Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 19
19
Accepted
Paragraph: 55
The presumption that “quiet diplomacy” and family silence is always appropriate throughout cases of state...
Recommendation
The presumption that “quiet diplomacy” and family silence is always appropriate throughout cases of state detentions and state hostage taking is a false one, other than in the initial phases. Silence abets state hostage taking. We recommend the Government uses the strongest possible language to call out situations of state hostage taking as soon as it becomes clear detentions are being used for leverage.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government agrees with the recommendation and says it already seeks to support families who wish to proceed publicly, assessing options on a case-by-case basis and offering advice while respecting the family's decision.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
55
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
37. The Government agrees that States who routinely target foreign nationals, and manipulate their judicial systems, should be left in no doubt about the political and diplomatic price they pay for their actions. The Government robustly challenges the Stolen years: combatting state hostage diplomacy: Government Response 11 practice of using detained foreign nationals to seek political leverage. Alongside our partners in multilateral fora and groupings including the G7, the UN, and the Canadian Initiative on Arbitrary detention in State-to-State relations, we call out the countries responsible for this cruel and cynical infringement on individuals’ rights.
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