For Human Rights Day 2024, our two Human Rights Advisers tell you a little more about their role in our lifesaving work, as well as recent trips overseas to the USA and UAE.

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British citizens detained overseas suffer isolation, language barriers, and often appalling prison conditions. In the worst cases, their treatment is also a violation of their human rights. In many countries across the world, Brits are subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; to violations of their right to a fair trial; and even to arbitrary arrest or detention, at the hands of the authorities. Prisoners Abroad places the human rights of British citizens at the forefront of our work supporting those in detention, and we could not do this without the work of our Human Rights Advisers.

The work of a Human Rights Adviser

The post of Human Rights Adviser was created in 2002, and our current Human Rights Advisers have been with Prisoners Abroad for around a year. They both provide advice to Prisoners Abroad, and to UK consular services, on the human rights of British Nationals[1] detained overseas. Occasionally, we learn of cases where people have been treated inhumanely by the local authorities; however, these cases do not always constitute violations of human rights. With their technical expertise in human rights law, they assess people’s situations against international human rights standards and advise when and how to raise concerns in relation to the state’s relevant international legal obligations where there appear to be violations of their human rights.[2]

We recognise that all of the people that we are supporting are vulnerable by the very fact that they are locked up in prison so far from home, but those cases where there are human rights violations are among our most vulnerable. Where the Human Rights Advisers have advised that there appear to be human rights violations, Prisoners Abroad monitors their case closely and maintains closer contact with UK consular services, supporting however we can.

Visiting people supported by Prisoners Abroad overseas

One Human Rights Adviser recently travelled to the United States of America and had the opportunity to present to British consular staff from across the Americas and to visit prisons where people supported by Prisoners Abroad are detained, in California and in Arizona.

The USA has more detainees than any other country in the world,[3] and there is massive variation in prison conditions across the country. People supported by Prisoners Abroad have been subjected to violations of their human rights while imprisoned in the USA, including physical assaults, due process violations, and where the prison conditions have fallen below international standards.

The opportunity to meet people being supported by Prisoners Abroad brought into sharp focus how far from home they are detained, and to hear them describe their experiences reminds us of the importance of our work supporting the human rights of prisoners overseas.

The other Human Rights Adviser travelled to the UAE (Dubai) to provide training to consular staff and meet various stakeholders, to discuss the difficulties with supporting Britons in challenging conditions. They also travelled to Indonesia, where they had the opportunity to provide training to consular staff, meet various stakeholders including the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, and the Directorate General for Corrections, and visit several prisons and British people detained in Jakarta and Bali, including one person on death row.

It was heart-warming to hear first-hand the difference Prisoners Abroad makes to detained Britons’ lives, and we also heard how thankful the Indonesian authorities were to PA for providing necessary and life-saving funding, particularly for healthcare (something they are not always able to provide). It was also an experience that benefited our detainees there, as the Craig Feehan Fund survival grant funding was increased as a result of the trip in recognition of how difficult conditions are: a much-needed outcome.

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