[JURIST] The European Court of Human Rights [official website] on Tuesday denied the admissibility [decision text] of a lawsuit brought by Saddam Hussein against 21 European countries on the grounds that the case fell outside its jurisdiction. Saddam's lawyers had claimed that the 21 European countries who had joined the US-led war in Iraq violated his right to life, liberty and security under the European Convention on Human Rights [text]. He added that if he faces execution, the sentence would violate two articles of the treaty abolishing the death penalty in times of peace and in all circumstances.

The Court said in a statement [official press release] that it lacked jurisdiction because the 21 countries cited did not control the territory were the alleged violations occurred. The court added, "even if he could have fallen within a state's jurisdiction because of his detention by it, he had not shown that any one of those states had any responsibility for, or any involvement or role in, his arrest and subsequent detention." AP has more.