China: Uighur Muslims

Lord Ahmed Excerpts

Monday 11th February 2019 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Ahmed]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the allegations of human rights abuses committed against the Uighur Muslim community in the Western Province of China.

[The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon) (Con)]

My Lords, we remain seriously concerned about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including the use of political re-education camps and widespread surveillance and restrictions targeted at Uighur Muslims and indeed other minority groups. Our diplomats recently visited Xinjiang. We believe strongly that everyone everywhere should enjoy equal rights and protections under the law. That is why we are promoting and defending human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief, which is a fundamental part of the UK’s foreign policy.

[Lord Ahmed (Non-Afl)]

I thank the Minister for his reply. As he has already confirmed, according to media and social media reports, concentration camps, mass surveillance, forced disappearances, torture and the banning of religious practices are all happening there. Will the Minister join me in condemning these gross violations of human rights by the Chinese authorities, and will he demand the closure of these concentration camps and access for UN representatives to confirm that the detainees have been released and the camps have been closed down?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

The noble Lord rightly raises important issues and concerns. Reports have also indicated that even basic expressions of religious symbolism, such as the growing of a beard or the wearing of a headscarf, are used as indicators to target particular communities. I assure the noble Lord that we are working on this, including with the UN, which he mentioned. We have clearly asked the Chinese authorities to implement the full recommendations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and we have reminded them both bilaterally—as the Foreign Secretary did last year in his meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister—and in the Human Rights Council that our concerns about the camps and the reports from our diplomats in Beijing require action. On human rights more generally, I assure the noble Lord that I am specifically looking at the next meeting of the Human Rights Council in March to see how we can not just lobby on this issue but build stronger alliances.

Rohingya Refugees

Lord Ahmed Excerpts

Monday 17th December 2018 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Ahmed]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the situation of Rohingya refugees and the likelihood of their safe return to Burma.

[The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon) (Con)]

My Lords, conditions in the camps in Bangladesh have improved but remain difficult for the Rohingya community. The United Kingdom has provided £129 million of assistance since August 2017. We welcome Bangladesh’s continuing generosity in hosting the Rohingya community and its commitment to the principle of voluntariness on repatriations. I agree with the UN Refugee Agency’s assessment that conditions are not in place for safe and sustainable returns, and I assure the noble Lord that the UK will continue to press for independent monitoring by all UN agencies.

[Lord Ahmed (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply. Will he join me in thanking the Department for International Development for providing support to the most oppressed people in the world? Is he aware that last Thursday the US House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution, by 394 votes to one, identifying crimes against the Rohingya in Myanmar as genocide? Will Her Majesty’s Government support the indictment of the Burmese generals and civilian leaders responsible for this genocide in the International Criminal Court?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, on the earlier point, I thank the noble Lord for his remarks. It is true that we can all be proud of the role that the Department for International Development has played over many years on behalf of those people who are suffering the worst crises, including humanitarian crises and the ethnic cleansing that we have seen of the Rohingya community in Burma. On the issue of Congress, I am aware of that vote—but, as the noble Lord will know, it is a long-standing position that we regard attributing genocide as an issue for judicial authorities. However, the United Kingdom is playing a key role in gathering evidence to ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes can be brought to justice.

Jammu and Kashmir: Human Rights Abuses

Lord Ahmed Excerpts

Monday 23rd July 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, first, I am greatly humbled and honoured to be the Minister for Human Rights. Indeed, prior to coming to your Lordships’ House, I launched our human rights report, which again reflects its importance, our priorities and the key role that the United Kingdom plays in standing up for the broad spectrum of human rights across the world. The noble Lord raised the death penalty; I assure him and the House that the Government’s position remains the same.

[Lord Ahmed (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, will the Minister agree that it is the exact job of this House to discuss human rights in all places around the world? We are a permanent member of the Security Council. We have responsibilities to defend and to protect human rights around the world. Further to what the noble Lord, Lord Hussain, said, in 2009 the International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights reported that nearly 3,000 unmarked graves were found and 8,000 people are missing because of forced disappearances. Surely there is a responsibility for us to discuss that. While we should encourage India and Pakistan to resolve the issue, we should also condemn those violations of human rights.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

We are, of course, members of the United Nations and, as the noble Lord said, we are a permanent member of the Security Council. There are various resolutions on the broad issue of human rights. Most recently, as penholders, we have been leading the way on the Rohingya Muslims in Burma. On the specific issue of Kashmir, as we have said before—it has been a long-standing position of Governments on both sides—the Simla accords of 1972 act as the basis for bilateral discussions. I know the region of Kashmir. It was termed a paradise on earth. We hope that both countries can find noble cause to restore that label of paradise on earth.

Palestinian Territories

Lord Ahmed Excerpts

Thursday 7th June 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmed (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I too thank the noble Lord, Lord Steel, for providing us with this opportunity to express our views. This debate is timely and important not only because the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities, Robert Piper, has stated that Gaza has crossed the threshold of being unliveable in but because Mr Netanyahu is in London, trying to divert the international community’s attention from Palestine to Iran.

Gaza desperately needs our attention. Access to safe water through the water network plummeted to 3.8% in 2017, so 96% of the groundwater is unfit for human consumption. There is a chronic electricity shortage in Gaza. The WHO has warned that the health system is,

“on the brink of collapse”,

with 42% of essential medicines completely depleted. Permit approval is needed from the Israeli state for patients seeking urgent treatment outside Gaza. Many innocent people have died through denial or delay. Although there are no Israeli forces in Gaza itself, it remains the occupying force. Under international law, the primary obligation to provide for the humanitarian needs of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories rests with Israel.

Since 30 March and the demonstrations regarding the US embassy and the right of refugees to return, Israeli forces have killed at least 121 Palestinians and wounded 13,000, as was stated earlier, including the paramedic Razan al-Najjar. To the best of my understanding, firing on ambulance staff, paramedics and children is against the Geneva convention and is classed as a war crime. Last month, a resolution calling on the UN Human Rights Council to,

“urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry”,

was backed by 29 members, while two voted against and 14 abstained. Does the Minister agree that an independent international investigation is necessary to establish the facts regarding this and the killings of innocent people, with a possible ICC prosecution? Would the UK Government support such an investigation? I do not need textbooks to calculate that 3,838 Palestinians have been killed since 2005, many of them children and women. Last week we saw a draft resolution at the UN that deplored and demanded a halt to the use of,

“excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force”,

by the Israeli military. However, we have seen the Israeli regime flagrantly disregarding international law. State murder is rampant.

I join other noble Lords who have asked Her Majesty’s Government to recognise Palestine as a state alongside the state of Israel, which was promised by the British Government 68 years ago; to call for an end to Israeli settlements and support the right of return; to stop selling arms to Israel that are then used to kill Palestinian men, women and children; to ban British citizens from serving in the Israel Defense Forces; and to stop abstaining from UN and UN Commission on Human Rights resolutions supporting values that we claim are dear to us in this country. The UK Government need to stop treating the Israeli state as if it has some unique right that means it can do what it wants when it wants, including killing and maiming innocent children and women.

Iran and Saudi Arabia: Co-operation on Syria and Yemen

Lord Ahmed Excerpts

Monday 21st May 2018 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Ahmed]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage Iran and Saudi Arabia to work together to bring peaceful solutions to the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

[The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon) (Con)]

My Lords, Syria and Yemen are among the two worst humanitarian crises in the world. A stable Middle East is in every nation’s interest. We therefore continue to encourage both Saudi Arabia and Iran to work towards regional peace and stability. We also urge all countries in the region to support the UN-led peace processes in both Syria and Yemen. Only political solutions can end these terrible conflicts.

[Lord Ahmed (Non-Afl)]

I thank the Minister for his reply. The UN humanitarian co-ordinator for the Syrian crisis is reported as saying that 2018 is the worst year in Syria, with more than 7 million displaced people and the Geneva process frozen. Meanwhile, more than 7 million people are starving in Yemen. This is a Muslim version of the Thirty Years’ War, between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Will Her Majesty’s Government consider leading an EU peace mission to Yemen and Syria consisting of specialists with knowledge of the political, cultural and religious differences?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, the noble Lord raises a very important point and I concur with him. These conflicts are the worst kind of humanitarian crises we have seen and they continue unabated. The challenge has remained because there are other forces at work—regional disputes and rivalries are being played out in both Syria and Yemen. I say to the noble Lord that the Government remain committed to the UN processes in both regards. He is of course right that the process in Syria, in particular, has stalled. The reason it has stalled is primarily the Assad regime’s direct disengagement from the process. The noble Lord makes a practical suggestion and, while the UK Government remain committed to ensuring that the UN mechanisms are fully recognised, I would welcome any helpful thoughts and processes on encouraging greater dialogue between the different communities that constitute Syria and Yemen and further afield.

India: Extremism

Lord Ahmed Excerpts

Monday 24th April 2017 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Ahmed]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the rise of extremism in India following the state elections in Uttar Pradesh.

[The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Anelay of St Johns) (Con)]

My Lords, we are aware of concerns over religious tolerance and community relations following recent state elections in India. Prime Minister Modi has made it clear that every citizen has the right to follow any faith, without coercion, and vowed to protect all religious groups. We welcome this statement. The Indian Government have a range of policies and programmes to support minority groups, and we support India’s commitment to the fundamental rights enshrined in its constitution.

[Lord Ahmed (Non-Afl)]

I thank the Minister for her reply. Is she aware of the recent Hindutva vigilante-style attacks on Christians, Muslims, Sikhs and Dalits? According to a senior Indian army general, HS Panag, and the former chief justice of the Delhi High Court, the honourable Mr Shah, right-wing nationalists such as RSS and the Hindutva brigade have targeted all minorities in the name of nationalism. Is the Minister aware of the concerns expressed in the Pew report on religious intolerance in India, and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom’s report on the constitutional and legal challenges faced by religious minorities in India? Will Her Majesty’s Government remind the BJP Government of their obligations under international law for the protection of minority communities?

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

My Lords, we share the noble Lord’s concern about the importance of ensuring that there is religious freedom, because it is a foundation for economic and public security. I can assure him that the British high commission in New Delhi discusses human rights issues with institutions such as the Indian National Commission for Minorities and state governments. More than that, in direct answer to his question, the British Government work directly with the Indian Government to build capacity and share expertise to tackle challenges, including the promotion and protection of human rights. Next month, that will include working with India on its universal periodic review.

Sudan

Lord Ahmed Excerpts

Thursday 9th February 2017 Grand Committee

[Lord Ahmed (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Hussain, for securing this timely debate. Undoubtedly some noble Lords will address the threats posed by Islamic militants in the countries that surround Sudan. Its physical location places it at the heart of Africa.

The importance of an ally such as Sudan in the war on terrorism has always been clear. It was Sudan that identified, arrested and extradited Ilich Ramírez Sánchez—Carlos the Jackal—to France in 1994. It is also a matter of record that Sudan offered to arrest and extradite Osama bin Laden to Washington—an offer refused by the Clinton Administration, with disastrous consequences. Sudan has signed and enforced all relevant international anti-terrorist protocols. Sudan has co-operated on counterterrorism issues for two decades. As early as November 2001, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage stated that Sudanese co-operation on counterterrorism was “really terrific”. Sudan’s importance in the war against terrorism has intensified in the past few years. In 2012, Jean-Claude Cousseran, the former head of the French equivalent of MI6, said:

“Africa will be our neighbourhood Afghanistan”.


It is right that we look at the threat posed to Sudan by extremists in the surrounding countries, but we must also address the elephant in the room. We must look at the role played by British foreign policy in enabling the terrorist threat faced by Sudan and other African countries. British foreign policy in this respect has been nothing short of disastrous.

In 2011, the new coalition Government chose to unpick one of the few foreign policy successes of the Blair years—the containment of the Gaddafi Government in Libya, the abandonment of their nuclear programme and Tripoli’s wholehearted co-operation on counter- terrorism. Her Majesty’s Government chose to wage war against the Libyan Government in support of several anti-government Islamist militias with al-Qaeda affiliations.

In an article in the Guardian, I warned at the time that it was a dangerous assumption to believe that the Libyan rebels were all Facebook idealists. In their more candid moments, Western political and military leaders admitted at the time that they knew next to nothing about the gunmen for whom NATO was acting as a de facto air force and whom they were militarily equipping.

As clearly documented in Paul Moorcraft’s 2015 study, The Jihadist Threat, Her Majesty’s Government’s Libya policy demonstrated another clear contradiction. The United Kingdom has some of the most draconian anti-terrorist legislation in the world. While it is illegal for a young Briton of Pakistani descent to as much as look at a jihadist website in his bedroom, the British authorities turned a blind eye to the hundreds of young Britons of Libyan descent travelling from Britain to undergo jihadist military training and political indoctrination in training camps in Libya, Egypt and eastern Tunisia that were no different from those in Afghanistan. Many of those British citizens then went to fight with al-Qaeda-aligned militias against Gaddafi forces. The Daily Mail ran an article with the headline:

“Why do so many Libyan rebels seen on TV speak with British accents?”.


When I asked in a Written Question in mid-2015 whether Her Majesty’s Government were aware of any British Libyans who took part in overthrowing Colonel Gaddafi, and whether any of them had since returned to the United Kingdom, the Government stated that,

“we do not hold any information on this matter”.

The reality is that British foreign policy continues to create and enable not just our enemies but extremist forces that Governments such as that of Sudan will have to confront.

[Baroness Goldie (Con)]

Can the noble Lord move on so that I can answer the Question?

[Lord Ahmed]

We must learn with regard to British foreign policy toward Syria.

Gaza

Lord Ahmed Excerpts

Monday 6th July 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmed (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I too would like to thank the noble Baroness, Lady Tonge, for providing us with the opportunity to discuss Gaza and the plight of Palestinian people, who currently live in the largest prison in the world.

I had the pleasure of travelling with the noble Baroness, Lady Tonge, a few years ago on a boat from Cyprus to Gaza. During that trip we were harassed by the Israeli navy in the international waters like pirates. Despite this setback, we made it to Gaza and saw for ourselves how the Palestinian people had been suffering for many years.

Just this past week, Israeli Navy forces intercepted a ship carrying international activists who hoped to breach the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. The vessel, which contained humanitarian aid including medicines and solar panels, was prevented from entering. That incident is nothing new. As your Lordships’ will remember, in 2010 Israeli forces raided a Gaza-bound flotilla and violently attacked the activists on board. Some nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed as a result. Do Her Majesty’s Government believe that intercepting and attacking boats in international waters carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza is illegal under international law? Have Her Majesty’s Government advised the Israeli Government on this matter?

Today, we can see with our eyes and through facts that Israel severely damaged the stability of Palestine. As we heard from the noble Baroness, Lady Tonge, last year, Israeli Operation Protective Edge either severely damaged or destroyed 17 hospitals, 56 primary healthcare facilities and 45 ambulances. Sixteen healthcare workers were killed and 83 were injured, most of them ambulance drivers and volunteers. In total, as we have heard again and again, more than 2,200 Palestinians were killed, at least 500 of them children. More than 10,000 were wounded. Over 160,000 homes were affected, with 2,400 housing units completely destroyed and 6,600 severely damaged. Some 17,500 families—some 100,000 individuals—are still homeless. An estimated 7,000 explosive remnants of war are buried in debris. At least 10 people have been killed and 36 injured due to ERW. According to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions—ICAHD—since 1967 Israeli authorities have demolished more than 27,000 structures in the Occupied State of Palestine. Furthermore, according to the Norwegian NGO, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, the number of internally displaced people among the Palestinian population is at least 263,000.

Israel’s colonial and prolonged military occupation of the Occupied State of Palestine, including its eight-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, is the root cause of recurring violence and ongoing violations of the human rights of Palestinians. Poverty, deprivation and lack of education are all factors increasing crime and signs of extremism. This increase in extremism paves the way for Daesh to expand its influence to Palestine. Several reports by UN bodies and independent fact-finding missions have now accused Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. The lack of accountability for these crimes has led to the recurrence of such crimes and to the latest aggression against the Palestinian people living in the Gaza Strip—the deadliest offensive against the Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 1967.

There is an Israeli contempt for Palestinian life and international law. The international community has an obligation to ensure respect for civilian lives and international law. The only way to do that is to bring perpetrators of crimes to justice and to hold the occupying power accountable. Finally, would Her Majesty’s Government support any UN initiative to bring all those responsible for war crimes to justice, whether Israeli or Palestinian?

Kashmir: Line of Control

Lord Ahmed Excerpts

Thursday 20th November 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

My Lords, the agreements reached between India and Pakistan were for them to reach and not for the British Government to criticise, but the noble Lord raises serious questions about the way in which—throughout all human history—there has been strife either based on religion or for which religion has been used as a reason. He brings a very measured and reflective point to this debate today and I am grateful to him.

[Lord Ahmed (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree with me that elections are no substitute for a free, fair and impartial plebiscite as promised by the United Nations in 1948 and 1949, and therefore that the forthcoming elections in Indian-administered Kashmir would not be a substitute for that outstanding promise of the United Nations, which should be given to the people of Kashmir?

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

My Lords, there is a long history indeed to the dispute; that has already been drawn to our attention. Subsequent to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 47, there have been further developments. The noble Lord, Lord Ahmed, will know of the Simla Agreement which now forms, as I understand it, the basis of the negotiations between India and Pakistan. It is clear that India and Pakistan themselves have the opportunity to take peaceful measures bilaterally to resolve the issue, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. There are elections ahead, and they have always in the past been judged by the international community to be free and fair.

Gaza

Lord Ahmed Excerpts

Monday 14th July 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

I suppose the issue that I take with my noble friend is this: it is important we do not draw parallels between Hamas and the Israeli Government, or indeed try to describe them in a way where we treat them as having equal responsibility. On the one hand, we are dealing with an organisation that is considered to be a terrorist organisation, on the other a state that is a liberal democracy. Israel would be horrified to feel it was being judged by the standards of Hamas.

On the specific issue of settlements that my noble friend raises, we have repeatedly condemned Israel’s announcement to expand settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including in east Jerusalem. We have consistently said that, as well as being illegal under international law, settlements undermine the possibility of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and those who are working for a sustainable peace.

[Lord Ahmed (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, the Minister mentioned that 80% of those killed have been civilians and that a third of those have been children. How many children have been killed in the three Israeli offensives in 2008, 2012 and 2014? How many Israeli children and how many Palestinian children have been killed?

[Baroness Warsi]

I concur with the noble Lord opposite who said that the life of a Palestinian child is worth no less than the life of an Israeli child and that the life of an Israeli child is worth no less than the life of a Palestinian child. Every child is equal, irrespective of race, religion or nationality. In relation to civilian deaths, I can inform the House that during the 2008-09 Cast Lead operation there were nine Israeli civilian casualties and 759 Palestinian civilian casualties, of which 344 were children. In relation to the 2012 Pillar of Defense operation, there were four Israeli civilian casualties and 90 Palestinian civilian casualties, of which 30 were children. In the current 2014 Protective Edge operation, there have so far been no Israeli civilian casualties and 133 Palestinian civilian casualties, of which 36 were children.