China and Saudi Arabia: Human Rights

(asked on 25th April 2016) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps he has taken through the UN to promote the human rights situation in (a) China and (b) Saudi Arabia.


Answered by
Lord Swire Portrait
Lord Swire
This question was answered on 4th May 2016

In respect of China, the UK made a national statement on 15 March under Item 4 of the UN Human Rights Council about the human rights situation there. We highlighted our concerns about the application of due process and transparency of justice, as well as the importance of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong. We also supported the EU’s Item 4 statement on China the same day. On 10 March, we signed up to a cross-regional Item 2 statement delivered at the Human Rights Council, alongside eleven other countries, on China’s deteriorating human rights record. In respect of Saudi Arabia, the British Government’s position on human rights is a matter of public record. We regularly make our views well known including through the UN Universal Periodic Review process and we supported the EU’s Item 4 statement on Saudi Arabia on 15 March at the UN Human Rights Council, which noted a range of human rights concerns. We will continue to raise our human rights concerns with the Saudi Arabian authorities at the highest level.

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