‘Force the Foreign Office to help Britons jailed abroad’

THE Foreign Office should have a legal duty to protect Britons abroad, families of imprisoned citizens – including Nazanin Zaghari-ratcliffe and Matthew Hedges – have said.

In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, the newly founded British Rights Abroad

‘It should not be the choice… to act to protect a British citizen abroad but rather the obligation’

Group calls for stronger consular protection laws to help thousands of British citizens held in prison overseas.

The group was set up by five families whose loved ones were arbitrarily detained by foreign regimes, including Richard Ratcliffe, whose wife, Nazanin, has been held in Iran for three years on dubious espionage charges. Their ambition to enshrine consular assistance in law would mean the Foreign Office is compelled to intervene when a British citizen is imprisoned overseas. At present, British officials only offer consular assistance on a discretionary basis. “It should not be the choice of the Foreign Secretary to act to protect a British citizen abroad but rather the obligation,” they said.

The letter, a version of which has been sent to Downing Street, directly challenges Boris Johnson to “correct past mistakes” as he begins his first full week in office.

Mr Johnson faced criticism for suggesting during his time as foreign secretary that Ms Zaghari-ratcliffe had been training journalists in Iran, a claim her family vigorously deny.

Their letter, which claims 2,000 British citizens are being arbitrarily held overseas, continues: “The British Government and institutions are inconsistent in their action towards defending British citizens’ rights abroad.

SIR – There are more than 2,000 British citizens currently being held abroad. Many are being held without trial or have been unfairly convicted; many have been tortured or kept in solitary confinement; many have been deprived of their fundamental human rights with no access to legal counsel, medical assistance or consular protection.

It is this consular protection that we are asking the new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to strengthen and enshrine in British law. As a coalition of families of people who are currently detained or have recently been released, we have written to Mr Johnson to ask that he takes seriously the plight of British citizens being held in foreign lands.

This is his first week as Prime Minister and we are asking him to correct past mistakes and fight for the rights and protections due to all British citizens. It should not be the colour of our next passport that matters, but rather the protections cited on the first page. It should not be the choice of the foreign secretary to act to protect a British citizen abroad, but rather the obligation.

We, the British Rights Abroad Group, are requesting to meet the Prime Minister to discuss what he can do to guarantee the right to consular protection in UK law. We hope he will do the right thing for the British people whom he serves.

The British Government and institutions are inconsistent in their action towards defending British citizens’ rights abroad. Many of them remain vulnerable to the unlawful and inhumane treatment suffered in other states, both friends and foes. This cannot continue.

Richard Ratcliffe Husband of Nazanin Zaghari-ratcliffe and father of Gabriella Ratcliffe Daniela Tejada-venegas Wife of Matthew Hedges Yemisrach Hailemariam Wife of Andargachew (Andy) Tsege Gurpreet Singh Johal Brother of Jagtar (Jaggi) Singh Johal Yvonne Irving Wife of Billy Irving British Rights Abroad Group London NW6