AS-6 Response Accepted AI-assessed

Informing Detainees of Rights

Recommendation

All detainees should be clearly informed of their rights and obligations as soon as is practicable upon arrival at any detention facility. As a minimum this should include informing the detainee as to the reason(s) for his detention and explaining, in clear and basic terms, that his human rights will be protected and respected.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
The Ministry of Defence accepted this recommendation in principle on 17 December 2014. No specific published evidence of procedures ensuring all detainees are clearly informed of their rights and obligations, including reasons for detention and human rights protection, as soon as practicable upon arrival at a detention facility, has been identified since the government's response. The most recent evidence of commitment is over 11 years old.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 18 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
No person-centred care Custody medical information Detainee Rights Human Rights Detention Facilities
Recommendation age 11.3 yrs
Last formal update 4115 days ago