Is the UK Government avoiding its responsibilities regarding G4S?
[9 September 2013] – On 17 July, a parliamentary question was tabled in the UK asking the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs “what reports he has received on the role of G4S in the Israeli prison system.” On 3 September 2013, the Secretary of State (Alistair Burt) responded as follows:
“The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not receive reports on G4S’s role in the Israeli prison system.”
However, the following chronology would suggest otherwise:
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20 May 2013
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The FCO was sent a report by Military Court Watch (MCW) highlighting G4S involvement in the Israeli prison system. The report also provided evidence that 57 percent of Palestinian child detainees were held in prisons inside Israel in April in violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Copies of this report were sent to the Consul General and Vice Consul (Political) in Jerusalem as well as the Head of the Near East Group in London.
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25 June 2013
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The FCO was sent a report by MCW highlighting G4S involvement in the Israeli prison system. The report also provided evidence that 57 percent of Palestinian child detainees were held in prisons inside Israel in May in violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Copies of this report were sent to the Consul General and Vice Consul (Political) in Jerusalem as well as the Head of the Near East Group in London.
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25 July 2013
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The FCO was sent a report by MCW highlighting G4S involvement in the Israeli prison system. The report also provided evidence that 53 percent of Palestinian child detainees were held in prisons inside Israel in June in violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Copies of this report were sent to the Consul General and Vice Consul (Political) in Jerusalem as well as the Head of the Near East Group in London. The report also questioned whether the UK Government is fulfilling its obligations to investigate potential grave breaches of the Convention by G4S and its directors.
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28 August 2013
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The FCO was sent a report by MCW highlighting G4S involvement in the Israeli prison system. The report also provided evidence that 49 percent of Palestinian child detainees were held in prisons inside Israel in July in violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Copies of this report were sent to the Consul General and Vice Consul (Political) in Jerusalem as well as the Head of the Near East Group in London. The report also questioned whether the UK Government is fulfilling its obligations to investigate potential grave breaches of the Convention by G4S and its directors.
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Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the transfer and/or imprisonment of protected persons outside occupied territory. The FCO has has already acknowledged in writing that the Israeli practice of detaining Palestinians from the West Bank in facilities inside Israeli is a violation of Article 76 of the Convention, but the Government has so far failed to take effective action to investigate possible G4S involvement in what amounts to a "grave breach".
MCW repeats its submission that in order to discharge its legal obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention, the UK Government should, as a first step, liaise with the police and Crown Prosecution Service with regard to mounting an investigation to determine if G4S directors and/or the company itself have aided and abetted a grave breach, and if so, whether a prosecution under UK law is warranted, either under the Geneva Conventions Act 1957 or the International Criminal Court Act 2001.
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