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British ISIS captives ‘could be handed over to Assad’

Human rights charity Reprieve has raised concerns that the government appears to have ‘walked back its previous opposition to UK nationals being tried in Assad-controlled Syria’.

The legal charity says that differing statements from the Foreign Office indicate that the government has diluted its previous opposition to British nationals being prosecuted in Assad-controlled Syria. They argue that, as they face pressure to repatriate Britons detained in Syria, ministers’ inaction may result in the transfer of UK nationals to Assad’s forces.

Parliament was told by the then Foreign Office minister Mark Field in April that, ‘given the regime’s appalling human rights record, we would not view prosecution by the Assad regime as an appropriate means of justice’. However, the Foreign Office recently appeared to offer a changed stance when asked what steps were being taken to stop Britons being transferred to Assad forces. Andrew Murrison, the current minister of state with responsibility for the Middle East, said the UK would work not only with international agencies but also ‘partners in the region who can assist in establishing an appropriate pathway to justice within their territory or legal systems’.

About 10,000 Isis fighters are being detained by western-backed Kurdish forces in north-east Syria, including 2,000 foreigners and about 30 British men.

Maya Foa, director of Reprieve, said: “Sending Brits to Assad’s Syria would be effectively sentencing them to torture, disappearance or summary execution – abuses that are directly opposed to fundamental British values and the law. Yet this Government appears unwilling to categorically rule this out as an option. They must do so at once, and begin efforts to repatriate British detainees to the UK where children may be given the support they require and adults may, if appropriate, face justice in British courts.”

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