FairSquare director James Lynch took the opportunity of a major Westminster conference to argue for a refreshed approach by the British government to the arbitrary detention of its nationals.

Speaking at the first Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Arbitrary Detention and Hostage Affairs on 12 November, organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Group of the same name in the British parliament, Lynch argued that the release in September of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, whose case FairSquare has been working on for several years, demonstrates that political will is essential to make progress on seemingly unsolvable files.

However, he noted that the government’s current system for managing complex cases “effectively relies on families of British detainees to generate this political will through relentless campaigning”. He argued that the new “Hostage Envoy”, whose appointment has been expected for some time, must relieve this pressure by putting their full institutional weight in support of resolving their relatives’ cases. He also stressed the vital importance of the government responding quickly to cases of arbitrary detention and hostage taking. Too often, cases have dragged on for months or years when a swift response could potentially have seen them resolved in the early stages.

Lynch was speaking in a panel about the UK’s response to arbitrary detention and hostage taking, alongside Tatyana Eatwell, lawyer of imprisoned British national Jimmy Lai, Patrick Wintour, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, and Stephen Brisley, the brother-in-law of former hostage Eli Sharabi. The discussion was chaired by Brendan O’Hara MP.

Separately, on 13 November, Laila Soueif and Alaa Abd el-Fattah were awarded the Magnitsky Human Rights “Courage Under Fire” award. Alaa was unable to accept the award in person because he had been prevented by Egyptian passport control from travelling to the UK, when he attempted to board a flight.

In her acceptance speech, sent by video recording, Laila Soueif paid tribute to the efforts of FairSquare in support of her family:

“It is impossible to recall the names of all those who surrounded us with their sympathy, love, encouragement and help. It was immense and indispensable. It is even difficult to list the names of all the organisations who helped, in this speech. But I must mention one. FairSquare. Every day during the past year we have felt their help and their support.”