Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to counter the practice of hostage-taking by the government of Iran; and what assessment they have made of the value of the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations, launched in February, in taking such steps.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We do not accept any of our dual nationals being used as diplomatic leverage. We remain committed to securing the immediate and permanent release of unfairly detained British nationals in Iran, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori. The Foreign Secretary discussed their cases with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on 8 November. The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, Bagheri Kani visited the FCDO on 11 November to meet senior government officials and Minister Cleverly, who raised all our cases with his Iranian counterpart.
As part of the Canadian Initiative Against Arbitrary Detention, we are committed to enhancing international cooperation to stop any State from arbitrarily detaining foreign nationals for coercive purposes. We are working with our G7 partners to enhance mechanisms to uphold international law, tackle human rights abuses and stand up for our shared values.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what preventative steps his Department is taking to protect British citizens in Afghanistan or those associated with British institutions from the risks of (a) torture, (b) hostage taking and (b) extra-judicial killings at the hands of the Taliban following recent developments in that country.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We have asked all British nationals who remain in Afghanistan to register their presence with us to give us a detailed picture of those remaining, and an additional means, beyond our publicly-available Travel Advice, for us to be able to send regular updates and advice on what they should do next. We are working as a priority to verify those who have responded. That process is ongoing. We continue to look at all possible avenues to ensure that any British Nationals are able to leave safely if they wish toAsked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will formally acknowledge Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe to be a hostage under the terms of the 1982 Taking of Hostages Act in response to recent public statements to that effect by Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We do not accept our nationals being used as diplomatic leverage and have repeatedly made this clear to Iran. We remain committed to securing the immediate and permanent release of arbitrarily detained dual British nationals in Iran, including Nazanin. We will continue take any action we judge will help secure her permanent release, keeping under review what we judge to be in her best interests. They must be able to return to their families in the UK. We call on President Raisi's administration to start to set a new course for Iran by releasing them.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will place a copy of its assessment of whether Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a hostage under the terms of the 1982 Taking of Hostages Act in the Library.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We do not accept our nationals being used as diplomatic leverage and have repeatedly made this clear to Iran. By exercising diplomatic protection in Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case, we formally recognised that her treatment fails to meet Iran's obligations under international law, that it has been unlawful and intolerable, and raised it to a State-to-State issue.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department recognises Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe as a hostage of Iran as per the terms of the Taking of Hostages Act 1982.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK Government recognises that Mrs Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is under arbitrary detention and that treatment has been deplorable, including a lack of due process in proceedings against her. In exercising diplomatic protection in Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case we formally raised this to a State-to-State issue and continue to raise her case at the most senior levels. It is unacceptable for Iran to bring new charges against her and we have repeatedly called on Iran not to return her to prison.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2020 to Question 99696 on Integrated Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy Review, whether the integrated review is making an assessment of the (a) effectiveness of hostage diplomacy, (b) growing practice of state hostage taking, (c) adequacy of UK hostage policy in relation to that growth and (d) increased risks arising from expansions in hostage taking by non-state actors.
Answered by Nigel Adams
As I stated in my answer of 13 October to question 99696, the Integrated Review will cover all aspects of international and national security policy, such as defence, diplomacy, development and national resilience.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2020 to Question 99694 on Hostage Taking, when he last made an assessment of the effectiveness of UK hostage policy; and whether that assessment was made internally or by an external evaluator.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We keep all our consular policies under continual review. As set out in our guide on 'support for British nationals abroad', last updated on 26 February 2019, the UK can provide consular support to the families of British nationals kidnapped overseas, including remaining in contact with the family and keeping them up to date with the situation as far as possible. We will do everything we properly can to ensure kidnapped British nationals are released safely.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 8 October 2020 to Question 99694, on what date the Government's hostage policy was last updated; and if he will place a copy of that policy in the Library.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Consular policies are regularly reviewed and updated as necessary. As set out in our publically available guide on 'Support for British nationals abroad', last updated 26 February 2019, the UK can provide consular support to the families of British nationals kidnapped overseas.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government benchmarks its hostage recovery performance against the performance of the US and other allies; and what other steps his Department takes to assess the effectiveness of its performance in this area.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK Government regularly speaks to the US and other allies to share best practice and exchange information on kidnap response in order to enhance its performance.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his (a) US, (b) Canadian and (c) Australian counterparts on managing the risks in regard to state hostage taking.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We continue to have conversations with a broad range of likeminded countries on the issue of arbitrary detention in a range of fora, and reaffirm the international legal obligations prohibiting such practices, as demonstrated by our recent co-signing of a joint statement on the politically-motivated detention of foreign nationals at the Human Rights Council in October. The UK Government will always take into account any relevant international law obligations and UK policy to assist arbitrarily detained British nationals overseas.