Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she had with her counterpart in Somalia on the four teenage boys sentenced to death by military courts in that country on 31 January 2022.

The UK is aware of this case and is working with our international partners. It is a longstanding policy of the UK Government to oppose the death penalty, in all circumstances, as a matter of principle. We believe that use of the death penalty undermines human dignity. There is no conclusive evidence of its deterrent value, and any miscarriage of justice leading to its imposition is irreversible and irreparable.