Foreign Fighters and the Death Penalty Debate

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Department: Home Office

Foreign Fighters and the Death Penalty

Cheryl Gillan Excerpts
Monday 23rd July 2018

(6 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Ben Wallace Portrait Mr Wallace
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No, I am not saying that, and my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary did not rip up anything unilaterally. My right hon. Friend followed the advice, as did other Ministers, of the OSJA—the guidance that has been in existence for very many years—which does allow Ministers to sometimes seek the ability to share evidence where there is an absence of assurances. That is what the OSJA has done, as part of the guidance for the Government, and it has been there for many years.

Cheryl Gillan Portrait Dame Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)
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The UK is a proud member of the Council of Europe, which has made the abolition of capital punishment one of its main priorities. It has been fighting for 30 years to outlaw the death penalty, and it now wishes to extend that to countries with observer status at the Council of Europe, including Japan and the United States of America. Will the Minister confirm that he will support that policy of the Council of Europe and say whether he is convinced that the actions relating to these two men are compatible with our membership of the Council of Europe and the priorities we put on its activities?

Ben Wallace Portrait Mr Wallace
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In answer to my right hon. Friend, yes and yes.