Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in the Government of Bahrain on the detainment of Sayed Ahmed al-Abar.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has not had recent discussions about this individual case with the Government of Bahrain. However, Bahrain is well aware of the UK's long-standing policy to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances, in all countries, as a matter of principle. During Bahrain's Universal Periodic Review in November 2022, the UK recommended an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty and has continued to discuss this with the Government of Bahrain.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what estimate his Department has made of the number of executions that have occurred in Iran in the last 12 months.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The opaque nature of Iran's judicial system prevents us from knowing exactly how many executions have taken place. However, Iranian human rights groups estimate that over 700 people have been executed this year, marking a concerning escalation. The UK Government opposes the death penalty in all circumstances in all countries, especially when imposed upon minors. We have made clear to Iran, both in public and privately, our opposition to the use of the death penalty. We co-sponsored the Iran Human Rights Resolution at the 78th UN General Assembly, calling for an immediate moratorium on executions with a view to eventually abolishing the death penalty.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what information his Department holds on the nationalities of people executed in Iran in the last 12 months.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government opposes the death penalty in all circumstances in every country, including Iran. The opaque nature of Iran's judicial system makes it difficult to gather detail on all executions that have taken place. The execution of British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari in January demonstrated the Iranian authority's complete disregard for human life. Similarly, their execution of Swedish-Iranian national Habib Chaab in May was an unacceptable politically motivated act. We will never accept Iran's use of the death penalty, or its practice of unfairly detaining foreign nationals, and we will continue to work with partners to hold Iran to account.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the (a) fines and (b) other penalties for dog owners whose dogs (i) attack and (ii) kill other people.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The maximum penalty for any owner who allows their dog to be dangerously out of control is 14 years’ imprisonment where the death of a person is involved, five years’ imprisonment where a person is injured, six months’ imprisonment where no injury is caused to a person, and three years’ imprisonment for an aggravated attack on an assistance dog. All of the above offences carry the possibility of an unlimited fine. We are currently working in partnership with the police, local authorities and animal welfare organisations to ensure that the full range of existing dog control powers are effectively applied to encourage responsible dog ownership and reduce the risk of dog attacks.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department has taken to help ensure Nnamdi Kanu is not subject to capital punishment.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Court proceedings are ongoing in Nigeria regarding Mr Kanu's continued detention, and we are following these closely. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continues to provide Mr Kanu with consular support. The UK Government is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle in every country, including Nigeria. In individual consular cases we raise our oppositions to the death penalty at whichever stages we judge will be the most effective.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the legality of the continued incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Court proceedings are ongoing in Nigeria regarding Mr Kanu's continued detention, and we are following these closely. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continues to provide Mr Kanu with consular support. The UK Government is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle in every country, including Nigeria. In individual consular cases we raise our oppositions to the death penalty at whichever stages we judge will be the most effective.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make public representations to his Saudi counterpart on revoking death sentences passed on minors.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Saudi Arabia is well aware of the UK's opposition to the death penalty in all countries and in all circumstances, as a matter of principle. We regularly raise concerns about its use and Saudi Arabia is an FCDO Human Rights Priority Country, in part because of the continued use of the death penalty. The Minister for the Middle East and Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon regularly discusses a wide range of human rights issues with the Saudi authorities, most recently during the President of the Saudi Human Rights Commission's visit to the UK in September 2023. We monitor and raise all known juvenile death penalty defendant cases with the Saudi authorities, and discuss outstanding questions regarding the application of the Royal Decree of 2020. We will continue to do so.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with this Saudi counterpart about adoption of a moratorium on the death penalty.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Saudi Arabia is well aware of the UK's opposition to the death penalty in all countries and in all circumstances, as a matter of principle. We regularly raise concerns about its use and Saudi Arabia is an FCDO Human Rights Priority Country, in part because of the continued use of the death penalty. The Minister for the Middle East and Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon regularly discusses a wide range of human rights issues with the Saudi authorities, most recently during the President of the Saudi Human Rights Commission's visit to the UK in September 2023. We monitor and raise all known juvenile death penalty defendant cases with the Saudi authorities, and discuss outstanding questions regarding the application of the Royal Decree of 2020. We will continue to do so.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his Saudi counterpart on the application of a Royal Decree of 2020 on the passing of death sentences on minors.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Saudi Arabia is well aware of the UK's opposition to the death penalty in all countries and in all circumstances, as a matter of principle. We regularly raise concerns about its use and Saudi Arabia is an FCDO Human Rights Priority Country, in part because of the continued use of the death penalty. The Minister for the Middle East and Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon regularly discusses a wide range of human rights issues with the Saudi authorities, most recently during the President of the Saudi Human Rights Commission's visit to the UK in September 2023. We monitor and raise all known juvenile death penalty defendant cases with the Saudi authorities, and discuss outstanding questions regarding the application of the Royal Decree of 2020. We will continue to do so.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make representations to his Saudi counterpart on (a) the reported enforced disappearance of human rights activist Mohammed al-Qahtani, (b) releasing information on his whereabouts, (c) re-establishing his family contacts and (d) releasing him immediately.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Saudi Arabia remains an FCDO Human Rights Priority Country, in part because of the continued use of the death penalty. The UK strongly opposes the death penalty in all countries and circumstances. The Minister for the Middle East and Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon has raised these cases with the Saudi authorities. We will continue to monitor them.