Publications

State hostage-taking, where individuals are arbitrarily detained by foreign governments for diplomatic leverage, involves serious violations of human rights, including the right not to be subjected to torture and ill-treatment, the right to liberty and a fair trial, and in some cases the right to life. According to the UK Foreign Affairs Committee, the use of State hostage-taking is increasing internationally. However, the UK lacks a comprehensive strategy to ensure the safe return of hostages, resulting in ad hoc efforts which fail to acknowledge the systemic nature of the issue while delivering inconsistent outcomes. This briefing highlights the urgency of addressing this issue and makes recommendations that aim to prevent British nationals being exploited as pawns and instrumentalised by States as part of a practice where they are at risk of torture and ill-treatment.

This briefing identifies different approaches towards the provision of consular assistance to a State’s nationals in domestic legal frameworks, addressing the responsibilities a State owes towards its nationals when they are located outside its territorial borders. It offers an overview to policy-makers of four different models for the provision of consular assistance at a domestic level which already exist in a range of different States.

Now in its tenth edition, the Universal Jurisdiction Annual Review has continued to showcase the increasingly important role of universal jurisdiction in the fight against impunity. With 36 new investigations opened in 2023 and 16 convictions, the past year confirms this positive trend. However, the use of universal jurisdiction is not expanding evenly across countries.  As long as cases continue to be concentrated in a few specific jurisdictions, the truly universal nature and potential impact of universal jurisdiction will remain unexploited. Read more in the report, released by TRIAL International in collaboration with Civitas Maxima, the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), FIDH and REDRESS.

Over the last decade, the International Law Commission and the UN General Assembly have made progress in attempts to establish a Convention on Crimes Against Humanity (CAH). In this policy brief on a prospective CAH Convention, REDRESS, the International Federation for Human rights (FIDH), Global Survivors Fund (GSF) and TRIAL International voice support for a prospective CAH convention. This Convention can cement Customary International Law and fill an important existing gap in treaty law regarding crimes against humanity. The policy brief makes recommendations to States on reflecting progressive provisions on victims’ and survivors’ rights in a prospective CAH Convention

In March 2022, Roman Abramovich promised to sell Chelsea Football Club and donate the £2.5 billion to support victims of the war in Ukraine, nearly 7 times the value of humanitarian assistance provided by the UK to Ukraine so far. However, two years on, the sale has hit a stalemate and no money has been delivered to victims of the conflict. This briefing paper outlines how the UK Government can break the deadlock over the funds and direct them towards victims in Ukraine, as promised.

This briefing provides an overview of recent developments in the UK’s use of targeted sanctions as of 23 January 2024.

Despite the considerable potential of consular assistance to protect the rights and wellbeing of British nationals detained abroad, its provision by the UK Government remains discretionary. This report sets out a series of principles to help shape a legal right to consular assistance. Moving consular assistance onto a legislative footing would ensure more robust safeguards for British nationals at risk of human rights abuses abroad and solidify the State’s responsibility to secure the rights and wellbeing of its most vulnerable citizens.

Victims of human rights violations have the right to effective reparations. However, those reparations are not always accessible in practice, leaving victims without redress, while those responsible for the harm inflicted continue to profit from their abuses. This report argues that it is high time for legal and policy reforms to challenge the financial impunity enjoyed by perpetrators, and fund reparations for victims. It identifies important legal and policy reforms that the UK Government should implement to ensure the repurposing of profits derived from violations of human rights and humanitarian law to provide reparations to victims. Innovative avenues are available to produce significant funds that would have a transformative impact on the lives of victims.