Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Sudan regarding the abduction and torture of the journalist Phil Cox and the translator Daoud Hari; and, whether they intend to raise the treatment of those two individuals with the EU and the UN Human Rights Council.

​Our staff in Khartoum and London worked relentlessly to make sure Mr Cox's welfare was protected and his case was handled quickly and fairly. Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers raised his case at senior levels in the Sudanese government. The UK takes all allegations of mistreatment of British Nationals very seriously and expresses its deep concern at the allegations raised by Mr Cox. The British Embassy in Khartoum raised our concerns about the allegations with the Government of Sudan and have requested that a thorough, independent and impartial investigation is undertaken. On the treatment of Mr Daoud Hari, as he is not a British National, it is not within our consular remit to raise allegations of his mistreatment with the Government of Sudan.