Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 July 2021 to Question 32462 on Prisoners: Torture, if she will instruct her Department to start collating statistics on (a) the proportion of allegations of torture of British citizens including dual nationals overseas raised with local authorities, (b) whether such allegations raised by her Department resulted in overseas prosecutions of overseas officials, (c) whether allegations would constitute torture or whether they would constitute other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, (d) the number and type of referrals made to the pro-bono medical panel in cases of torture or ill-treatment, (e) the number of British citizens including dual nationals who request the Government to formally espouse their legal claims for damages following allegations of torture or ill-treatment by officials or agents of foreign governments and (f) the number of such claims that have been formally espoused.

The FCDO records all information about allegations of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (mistreatment) reported to us by British nationals, and the action taken in response to those allegations, within individual case files.

The FCDO collates statistics on the number of cases which are included in FCDO Consular Transparency Data published on gov.uk.

Specific support and action is taken with the consent of the individual concerned and will vary according to the specific circumstances and local context.

The FCDO condemns the use of torture and mistreatment and takes all allegations of human rights violations seriously. We call on the responsible authorities to carry out a prompt and impartial investigation into all allegations to determine the facts and circumstances of each case.