court judgments (JDP 1-10, Fourth Edition, Ministry of Defence, September 2020).
Sources
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by Claude (Anthropic) on 10 Apr 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
This recommendation applies across many organisations. The evidence above reflects central policy activity; adoption in individual organisations may vary.
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Accepted
Accepted Ministry of Defence
08 Sep 2011

Accepted. Clearer guidance on distinguishing stress positions from legitimate restraint has been developed.

Read Full Response
Source
Inquiry Baha Mousa Inquiry
Report The Report of the Baha Mousa Inquiry - Volume III 08 Sep 2011
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Ministry of Defence Primary
Themes & Tags
Staff training and development Outdated Operational Guidance Training Restraint Stress Positions
Recommendation age 14.7 yrs
Last formal update 5013 days ago