Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Acknowledged
Agree and publish arbitrary detention definition, establish Envoy with clear objectives.
Recommendation
The Government should agree and publish a definition of arbitrary detention. In response to this report, the Foreign Secretary must outline his plans and set a firm timeline to establish an Envoy for Arbitrary Detention, which he has already promised to this Committee. He should publish the objectives for the postholder, so that the Committee can scrutinise the success or otherwise of the appointment. (Recommendation, Paragraph 30)
Government Response Summary
The government partially agrees, committing to establishing an Envoy for complex detention cases and stating they are working at pace on the appointment, but does not provide a firm timeline or objectives. It disagrees with agreeing and publishing a definition of arbitrary detention, citing no single internationally agreed definition.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Government partially agrees with this recommendation. We agree with the Committee on establishing a role of Envoy to work on the most complex detention cases but disagree with the Committee on the definition. The FCDO is committed to strengthening support for British Nationals overseas, including through the appointment of an Envoy. The Envoy will work with Ministers and in direct support of families to deliver the government’s case strategies for the most complex detention cases. As the Prime Minister told the House at PMQs on 15 July, we are working at pace on the appointment. There are a large number of factors that may render an individual’s detention arbitrary but there is not a single internationally agreed definition. The Government takes all allegations of human rights violations seriously and raises concerns with local authorities where appropriate, employing a case-by-case approach based on the individual circumstances of each case. Where there are grounds to believe that detention may be arbitrary, all relevant colleagues, including consular human rights advisers, legal advisers, and relevant political colleagues, will convene to determine a case strategy, taking into account all information, including any opinions issued by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Conclusion and recommendation 5–6