When academics are seized by states with a history of hostage diplomacy, governments should move quickly to ¡°do a deal¡± rather than taking years to reach the same outcome, according to an Australian lecturer who endured more than two years of imprisonment in Iran.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert said Western governments should learn from the case of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, who was released in a prisoner swap three weeks after her detention in Tehran last December.

The Italian government had recognised Iran¡¯s longstanding record of hostage diplomacy, stretching ¡°as far back as the US embassy hostage crisis of 1979¡±, and resolved to act rapidly ¨C sparing Sala the ordeal experienced by Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, Swedish diplomat Johan Floderus and Moore-Gilbert herself.

All three were eventually released in prisoner swap deals many months after being arrested in Iran.

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In a ¨C her first since her 2018 detention ¨C Moore-Gilbert cites research findings that the negotiated outcomes in hostage diplomacy cases rarely differ significantly from ¡°the arresting state¡¯s initial demands¡±.

But governments often spend months or years ¡°faffing around¡± before accepting the need to come to an arrangement. ¡°That¡¯s really frustrating for victims and their families, of course, because you¡¯re wasting literally years of your life,¡± Moore-Gilbert told ÌÇÐÄVlog.

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¡°You want your government to be proactive and not reinvent the wheel every time someone¡¯s taken.¡±

She said the limited available evidence suggested that academics, along with journalists, were at ¡°increasing risk¡± of arbitrary detention overseas. But the political science literature contained ¡°almost nothing¡± about wrongful detention or the consular work of foreign embassies, as researchers focused on ¡°sexy¡± issues such as foreign policy on ¡°hot button¡± issues.

Now employed as a research fellow in security studies at Sydney¡¯s Macquarie University, Moore-Gilbert is researching hostage diplomacy and editing a on the topic in the Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism. ¡°I feel that I have unfinished business on this subject,¡± she said.

¡°As someone [with] lived experience of¡­the government approach, it is very frustrating when you see so many avenues for improvement [but] nothing seems to be done about it. Using my academic and research skills is a way that I can try and make that case better.¡±

Moore-Gilbert acknowledged that governments could be ¡°feeding the beast¡± and ¡°encouraging further hostage-taking¡± by agreeing to prisoner swap demands. But she said there was little evidence of governments thinking along these lines, with arbitrary detention cases handed to consular services rather than diplomatic departments with ¡°broader policy¡± roles.

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¡°Governments silo-ise these cases. They don¡¯t view them as part of a broader pattern.¡± Hence, little thought was given to ¡°sanctions or other disincentivisation methods¡± to ¡°send a message they shouldn¡¯t do it again¡±.

In testimony to the Senate¡¯s foreign affairs, defence and trade committee, which last year into the wrongful detention of Australian citizens overseas, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said it had established a ¡°Deputy-Secretary level inter-departmental Complex Case Committee¡± the previous year to ensure ¡°coordinated and deliberate actions to achieve the best outcome possible for the client and their family¡±.

Moore-Gilbert said DFAT had told a similar inquiry in 2011 that it had established a ¡°regular, whole-of-government coordinating group¡± with very similar functions to the committee formed in 2023. The ¡°demise and reappearance of such inter-departmental groups¡± inspired little confidence that the department was seriously focused on the issue, she suggested.

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A DFAT spokeswoman said the department ¡°does everything it can to support Australians detained overseas. There are no perfect systems or easy solutions, but the department is always open to refining and improving the ways in which we support [them]¡±.

Moore-Gilbert reported perceptions that DFAT was ¡°hiding behind the Privacy Act¡± to avoid meaningfully updating families about detained family members. She said the department did not share information with family until detainees had signed a ¡°privacy waiver form¡± ¨C a ¡°ridiculous¡± interpretation of privacy legislation in such circumstances.

She said the late , an Australian academic detained in Afghanistan in 2016, had been ¡°tortured by the Taliban¡± and ¡°kept in a hole in the ground¡±. Her own family had received little information until she had been able to sign the waiver form five months after her arrest.

She said universities¡¯ ¡°risk assessment process¡± ¨C ethics approval ¨C focused on ¡°safeguarding¡± research participants but rarely considered ¡°that you might be in danger as a researcher¡±.

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¡°More and more academics are being arrested, and a lot of them are never reported on. Universities have a moral, ethical and legal duty¡­to take this issue more seriously.¡±

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com