Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what information they have about the five Rwandan genocide suspects named in an extradition judgment and currently living in the UK.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer Lord Mendelsohn to UIN 249920 and UIN HL787, where similar questions were posed.
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) War Crimes Unit is a dedicated specialist unit which investigates and prosecutes people living in the UK suspected of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in line with universal jurisdiction and the CPS Counter Terrorism Division has the responsibility for prosecuting such crimes. Criminal investigations are an operational matter for law-enforcement agencies, and it would be inappropriate for me to comment any further.
I would invite Lord Mendelsohn to consider referring the second part of the question to the Attorney General and the Metropolitan Police for a response.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what explanations they have received from the police regarding the length of time taken to investigate the cases of the five suspected Rwandan war criminals currently living in the UK following the judgment in Government of Rwanda v Nteziryayo & Others [2017] EWHC 1912 (Admin), and what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of those police investigations.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer Lord Mendelsohn to UIN 249920 and UIN HL787, where similar questions were posed.
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) War Crimes Unit is a dedicated specialist unit which investigates and prosecutes people living in the UK suspected of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in line with universal jurisdiction and the CPS Counter Terrorism Division has the responsibility for prosecuting such crimes. Criminal investigations are an operational matter for law-enforcement agencies, and it would be inappropriate for me to comment any further.
I would invite Lord Mendelsohn to consider referring the second part of the question to the Attorney General and the Metropolitan Police for a response.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government on what date the Attorney General last received a briefing from the Metropolitan Police regarding the five Rwandan genocide suspects named in an extradition judgement and currently living in the UK.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We would invite you to consider referring this question to the Attorney General and the Metropolitan Police for a response.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total allocation of funds to the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command in (1) the current, and (2) previous, financial year; and what proportion of those funds in each period was allocated to the War Crimes Unit.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Budget allocations are set by Counter-Terrorism Policing Headquarters, who work with the Home Office and police forces to advise on funding for the counter-terrorism police network, including for specific units. Breakdowns of allocations to police forces or specific units are not provided publicly for national security reasons.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are providing to the Metropolitan Police to assist with the investigation of any Rwandan nationals living in the UK who were allegedly involved in the 1994 genocide in that country.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is responsible for the investigations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and torture. It has the specialist skills to conduct an investigations or decide that a criminal investigation is not feasible.
The Home Office has a long-standing relationship with that unit and those individuals identified in the immigration system who are suspected of being involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity, are referred to the MPS, including those who may have been involved in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have received complaints about how the United States Department of Homeland Security conducts the selection of travellers for additional security checks by and on behalf of United States authorities; and if so, how many complaints they have received.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Further to the answer at HL6289 and HL6290 the CBP officers hold no authority in the UK, conduct no formal checks and can only advise airline staff. The decision whether or not to board a passenger rests with the airline. The last recorded complaint was in 2016.
We do not publish the specific details of the arrangement with the Department of Homeland Security for operational reasons.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish the (1) arrangements granted, and (2) facilities given, to the United States Department of Homeland Security to conduct security checks at airports on UK sovereign territory.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Further to the answer at HL6289 and HL6290 the CBP officers hold no authority in the UK, conduct no formal checks and can only advise airline staff. The decision whether or not to board a passenger rests with the airline. The last recorded complaint was in 2016.
We do not publish the specific details of the arrangement with the Department of Homeland Security for operational reasons.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have benchmarked the way that that the list of those selected for enhanced security checks by US Homeland Security at UK sites is compiled; and whether they have compared this with any other countries in which US Homeland Security has the right to require such checks in their sovereign territory.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Further to the answer at HL6289 and HL6290 the CBP officers hold no authority in the UK, conduct no formal checks and can only advise airline staff. The decision whether or not to board a passenger rests with the airline. The last recorded complaint was in 2016.
We do not publish the specific details of the arrangement with the Department of Homeland Security for operational reasons.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assurances they have received from the US ambassador to the UK on the operation of the Homeland Security checks on UK territory; and when was the last time such checks were discussed by UK Ministers.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Under the US Immigration Advisory Program, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have operated in an advisory capacity at Heathrow airport, since 2007, to support airlines in identifying passengers who may be inadmissible to the US and should not board flights to the US. This reflects an established recommended practice of Annex 9 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (the Chicago Convention).
The CBP officers hold no authority in the UK, conduct no formal checks and can only advise airline staff. The decision whether or not to board a passenger rests with the airline.
We do not publish the specific details of the arrangement with the Department of Homeland Security for operational reasons.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what verification checks are conducted on the permitted US Homeland Security procedures at UK airports; who conducts these checks; in which department the people that conduct these checks are based; and when was the last time these checks were conducted.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Under the US Immigration Advisory Program, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have operated in an advisory capacity at Heathrow airport, since 2007, to support airlines in identifying passengers who may be inadmissible to the US and should not board flights to the US. This reflects an established recommended practice of Annex 9 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (the Chicago Convention).
The CBP officers hold no authority in the UK, conduct no formal checks and can only advise airline staff. The decision whether or not to board a passenger rests with the airline.
We do not publish the specific details of the arrangement with the Department of Homeland Security for operational reasons.