Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the level of media freedom in Nigeria, following the announcement of new conditions for covering government proceedings.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The restrictions announced by the National Assembly on the reporting of its proceedings have now been withdrawn. We believe that the rights of individuals and independent media to express opinions and peacefully challenge authority are essential to a free and open society. We will continue to engage the Nigerian authorities on how best to promote and protect these rights as part of our ongoing dialogue.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the increased Taliban presence in Afghanistan; and whether the security situation in Afghanistan remains a priority for his Department.
Answered by Mark Field
The British Government continues to closely monitor the security situation in Afghanistan. Our analysis is that the Taliban cannot win this conflict. The British Government believes a political peace settlement, between the Afghan government and the Taliban, is the only way to achieve lasting stability and security in Afghanistan. We welcome the progress made towards starting a credible peace process by the US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad. We continue to urge the Taliban to take advantage of the current opportunity for peace, and to begin a genuine dialogue with the elected government of Afghanistan.
Her Majesty's Government, along with our North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies and other partners, also remains committed to supporting The Afghan Government and the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces. This is vital to protect the Afghan population from the conflict and from terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and Daesh Khorasan Province. It is also an essential effort to ensure that Afghanistan does not again become a safe-haven for international terrorism.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of changes in the level of hate crimes against Muslims in India.
Answered by Mark Field
India has a strong democratic framework and constitutionally enshrined protections for freedom of religious belief, but faces some challenges enforcing these due to its size and social and economic development. The situation for religious minorities in India varies, depending on location, socio-economic background and proportion of religious minorities.
We maintain a continuous assessment of the human rights situation across India. We engage with India on the full range of human rights matters, both bilaterally and through the European Union. We work with Union and State Governments, and with Non-Governmental Organisations, to build capacity and share expertise to promote human rights for all. The British High Commission in New Delhi, and our Deputy High Commissions across India, also run projects promoting minority rights and regularly meet religious representatives, as well as official figures such as the Chair of the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Minorities. Recent project work included ‘Empowering Muslim youth’ which reached 150 youths, 20 teachers and over 100 educational institutions.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of India’s adherence to Article 18 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Answered by Mark Field
India has a strong democratic framework and constitutionally enshrined protections for freedom of religious belief, but faces some challenges enforcing these due to its size and social and economic development. The situation for religious minorities in India varies, depending on location, socio-economic background and proportion of religious minorities.
We maintain a continuous assessment of the human rights situation across India. We engage with India on the full range of human rights matters, both bilaterally and through the European Union. We work with Union and State Governments, and with Non-Governmental Organisations, to build capacity and share expertise to promote human rights for all. The British High Commission in New Delhi, and our Deputy High Commissions across India, also run projects promoting minority rights and regularly meet religious representatives, as well as official figures such as the Chair of the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Minorities. Recent project work included ‘Empowering Muslim youth’ which reached 150 youths, 20 teachers and over 100 educational institutions.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian crisis in the Anglophone region of Cameroon.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK remains deeply concerned at the worsening humanitarian situation in the North-West and South-West (Anglophone) regions of Cameroon and reports of human rights violations and abuses committed by both security forces and armed separatists. Violence is driving people from their homes and impacting on the lives of ordinary civilians, particularly women and children. The UN assesses that over 530,000 people have been internally displaced as a result of the conflict and has recorded over 35,000 refugees in Nigeria. The UK is providing lifesaving assistance to thousands of people following a £2.5m contribution in December 2018 to the UN emergency appeal to address the crisis.
The UK welcomes the visit to Cameroon by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Government of Cameroon's reported openness to working with the UN to address the severe humanitarian and human rights situation in the Anglophone regions. It is imperative that urgent action is now taken by the Government of Cameroon, with the support of regional partners and the wider international community, to prevent further escalation of the crisis. This includes the establishment of a credible political dialogue to address the root causes of the crisis. The UK stands ready to support.
The British Government regularly raises concerns about Cameroon at the highest levels including at the UN Security Council on 13 May and when I met with Cameroon's High Commissioner to the UK on 30 April. The UK continues to call for unhindered humanitarian access to affected populations, an end to violence on all sides and investigations into all reports of human rights violations and abuses.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the merits of the findings of the UN human rights high commissioner that there is a window of opportunity to arrest the crises that have led to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people in Cameroon.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK remains deeply concerned at the worsening humanitarian situation in the North-West and South-West (Anglophone) regions of Cameroon and reports of human rights violations and abuses committed by both security forces and armed separatists. Violence is driving people from their homes and impacting on the lives of ordinary civilians, particularly women and children. The UN assesses that over 530,000 people have been internally displaced as a result of the conflict and has recorded over 35,000 refugees in Nigeria. The UK is providing lifesaving assistance to thousands of people following a £2.5m contribution in December 2018 to the UN emergency appeal to address the crisis.
The UK welcomes the visit to Cameroon by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Government of Cameroon's reported openness to working with the UN to address the severe humanitarian and human rights situation in the Anglophone regions. It is imperative that urgent action is now taken by the Government of Cameroon, with the support of regional partners and the wider international community, to prevent further escalation of the crisis. This includes the establishment of a credible political dialogue to address the root causes of the crisis. The UK stands ready to support.
The British Government regularly raises concerns about Cameroon at the highest levels including at the UN Security Council on 13 May and when I met with Cameroon's High Commissioner to the UK on 30 April. The UK continues to call for unhindered humanitarian access to affected populations, an end to violence on all sides and investigations into all reports of human rights violations and abuses.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the recent use of live ammunition by Sudanese security forces against protesters in Khartoum.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK is extremely concerned by the use of live ammunition by Sudanese security forces against protestors in Khartoum on 13 and 15 May, and by reports of injuries and fatalities. We call for those responsible to be held to account. Since protests began in December 2018, the UK has consistently raised our concerns at the use of violence in response to peaceful protests. As part of the Troika (US, UK and Norway) we made a statement on 21 May calling for a swift, orderly and peaceful civilian-led transfer of power that respects the will of the Sudanese people.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to encourage the Sri Lankan Government to find a peaceful and lawful solution to the current constitutional crisis in that country.
Answered by Mark Field
Following the swearing in of Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka by President Sirisena on 16 December I made a statement welcoming progress made towards the peaceful resolution of the political impasse in Sri Lanka since October. This outcome is a welcome indication of the resilience of Sri Lanka's judicial and democratic institutions, and of effective checks and balances between state powers. The UK will continue to stand by Sri Lanka as a close partner and friend, supporting Sri Lanka as it works to deliver sustainable and accountable reform to reinvigorate the economy, improve governance, and safeguard human rights across the country.
Prior to this, I made statements on 26 and 29 October, and on 9 November, setting out our concerns at political developments in Sri Lanka and calling for due political and legal process to be upheld. Our High Commissioner to Sri Lanka met regularly with all political parties, and expressed our concern at the behaviour of some MPs in disrupting Parliamentary proceedings.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Human Rights Council meeting in October 2015, whether it remains the Government's policy that Sri Lanka establishes a hybrid accountability mechanism with the involvement of international judges and prosecutors in order to deal with outstanding allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Answered by Mark Field
We continue to encourage the Government of Sri Lanka to implement in full its commitments under UN Human Rights Council Resolutions 34/1 and 30/1 these Resolutions recognised the importance of a credible accountability process for those most responsible for violations and abuses, and called for the participation in this process of Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers, and authorised prosecutors and investigators.
Asked by: Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has held discussions with the Government of India on (a) the recent killing of five nomadic people in Maharashtra state which was filmed and shared on social media and (b) other so-called WhatsApp Lynchings.
Answered by Mark Field
Officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's India Network and central teams in London monitor closely reports of human rights abuses, raising issues where appropriate with the Government of India. We are in regular contact with minority representatives in India as well as human rights activists and NGOs. While we are aware of this particular issue, it is not one that we have yet raised with the Government of India.