To ask Her Majesty's Government when, and on what grounds, they decided not to seek a death penalty assurance in the cases of British ISIS operatives, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh; and why the approval of Parliament was not sought before this decision was made.
Answered on
9 October 2018
After careful and considered advice, the Home Secretary took the decision not to seek a death penalty assurance in this case in June 2018 in accordance with the Government’s Overseas, Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) Guidance which requires an assessment of both human rights and death penalty risks.
The OSJA guidance, which has been in existence since 2011, permits the provision of assistance, without obtaining assurances, where there are strong reasons for doing so and sets out the process for making that decision which does not involve a role for Parliament:
“Ministers should be consulted to determine whether, given the specific circumstances of the case, we should nevertheless provide assistance.”
Following the detention of these individuals the central concern was, and remains, the real prospect that if legal assistance was not offered to the US authorities without conditions, then they would not face criminal trial.
Given the legal challenge that is currently underway, it is inappropriate to say more about this specific case.