AS-5 Response Accepted AI-assessed

Detainee Capture and Condition Records

Recommendation

Appropriate procedures should be introduced to ensure that there is an accurate and detailed contemporaneous record of the circumstances relating to the original capture/detention of a prisoner and his general physical condition (including an appropriate photographic record) on arrival at the Prisoner Handling Area together with an explanation from the soldier responsible for the detention of the individual of any obvious physical injuries suffered by the detainee in question.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
The Ministry of Defence accepted this recommendation in principle in December 2014. No specific procedures or evidence detailing the introduction of accurate and detailed contemporaneous records for detainee capture circumstances and physical condition, including photographic records, has been identified in the provided public evidence since this acceptance. The most recent evidence is over 11 years old.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 24 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Accepted
Accepted Ministry of Defence
17 Dec 2014

Sir Thayne Forbes has made just nine recommendations, and he acknowledges the progress that the Ministry has made since 2004 to improve all aspects of the prisoner-handling system—from policy and doctrine to unit-level instructions and procedures as well as training and oversight—and to ensure it complies with domestic and international law. I accept all nine recommendations in principle. I have commissioned urgent work on their practical implications—in particular, we will need to ensure that they will not prevent the armed forces from carrying out vital tasks—and I will announce to the House my detailed conclusions as soon as I can.

Read Full Response
Note: Government responded with a single Hansard statement (17 Dec 2014) accepting all 9 recs. No per-recommendation implementation report was published. JDP 1-10 Fourth Edition (Sept 2020) states it incorporates Al Sweady recs but no individual delivery confirmation exists. Statuses regraded from completed to unclear (Mar 2026) due to absence of specific implementation evidence.
Source
Inquiry Al-Sweady Inquiry
Report The Report of the Al-Sweady Inquiry 17 Dec 2014
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Ministry of Defence Primary
Themes & Tags
Custody medical information Inaccurate and inaccessible patient records Detainee Handling Prisoner Records Documentation Capture Procedures
Recommendation age 11.3 yrs
Last formal update 4115 days ago