Republic of Sudan: Human Rights

Baroness Warsi Excerpts

Monday 14th July 2014 Lords Chamber

[The Senior Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Warsi) (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Cox, for raising the important issue of human rights in Sudan. The dire human rights situation in Sudan is central to our engagement in that country both through our embassy and through the joint FCO/DfID Sudan Unit in London.

Let me respond to the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan, and other noble Lords on how we tackle these challenging circumstances. First, we lobby the Government of Sudan on human rights abuses and demand greater transparency and accountability. We also provide tangible support to specific projects. This year, for example, our embassy is offering support to the establishment of a human rights law centre in Khartoum. Our support will also help strengthen human rights monitoring within the country and develop the capability of civil society organisations within Sudan, a point to which the right reverend Prelate referred. In so doing, we are able not only to make a difference on the ground but to maintain contact with a wide network of human rights defenders, who are essential to our work. We also speak out on issues of concern through both ministerial and ambassadorial statements and through social media. We have become involved in cases of huge concern such as that of Meriam Ibrahim, the woman who was recently sentenced to death for apostasy.

The noble Baroness, Lady Kinnock, referred to a whole spectrum of human rights abuses. Another way in which we challenge such abuses is by supporting the work of the UN independent expert on human rights in Sudan. We welcomed his statement on human rights during his recent visit to Khartoum and look forward to seeing his final report at the Human Rights Council in September as it will provide us with an opportunity to highlight our concerns and debate some of the issues that were raised.

The noble Baroness, Lady Kinnock, referred to the ICC. We continue to make it clear to the Government of Sudan that the international community expects compliance with the arrest warrants for the ICC indictees. We equally expect other Governments who are parties to the Rome statute to comply with their legal obligations. In common with other EU countries, we have a policy of having no contact with fugitives from the ICC.

The noble Baroness, Lady Cox, referred in some detail to Darfur. She deserves huge credit for her work to keep in the public eye this appalling conflict in the two areas in Darfur, often displaying great personal courage in finding the latest information. The turn of events in Darfur is heartbreaking. Only this afternoon, my honourable friend the Minister for Africa has been discussing the conflict there with Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the head of UNAMID and the AU-UN Joint Special Representative for Darfur. The most recent report of the UN Secretary-General made it quite clear that it was the Government of Sudan and their rapid support forces who bore primary responsibility for the widespread abuses against civilians, including horrific sexual violence against women and girls and the looting and burning of houses. We have made it clear to the Sudanese Government in the strongest terms that such actions are not only wholly unacceptable but undermine their apparent aspiration for a national dialogue. The Secretary-General’s report also made it clear that the armed opposition, in particular the Sudanese Liberation Army’s Minni Minnawi faction, bears heavy responsibility for civilian displacement.

The escalation of aerial bombardment and the apparent targeting of hospitals by the Sudanese armed forces are appalling and we condemn them in the strongest terms. Ultimately, the conflict will be resolved only if both the Government and the SPLM- North can approach negotiations convened by President Mbeki and his high-level panel with serious intent, as they are required to do by UN Resolution 2046.

The noble Baroness, Lady Cox, referred also to cross-border aid. We do not believe that going down the route of providing cross-border aid is the right thing to do at this stage, given the sensitivities, risks and difficulties involved in monitoring where it goes, but we genuinely keep these policies under review and are always open to further discussion. I am sorry that that is not the news the noble Baroness wanted to hear today.

My noble friend Lord Cope referred to the Darfur refugees. We have raised this matter repeatedly with the Government of Sudan, calling for humanitarian access to those refugees, and the Minister for Africa spoke to the Foreign Minister of Sudan on 28 April. Lynne Featherstone from DfID again raised the situation on 20 May. At every opportunity, both within the Security Council and directly with the Sudanese Government, we press for compliance with all UN Security Council resolutions and sanctions regimes. It is important that UN Security Council follow up its decision to refer the situation in Darfur to the ICC. We have consistently raised this point in the Security Council and will continue to do so.

The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Carlisle and other noble Lords raised the truly appalling case of Meriam Ibrahim, which has quite rightly inspired worldwide condemnation. I am proud that the UK led the way in calling for her release through statements by the Prime Minister and other senior Ministers. It is a great relief that Meriam Ibrahim has now been released, but we are concerned that she is still unable to travel. As the right reverend Prelate will know, the issue of freedom of religion or belief is one of the six key priorities in my human rights brief and is a personal priority for me. I have been at pains to detail what we mean by freedom of religion or belief, which includes the freedom to have a belief, to manifest that belief, to change that belief and not to have a belief. It is important that we make sure that that is detailed in that way when we have those discussions. The right reverend Prelate will also be aware that we now have a sub-group on freedom of religion or belief as an advisory group within the Foreign Office. The work of that group will also inform our responses to cases such as that of Meriam Ibrahim.

We are also aware of the case involving Faiza Abdalla and other apostasy cases before the Sudanese court. Although the full extent of those cases is not documented, it is clear that Meriam Ibrahim’s case is not an isolated occurrence and the broader issues of religious freedom still need to be addressed in detail. We are working with local Sudanese partners to investigate those cases and continue to call on the Sudanese Government to abide by their international obligations to uphold every citizen’s right to freedom of religion or belief. Of course, those obligations are enshrined in Sudan’s constitution and, indeed, in the very religion which Sudan purports to follow.

The noble Baroness, Lady Kinnock, spoke about the freedom of the press. Of course, that is a vital component of a genuinely open and transparent national dialogue process. Our embassy in Khartoum regularly raises that in discussions with the Sudanese authorities. During his visit to Sudan in January, my honourable friend the Minister for Africa met Sudanese journalists and editors and stressed to senior members of the Sudanese Government the importance of open, democratic space and respect for fundamental freedoms. Our embassy, with the British Council, is jointly funding the Thomson Foundation programme to build capacity for Sudanese journalism, including media training and a sponsored visit to London by Sudanese newspaper editors.

The noble Baroness, Lady Kinnock, also raised the issue of women’s rights and the PSVI. She will be aware both of the work that we are doing in the build-up to the Girls Summit, where we are encouraging Sudan to be represented, and in relation to the Ending Sexual Violence initiative, where we are pressing the Sudanese Government to take forward some of the summit’s recommendations.

The noble Baroness, Lady Morgan, raised the issue of torture. Of course we are deeply concerned at the reports of individuals being tortured while in detention. The visit by the UN independent expert has highlighted the urgent need for those claims to be fully investigated by the Sudanese authorities. Although we welcome the release on Friday of Mohammed Saleh, whose case was specifically raised by the independent expert with the Government, we still feel that more needs to be done by the authorities fully to investigate all claims of torture.

The right reverend Prelate spoke specifically about delivering aid through churches. Aid is given directly to NGOs in Sudan. However, access is limited by the Government of Sudan to certain areas and it may well be that using faith communities could be a way forward. I know that those matters were raised directly with the Foreign Minister of Sudan on 20 May this year.

My noble friend Lord Cope spoke about the strategic review of UNAMID. That review is already showing signs of improved efficiency. We are currently in internal discussions on the mandate renewal, which is due in August next year. The Minister for Africa, Mark Simmonds, met the head of UNAMID only today to discuss that. If anything has come out of that I will certainly write to my noble friend to update him.

The noble Baroness, Lady Morgan, spoke about access for humanitarian agencies, of which ICRC’s suspension is part of our concern. We have made clear to the Government of Sudan that ICRC is an independent organisation with a distinct mandate conferred by the international community, including Sudan, and thus plays a unique role in helping victims of armed conflict and other violence. As a party to the Geneva Convention, Sudan is obliged to allow the ICRC to implement its international mandate. Lynne Featherstone, the DfID Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, reiterated that when she met Foreign Minister Karti on 20 May.

The noble Baroness, Lady Kinnock, asked about debt relief. We are not negotiating debt relief with the Government of Sudan. We have been clear that the Government of Sudan can achieve debt relief only through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries process, which includes making serious attempts to reduce poverty, including by ending internal conflict. Sudan cannot realistically expect to achieve debt relief until it makes serious efforts to end its internal conflicts.

The noble Baroness, Lady Cox, raised the issue of sanctions. We would not rule anything out. The suggestion of sanctions is of course interesting, and I will certainly read Hansard as to the specific suggestions that she made, but a number of international mechanisms are in place that we should focus on: UNAMID and the strategic review ensuring that it is efficient and working is one; Sudan at the Human Rights Council is another; the African Union high-level implementation panel calling on both sides to engage in serious mediation over the two areas is another. So there are various levers that we can use.

In conclusion, at face value, the national dialogue launched by President Bashir earlier this year is to be welcomed, but it is clear, not least from the examples raised in this debate, that the Government’s recent actions are undermining their stated intentions. National dialogue leading to real reform is what Sudan desperately needs, so we should continue to remind the Government of Sudan of that commitment; to welcome positive steps such as the release of three political detainees last week; and to support those moderate voices within the Sudanese Government and society who are pushing for reform.

We can do that only by remaining engaged but, at the same time, we should continue to condemn the appalling actions of the Government whenever we see them, from South Kordofan to Darfur. We must ensure freedom of religion, freedom of the press and the protection of other human rights. The case of Meriam Ibrahim shows that the weight of UK and international pressure can make a real difference, but the challenge for all of us now is to ensure that that pressure leads to a fundamental change in attitude and approach from the Sudanese authorities. We must get to a point where there will no longer be a need to raise individual cases because the Government have come to understand that respect for human rights is vital for their own good governance. We will continue to push that.

I was asked a number of questions in today’s debate. I hope that I have covered most of them. If I have not, I am sure that noble Lords will write to me and I will answer them more fully. Once again, I am grateful to the noble Baroness for providing an opportunity to discuss this important issue.