Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 60
60
Witnesses involved with some of the higher-profile detentions of UK and dual nationals by Iran...
Conclusion
Witnesses involved with some of the higher-profile detentions of UK and dual nationals by Iran were keen to highlight the benefits which might be gained in defining the term. Charlie Loudon from REDRESS, which has acted on behalf of Nazanin Zaghari- Ratcliffe since 2016, commented on the issue of ‘State Hostage Taking’: The US has been successful in securing releases despite having a particularly poor relationship with Iran. The US has a stronger legal framework, having recently enacted the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage- Taking Accountability Act, which empowers the federal government to challenge hostage taking of its nationals. The US also has more targeted leadership structures to tackle this issue, including a Special Presidential Envoy on Hostage Affairs and a Hostage Fusion Cell for coordinating across government sectors. The UK does not currently have such structures. The US government has also been willing to use the term ‘hostage taking’. This is in contrast to the UK, which strictly refers to and treats state held hostages as regular ‘consular cases.’139
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
We note the Committee’s recommendation. We do not accept dual British nationals being used as diplomatic leverage. In any individual case, the Government would look at all the circumstances concerned, including consideration of the International Convention against the Taking of Hostages 1979. Meanwhile, we continue to use UN and international fora to call out such behaviour. At the last Human Rights Council session, the UK joined other countries in a statement highlighting our shared concern about the arbitrary detention of foreign nationals and calling on all states to uphold their international human rights obligations. We will continue to discuss with likeminded countries how best we can raise cases of arbitrary detention, to reinforce our concerns and impact.