Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Tanzanian counterpart on human rights abuses toward LGBT people in that country.

I continue to be concerned by any reports of targeting or threats against the LGBTI community in Tanzania. As I said in my tweet on 2 November, language that invites violence against any community in society should be rejected. The British High Commission, alongside international partners, carried out a demarche on the Tanzanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, urging the authorities to respect human rights and protect all citizens from discrimination. I welcomed the statement by the Tanzanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 4 November restating the protection of rights enshrined in their Constitution and distancing themselves from comments made by their officials. We continue to urge the Tanzanian authorities to respect the rights of sexual minorities and protect all Tanzanian citizens from discrimination. I personally raised discrimination and human rights abuses towards LGBTI people in Tanzania when I met Foreign Minister Mahiga in Brussels on 21 January. I wrote to him in similar terms in November last year and the Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt MP, Secretary of State for International Development, has also raised teh issue with President Magufuli.