Russian Federation: Council of Europe

Lord Grenfell Excerpts

Tuesday 30th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

My Lords, we believe that the recommendation should have been passed, not to chastise Russia for its human rights record but to help to improve human rights protections within that country, as we would do for any Council of Europe member state. It is unfortunate that in this particular matter the procedural points became the focus of the debate rather than the real substance that was in the report. It is essential that every member of the Council of Europe, including Russia, respects the obligations and commitments that it signed up to on joining the organisation, whether or not there is a recommendation.

[Lord Grenfell]

My Lords, is the Prime Minister, in dismissing out of hand the European Court of Human Rights’ ruling on voting rights for prisoners, not giving aid and comfort to members of the Council of Europe such as Russia that see fit to pick and choose which of the undertakings they made when joining the Council they wish to honour?

[Baroness Warsi]

As I now have the human rights brief at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, I see that there is an interesting dilemma in terms of human rights records around the world and the position that we adopt on them. There is also the question of how we implement human rights decisions in relation to the UK. However, I am very front-footed and clear when I say that abuses that are taking place in places such as Russia, which form the basis of the report that noble Lords are aware of, are very different from the case of voting rights for prisoners.