Human Rights and Democracy - Official Documents

SECTION IV: Human Rights for British Nationals Overseas
Promoting and protecting the human rights of British nationals overseas is central to
our work. Our consular staff, working closely with human rights NGOs in the UK and
abroad, help British nationals facing the death penalty; those who are being
mistreated in detention or who have concerns about the fairness of their trials; and
those who have been forced into a marriage, subjected to female genital mutilation
or whose children have been abducted by a former partner. We also press foreign
governments to respect the rights of British nationals and investigate allegations of
abuses.
The Death Penalty
It is the longstanding policy of the UK to oppose the death penalty and we will use all
appropriate influence to prevent the execution of any British national. We work in
partnership with the NGO Reprieve on cases and in close collaboration with the
detainee’s lawyers. Interventions include submitting amicus curiae briefs to foreign
courts and high-level political lobbying.
In 2010 we intervened on a number of occasions to seek to prevent the execution of
British nationals in the US, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the
Congo. In several cases we assess that our interventions helped result either in the
commutation of the death penalty or in a delay in moving towards an execution date,
providing further opportunity for us to make additional representations.
Overseas Prisoners
As of 30 September, we were aware of 2,594 British nationals detained in 139
countries overseas. Consular staff spent a substantial proportion of time assisting
British nationals in detention, including visiting them.
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