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 steps his Department has taken in the last six months to coordinate with international allies a joint response to eliminate practices of hostage diplomacy and state hostage taking.
Answered by Nigel Adams
HMG deplores hostage taking, or any other arbitrary coercive action against individuals for political ends. During the latest Human Rights Council session, the UK co-signed two joint statements on the issue of arbitrary detention, along with many other concerned countries.
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, when his Department most recently reviewed the effectiveness of its hostage policy; and what updates it made to its approach to recovering British nationals held overseas as a result of that review.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Consular policies are regularly reviewed. As set out in our guide on 'Support for British nationals abroad', 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 try to do everything we properly can to make sure British nationals kidnapped are released safely. Where we can, we will work with the government in that country. We will not make substantive concessions to hostage takers such as paying a ransom, changing government policy or releasing prisoners. In some cases, British police may appoint a UK family liaison officer in which case our team will work closely with the local police force involved. We can also put families in touch with other specialist organisations such as Hostage International. When a British hostage is released, we will meet them and help them make contact with their family and with arranging travel to the UK.
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, whether the integrated defence and security review is formally considering (a) how the Government responds to risks of British citizens being taken hostage by state and non state actors and (b) the effect of wider Government policy on those risks.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Integrated Review will cover all aspects of international and national security policy, such as defence, diplomacy, development and national resilience.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what evidence they have received about reports of torture, murder, kidnapping, ransoming of civilians, and sexual enslavement of women, by the Turkish forces and allied militias in the Afrin Canton of Syria; and what is their response to any such evidence.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have received reports from the UN Commission of Inquiry and credible international NGOs on possible violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. In its September report, the UN Commission of Inquiry for Syria found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that members of armed groups in Afrin continued to commit the war crimes of hostage-taking, cruel treatment, torture and pillage. We continue to raise concerns with Turkey, and to call for credible investigations into alleged violations of international humanitarian law in areas under the control of armed groups supported by Turkey.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what criteria the Government uses to recognise someone as a state-held hostage.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
In any individual case, the Government will look at all the circumstances concerned. This includes consideration of the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages 1979. The Convention expressly addresses situations in which an individual commits the offence of hostage-taking; it does not define the circumstances in which a State could be responsible for hostage-taking. In considering whether or not someone is a hostage under the Convention, the UK will have regard to the definition of hostage-taking at Article 1 and the exemption for offences which take place wholly within a State in which both the hostage and perpetrator are nationals of that State.
In considering what action to take to assist a British national overseas, the Government will always take into account any relevant international law obligations and UK policy. Our public guidance sets out that the UK can provide consular support to British nationals detained by foreign governments outside the UK including making early contact, notifying family and friends on request and offering information about the local legal system. The guidance makes clear that we cannot get people out of prison or detention, however we will consider approaching local authorities if an individual is not treated in line with internationally-accepted standards.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what obligations the Government has to protect UK citizens that are held hostage by a foreign government.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
In any individual case, the Government will look at all the circumstances concerned. This includes consideration of the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages 1979. The Convention expressly addresses situations in which an individual commits the offence of hostage-taking; it does not define the circumstances in which a State could be responsible for hostage-taking. In considering whether or not someone is a hostage under the Convention, the UK will have regard to the definition of hostage-taking at Article 1 and the exemption for offences which take place wholly within a State in which both the hostage and perpetrator are nationals of that State.
In considering what action to take to assist a British national overseas, the Government will always take into account any relevant international law obligations and UK policy. Our public guidance sets out that the UK can provide consular support to British nationals detained by foreign governments outside the UK including making early contact, notifying family and friends on request and offering information about the local legal system. The guidance makes clear that we cannot get people out of prison or detention, however we will consider approaching local authorities if an individual is not treated in line with internationally-accepted standards.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department recognises Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe as a hostage of Iran as per the terms of the UN Hostages Convention.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not consider that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's detention amounts to hostage-taking under the Hostages Convention 1979. In particular, the Convention expressly states that it does not apply to situations where the offence takes place wholly within a single State and in which both the hostage and perpetrator are nationals of that State. We do not accept our nationals being used as diplomatic leverage and exercising diplomatic protection in Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case formally raised it to a State-to-State issue. We continue to raise her case at the most senior levels; most recently the Prime Minister raised his concerns with President Rouhani on 24 September.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many times the Crown Prosecution Service has charged individuals with the crime of genocide; and how many convictions were ultimately secured.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Crown Prosecution Service has to date not charged any individual with the crime of genocide.
There have been a small number of prosecutions for international crimes by the CPS, including those of Anthony Sawonuik who was convicted of war crimes from World War II and Faryadi Sarwar Zardad who was convicted of torture and hostage taking as a result of offences committed in Afghanistan.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many times the Crown Prosecution Service has used (1) the International Criminal Court Act 2001, and (2) the Coroner’s and Justice Act 2009, on the basis of universal jurisdiction; what were those cases; and what were the offences the individuals were charged and convicted for.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Crown Prosecution Service has to date not prosecuted any individual on the basis of universal jurisdiction for offences contrary to the International Criminal Court Act 2001 and the Coroner’s and Justice Act 2009.
There have been a small number of prosecutions for international crimes by the CPS, including those of Anthony Sawonuik who was convicted of war crimes from World War II and Faryadi Sarwar Zardad who was convicted of torture and hostage taking as a result of offences committed in Afghanistan.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what judicial mechanisms they are putting in place with international parties to bring to justice those responsible for the use of chemical weapons, summary executions, hostage-taking, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, sexual violence, other acts of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Syria.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK strongly supports efforts to pursue accountability for war crimes in Syria. In May 2014, the UK co-sponsored a UN Security Council resolution to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Russia and China vetoed this resolution. Through our Conflict Stability and Security Fund, we are supporting work which collects and documents evidence of war crimes; and builds capacity to investigate sexual and gender based violence cases in Syria. This includes support to the UN International Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) whose role it is to conduct investigations and collect evidence to support future prosecutions of perpetrators of the most serious crimes under international law. Future prosecutions could be through a referral to the International Criminal Court or by hybrid, specialised or national courts.