Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the government of Sudan on behalf of Telahoon Rata and Rev. Hassan Taour, arrested on 13 and 21 December 2015 respectively; and what information his Department holds on their (a) location and (b) physical and mental condition.

Our Ambassador in Khartoum met the Minister of Guidance and Religious Endowments and the Sudanese Director of Church Affairs in February and raised the cases of Mr Talahon and Rev. Hassan. Officials from our Embassy in Khartoum are in close contact with their legal team. The legal team have informed us that both men are currently being held at a National Intelligence and Security Service’s facility in Khartoum. Mr Talahon’s family has been able to meet him once while Rev. Hassan has not been granted visitors. Rev. Hassan’s family is particularly concerned about his physical health given his history of stomach ulcers. We will continue to scrutinise these cases closely.