Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when a government minister last visited Belize, and whether they discussed the treatment of homosexuals with representatives of the government of Belize during that visit.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), visited Belize in November 2012; and the former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for International Security Strategy at the Ministry of Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison), visited Belize in March 2013. Our High Commissioner in Belmopan regularly raises human rights and the treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people with representatives of the Belizean government.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the possible link between the spread of HIV/AIDS in Belize and the criminalisation of homosexuality in that country.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Our focus in Belize has been on working to uphold the rights and freedoms of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in all circumstances. More generally, we believe that access to treatment for human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) should be without discrimination, and that discriminatory laws that impede access to treatment should be addressed. This is true in Belize as elsewhere.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Belize about the treatment of homosexual men and women in that country.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We regularly raise the treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people with the Government of Belize. On 4 February 2015, our High Commissioner in Belmopan met with the Belizean Foreign Minister, the Honourable Wilfred Elrington, to discuss human rights and the treatment of homosexual men and women. The UK also raised LGBTI rights at Belize’s last Universal Periodic Review at the UN in 2013.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent representations they have made to the government of Morocco about its treatment of homosexual men and women.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We regularly discuss human rights issues with the Moroccan authorities. Our Ambassador in Morocco most recently raised lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights with the Moroccan Foreign Minister in early October 2014.