Ninth Report - Combatting state hostage diplomacy: A follow-up to the Government’s response to the Committee’s Sixth Report

We recommend that the Government extend its review to reassess all cases where British nationals have received opinions of arbitrary detention and are being held in countries where there is a history of torture of foreign detainees. • The review should include all internal guidelines on recognising cases of arbitrary detention and cases vulnerable to use for diplomatic leverage. • We request a copy of the final report of the review.

We recommend, once again, that a Director for Complex and Arbitrary Detentions is appointed with relevant ancillary staff in order to deliver consistency, improved partnerships with families, better coordination across Whitehall, as well as benefitting from greater authority and flexibility in managing the Government’s approach.

The case of Matthew Hedges, and the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s report into the FCDO’s engagement in his case, is a stinging indictment of the FCDO’s approach to arbitrary detention and consular assistance. It demonstrates an inability to ensure that their own guidance to keep UK citizens safe is followed. More concerning is the unnecessarily defensive culture at the FCDO, which undermines trust and perpetuates the Government’s inability to accept any blind spots in relation to the mistreatment of British nationals detained abroad. It should not have taken an Ombudsman’s report to compel the Department to accept constructive criticisms, nor to take recommendations for reform seriously. The handling of this case, and others highlighted in our previous report, risks sending a message to those who would do harm to UK nationals that the Government is not always prepared to take decisive action to ensure obligations to consular assistance, fair trial and internationally recognised standards of detention are afforded to them. This leaves citizens at greater risk than necessary of prolonged arbitrary detention, torture and state hostage taking, with no assurance of the support they should be able to expect from their government. The Government should look again at our recommendations for reform. As we enter a world where more and more British citizens face arbitrary detention, they must be assured that the FCDO will do all it can to see its people supported, and free. (Paragraph 14) Combatting state hostage diplomacy: A follow-up to the Government’s response to the Committee’s Sixth Report 9