UK – The Guardian, November 24, 2024
Relatives and campaigners hope Labour will usher in a step-change in the handling of hostage cases
Gurpreet Singh Johal is sitting in a London hotel lobby the night before he is due to meet David Lammy.
He recalls in his soft Scottish burr that this will be the fifth UK foreign secretary he will have seen in his quest to secure the release of his brother, Jagtar, who has been detained in Indian prisons for seven years, with the case making virtually no progress.
He can rate each foreign secretary’s strengths and weaknesses. Jeremy Hunt, whom he met with Jagtar’s wife, “took me seriously, and registered at that stage, after two years in jail, my brother had not had a fair trial. But he did not take it beyond that.”
Dominic Raab “would not have a meeting. He just wanted a trade deal.” Liz Truss “was sort of forced to have a meeting in 2022, and then she became prime minister and did nothing”.
And then: “James Cleverly – it was the worst meeting of the lot – since all he said was that he would do everything in Jagtar’s best interest. But he said he would not call for his release. I asked him how it could be in my brother’s best interest for his government not to call for his release?”
The argument of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was that critical comments on the domestic laws of another state might limit the detained Briton’s consular access.
But this experience – a cycle of hope, then hopes dashed, and repeat – is familiar to other families of those who have been detained abroad.
The Foreign Office and British consular services are there to help incarcerated Britons and their relatives. Yet many complain of feeling isolated and unsupported, forced to contend with punitive or highly politicised justice systems, a lack of transparency, dire prison conditions including solitary confinement, or no access to lawyers.
Now a number of relatives, as well as campaigners and MPs, are calling for the Labour government to up its game and usher in a step-change in the handling of hostage situations and other cases of Britons unlawfully held overseas.
