Saudi Arabia: Anticipated Executions Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Tom Tugendhat
Main Page: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)Department Debates - View all Tom Tugendhat's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(7 years, 4 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
I call the Chair of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Tom Tugendhat.
Tom Tugendhat (Tonbridge and Malling) (Con)
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
We have heard—over the years, indeed—Her Majesty’s Government talk about the influence they have had over the actions of the Saudi Government in terms of capital offences. I would be very grateful if the Minister could from his place today give some examples of how that has paid off, because, on days like this, it does leave some questions to be answered.
Alistair Burt
I congratulate my hon. Friend on his election to the office of Chairman of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs. It is an important office, which was well held by his predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Reigate (Crispin Blunt), to whom we would all pay tribute. These are difficult jobs done by colleagues, and my hon. Friend did it particularly well, but we are very pleased to see my hon. Friend the Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Tom Tugendhat) in his place.
It is so difficult to try to prove a negative. The authorities with which we deal in Saudi Arabia are not necessarily in a position to make their judicial decisions dependent on external pressure, and nor would we be in a similar situation. We know that allegations are made about possible executions, including those of minors, and that they then do not happen, but we do not know whether that can be laid at the door of any specific representation. I can assure my hon. Friend and the House that these representations are regularly made to a changing society and a changing judicial process in Saudi Arabia, which must, of necessity, be theirs and not ours.