Bahrain: Human Rights Abuses
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Baroness Warsi(3 years, 8 months ago)
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Yemen
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Baroness Warsi
The Earl of Courtown
My Lords, I am glad that the noble Lord has brought up the subject of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. My right honourable friend the International Trade Secretary commissioned a full and urgent investigation as soon as the breach was discovered and has apologised to the court. As the noble Lord and the House are also aware, the key test is in criterion 2c of the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria, which considers whether there is a clear risk that the items to be exported might be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law. In addition, while we are considering the implications of the judgment for decision-making on arms sales, we will not grant any new licence for exports to Saudi Arabia and other members of the coalition for items that might be used in the conflict in Yemen. The existing arms licences are under review.
Baroness Warsi (Con)
My Lords, following on from the question from the Benches opposite, could my noble friend outline the detail and the value of all arms sales to Saudi Arabia since the Court of Appeal decision in June this year that deemed many of those sales unlawful? If he does not have that information to hand today, which he may not, will he commit to writing to me and putting a copy of that letter in the Library?
EU Court of Justice Ruling: Religious Signs
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Baroness Warsi(7 years, 8 months ago)
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Baroness Warsi
My Lords, I welcome the Minister’s very strong Statement and the very strong statements in support of freedom of religion and belief by the Prime Minister. The Minister may be aware of a YouGov poll that was done immediately after this ruling which showed that 42% of Brits would support such a ban in the workplace, or at least employers having the ability to impose such a ban in the workplace. Will my noble friend take back to her colleagues the possibility of further work under the integration strategy to ensure that these kinds of opinion held in the country are pushed back by views within government?
Yemen
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Baroness Warsi
The Earl of Courtown
The noble Lord makes a very good point relating to the tribal issues in Yemen that make it increasingly difficult, and always have made it very difficult, to manage. As far as migration is concerned, it is very difficult to compare different areas, and of course this is very different from, for example, Syria. However, we will keep a very close watch on what is happening there.
Baroness Warsi (Con)
My Lords, what is the Government’s assessment of the comments made yesterday by the Saudi Foreign Minister, Adel al-Jubeir, who said that the military campaign is now nearing its end?
The Earl of Courtown
My Lords, at last night’s press conference in Riyadh, held jointly with my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary, the continuing situation in Yemen was discussed. As my noble friend says, it is the case that the military campaign is coming to a close as the coalition forces have established a dominant military position in the country. We now focus on the agreed shared analysis of the need for accelerating the political process.
Gaza Strip: Rafah Crossing
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Baroness Warsi(9 years, 4 months ago)
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Baroness Warsi (Con)
My Lords, what is Her Majesty’s Government’s view on the United Nations Human Rights Council report on potential war crimes during the conflict in Gaza last year? Does the Minister accept that accountability in previous conflicts is likely to assist in preventing future conflicts? In the light of that, how does he now view the Foreign Secretary’s statement in July last year when the United Kingdom abstained on the setting-up of this report by saying that it would,
“complicate the process by introducing unnecessary new mechanisms”?
The Earl of Courtown
The noble Baroness is quite right concerning accountability: there must be a robust process of accountability given the heavy civilian death toll. That includes acts committed by Hamas and other militant groups too. We are pressing Israel to demonstrate accountability for its actions during this conflict. The noble Baroness also mentioned war crimes. Both sides of the conflict have put themselves into a position where perhaps war crimes have taken place. We of course need to keep a careful watch on this matter.