Egypt
Debate between Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and Lord Chidgey
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
To begin with the noble Lord’s final point, he is of course quite right that openness and having a free, fair and fully pluralist style of elections are something that not only Her Majesty’s Government want to see but, as he has acknowledged, something that the UN is pursuing, as is the noble Baroness, Lady Ashton, in her capacity at the European Union. I reiterate once again that the UK Government remain deeply concerned about sentencing including, most recently, the sentencing to three years in prison of the democracy and human rights activists Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel. The UK believes that the freedom to protest peacefully is vital in any democracy and calls on Egypt’s interim leaders to ensure that they uphold all Egypt’s international human rights obligations. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Foreign Minister Fahmy on 7 January and raised various concerns over Egypt, such as the arrest of human rights activists and journalists and the violence, including fatalities, at protests. I am sure representations will continue during what we hope will be free and fair elections later this year.
Lord Chidgey (LD)
My Lords, the Egyptian Ministry of Justice is on record as saying that most of the 350 people originally sentenced to death were actually tried in absentia and that if they turn up in court they would be entitled to retrials. However, the Egyptian Government are insisting that the death sentences were handed down only “after careful study”. Have the Government advised the Egyptian authorities that, along with the UN human rights commissioner and 16 Egyptian human rights groups, we view these actions as being in breach of international human rights law and intolerable in a 21st-century democracy?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
My noble friend sums up sentiments which are, I think, widely shared across the House. The UK of course opposes the death penalty. We believe it undermines human dignity and there is no evidence that it works as a deterrent. If an error is made, it is of course irreversible. We review the death penalty strategy each year, including priority countries where necessary. Our views have been well documented and continue to be shared across the board particularly, in this context, with the Egyptian authorities.
Overseas Development Assistance
Debate between Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and Lord Chidgey
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
I am delighted to say that, as no doubt the noble Lord heard, my right honourable friend the Chancellor announced yesterday that DfID funding will continue to be at 0.7%. Indeed, we are the only country to do so and we are leading on this, which is something to be proud of. On the issue that he raises of the Ministry of Defence and the FCO, we continue to work across government with DfID to ensure initiatives that can be run and where there are economies. The Building Stability Overseas initiative is a great example of how DfID, the MoD and the FCO work together. However, DfID funding is for DfID purposes and, as my right honourable friend announced yesterday, is being protected at 0.7%.
Lord Chidgey
My Lords, my noble friend mentioned Pakistan in an earlier answer. I believe that the Government plan to more than double aid to Pakistan to more than £350 million per year, making it the largest recipient of UK aid, dependent on progress with reforms at federal and provincial level. I think my noble friend will be concerned by reports from global aid agencies of a failure to deliver effective provincial health organisations, while at the same time dismantling the national federal systems, which is compromising the country’s vaccination programmes. Are the Government now reviewing Pakistan’s aid package in the light of what appears to be a failure to achieve the reforms required?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
First, I say to my noble friend that we should be encouraging countries such as Pakistan. For the first time, we have seen a successive Government take over and democracy and corporate governance in the country are being strengthened. We should welcome that. Certainly, as a key partner in various initiatives, Pakistan is very important to the future of our relationship. The noble Lord raises an important point about the work done with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation. I pay tribute to the work it does, particularly in countries such as Pakistan; indeed, it is about to announce a new initiative to tackle the measles epidemic that is sweeping Pakistan. However, my noble friend the Minister for Pakistan, who happens to be sitting right next to me, has several times raised the importance of ensuring that aid at local and regional levels reaches the people we intend it to assist.