From Detention to Freedom: How the Labour Government Can Support Arbitrarily Detained British Nationals

24th September 2024, 17:00-18:30

Leonardo Royal Hotel, Liverpool, Meeting Room 1

Chair: Richard Ratcliffe, activist and husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Speakers:

• Sir William Browder, Head of Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign
• Rupert Skilbeck, Director of REDRESS
• Tatyana Eatwell, Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers
• Omar Robert Hamilton, author and cousin of Alaa Abdel Fattah

In its manifesto, Labour committed to introducing a legal right to consular assistance in cases of human rights violations. This would represent a step change in the way the British Government deals with cases of British nationals detained abroad, away from its current discretionary approach, which would also potentially introduce a much more structured process in dealing with cases of arbitrary detention and State hostage-taking.

Consular assistance – founded on freedom of communication and access between consular officials and a detained person – enables the UK Government to provide three key protections to its nationals abroad: preventing human rights abuses; providing redress for human rights abuses when they do occur; and ensuring procedural safeguards to prevent further violations.

Consular assistance can provide a vital safeguard against such abuses. The UK Government’s own figures show that in 2023, the FCDO received 188 new allegations of torture and mistreatment from British nationals overseas.

Consular assistance is particularly important to prevent and respond to cases of serious human rights abuses, such as torture, arbitrary detention, or state hostage taking, and plays a vital role in mitigating the psychological impacts of such abuses when they do occur. Yet the British government currently accepts no legal responsibility to support its nationals even when they face serious human rights violations.

REDRESS is co-hosting a panel event with the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign and FairSquare on the fringe of the Labour conference. We will discuss how a Labour Government can ensure the safe return of British Nationals arbitrarily detained abroad. Speakers will examine the UK’s approach, the criticism it has previously received from family members of those detained abroad, and those that campaign for the release of political prisoners around the world, and Labour’s manifesto commitment to the introduction of a right to consular assistance. 

We will also look at proposals for the introduction of a UK Hostage Envoy, to represent the interests of arbitrarily detained British nationals (as recommended by the Foreign Affairs Committee), the role of British foreign policy, and some of the challenges faced in these cases. The discussion will be followed by a Q&A session.