Government ‘not interested’ in fate of West geologist
THE Government is not taking the plight of a West geologist facing the death penalty in Iraq seriously enough, an MP has said.
Retired geologist Jim Fitton, originally from Bath, is detained in Iraq and his is another case of the Government “failing to do enough” for UK citizens in trouble abroad, the House of Commons has heard.
Bath MP Wera Hobhouse called out Foreign Secretary Liz Truss for taking 10 days to say, through her office, she or a Foreign Office representative would not be meeting with Mr Fitton’s family.
The Liberal Democrat MP, who represents Mr Fitton’s family based in Bath, had said in a prior statement: “They are refusing to take the steps needed that will help to secure Jim’s safety. The Government refused to meet with Jim’s family and myself and ignored questions about ministers getting involved.”
Ms Hobhouse, secured an urgent question in the House yesterday. She compared the seeming lack of effort from the Foreign Office to that of its German equivalent for a German citizen detained with Mr Fitton.
She said: “We are told that the Government won’t be making the crucial representations to the Iraqi government. It is my understanding that the German government is making representations on behalf of one of their constituents detained with Jim. Why won’t the Foreign Office do the same?
“Jim Fitton is potentially facing the death penalty. I urge the minister to do everything they can do to stop this nightmare before it turns into a tragedy.”
A quarter of a million people had so far signed a petition to get help for Mr Fitton, said Ms Hobhouse.
“I’m afraid the Government gives the impression they’re not particularly interested or worried – ministerial engagement has been slow,” she said in her question to the Commons.
Mr Fitton’s case, said Ms Hobhouse, fitted into a pattern of the UK Government failing to do enough for UK citizens facing injustice and draconian laws abroad.
“I am deeply concerned with Foreign Office engagement with the (Fitton) case. Representations from the British Government could make a crucial difference,” she said.
But her call for “real commitment” from the Government to make representations was batted away by Foreign Office minister James Cleverly.
“I completely reject assertions about the role of the British Government in this case and other consular cases,” he said.
Mr Cleverly told the House consular officials had visited Mr Fitton four
Jim Fitton is potentially facing the death penalty. I urge the minister to do everything they can do to stop this nightmare before it turns into a tragedy BATH MP WERA HOBHOUSE
times and the ambassador had raised the matter on four occasions with the Iraqi authorities, while the embassy had also sent a note, adding: “We do these things not because these cases are raised in the House, we do these things because they are the right thing to do.”
In defending the UK’s response to the case, Mr Cleverly failed to commit to meeting the family and was accused by Labour of “dragging his feet” in making the ministerial-level intervention required to help protect Mr Fitton.
Mr Cleverly said a meeting between officials and the family took place on Wednesday, adding: “We cannot interfere or seek to interfere with the judicial process of another country, just as we would not expect interference in our own judicial process.
“That said, the British ambassador in Baghdad has raised and will continue to raise Mr Fitton’s case with the Iraqi government and this includes raising with the authorities the UK’s very strong opposition to the death penalty, both in terms of its potential application to Mr Fitton and also our in-principle opposition to the death penalty in all instances.”
Father-of-two Jim Fitton, 66, has been detained in Iraq for more than six weeks over smuggling allegations levelled against him following an organised geology and archaeology tour in March. He had been collecting stones and shards of broken pottery as souvenirs, but Iraqi authorities judged these to be artefacts that, if demonstrated to have been deliberately taken out of Iraqi, constituted an offence “punishable with execution”.