Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports by UN experts on 19 February of “credible allegations of egregious human rights violations” against Palestinian women and girls in Gaza and the West Bank by Israel Defence Forces; and whether they have offered practical support for investigating these alleged crimes, and for caring for survivors and witnesses.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK condemns human rights abuses and sexual violence unequivocally and without exception. As I [Lord Ahmad] said to the UN Security Council during the 11 March debate following the release of Special Representative Pramila Patten's report, it is vital that all reports of sexual violence are fully investigated to ensure justice for all victims and survivors and perpetrators are held to account.
The FCDO continues to closely monitor the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and stands ready to further utilise our Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) expertise and tools to ensure victims and survivors of CRSV, both Israeli and Palestinian, receive the holistic and survivor-centred support they need.
Through our PSVI programmes and dedicated funding totalling £60 million since 2012, we are leading work internationally to prevent conflict-related sexual violence and strengthen justice and support for all survivors.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2024 to Question 18492 on European Court of Human Rights, what assessment the Prime Minister has made of the potential impact of the location of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on how its jurisdiction applies to (a) the country in which it is based and (b) other countries; and if he will make a comparative assessment of how the jurisdiction of the ECHR applies in (i) France and (ii) the UK.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the reply to the answer of 18 April 2024, Official Report, PQ 20335.
A clear distinction can be made between the domestic courts of the United Kingdom applying our law on one hand, and international (foreign) courts on the other, which hear cases within their often limited jurisdiction, in which at least one party is likely to be a nation state, and which are composed of international panels of judges or arbitrators applying international law, and whose rulings or opinions are often but not always final and binding.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2024 to Question 18492 on European Court of Human Rights, whether the Prime Minister considers the Tribunals of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes to be foreign tribunals when they meet in (a) Washington DC and (b) London.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the reply to the answer of 18 April 2024, Official Report, PQ 20335.
A clear distinction can be made between the domestic courts of the United Kingdom applying our law on one hand, and international (foreign) courts on the other, which hear cases within their often limited jurisdiction, in which at least one party is likely to be a nation state, and which are composed of international panels of judges or arbitrators applying international law, and whose rulings or opinions are often but not always final and binding.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2024 to Question 18492 on European Court of Human Rights, whether the Prime Minister considers the International Court of Justice to be a foreign court.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the reply to the answer of 18 April 2024, Official Report, PQ 20335.
A clear distinction can be made between the domestic courts of the United Kingdom applying our law on one hand, and international (foreign) courts on the other, which hear cases within their often limited jurisdiction, in which at least one party is likely to be a nation state, and which are composed of international panels of judges or arbitrators applying international law, and whose rulings or opinions are often but not always final and binding.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2024 to Question 18492 on European Court of Human Rights, whether the Prime Minister considers the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea to be a foreign tribunal.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the reply to the answer of 18 April 2024, Official Report, PQ 20335.
A clear distinction can be made between the domestic courts of the United Kingdom applying our law on one hand, and international (foreign) courts on the other, which hear cases within their often limited jurisdiction, in which at least one party is likely to be a nation state, and which are composed of international panels of judges or arbitrators applying international law, and whose rulings or opinions are often but not always final and binding.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2024 to Question 18492 on European Court of Human Rights, whether the Prime Minister considers the Permanent Court of Arbitration to be a foreign court.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the reply to the answer of 18 April 2024, Official Report, PQ 20335.
A clear distinction can be made between the domestic courts of the United Kingdom applying our law on one hand, and international (foreign) courts on the other, which hear cases within their often limited jurisdiction, in which at least one party is likely to be a nation state, and which are composed of international panels of judges or arbitrators applying international law, and whose rulings or opinions are often but not always final and binding.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment his Department has made of the human rights situation in Lhasa.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are concerned about human rights violations in Lhasa and Tibet more widely, including restrictions on freedom of religion or belief and on freedom of assembly and association, reports of forced labour, and reports that boarding schools are being used to assimilate Tibetan children into Han culture.
The UK Government consistently raises human rights issues with the Chinese authorities - the Foreign Secretary did so in February in a meeting with China's Foreign Minister. We also regularly raise Tibet in multilateral fora, for example, in January at China's Universal Periodic Review, and on 20 March as part of our Item 4 statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
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 implications for his polices of the Ugandan Constitutional Court’s decision to decline to nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK Government is appalled that the Government of Uganda has signed the deeply discriminatory Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023 into law.
It has increased violence and discrimination against LGBT+ people and is part of a wider roll-back of human rights. The Foreign Secretary and I [Minister Mitchell] commented to this effect on 3 April, following the Ugandan Constitutional Court's judgment. I [Minister Mitchell] met the Ugandan Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs on 3 April, underlining the importance of ensuring that people are free from persecution, regardless of sexuality. We will continue to support the human rights of LGBT+ people, and all Ugandans.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
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 effectiveness of international coordination on supporting (a) peace, (b) human rights and (c) democracy in Sudan.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is working with a wide range of partners, including Gulf and African countries, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the African Union and the UN, to take forward a sustained and meaningful peace process that leads to the resumption of civilian rule in Sudan. We continue to support mediation efforts and urge both warring parties to engage constructively to secure a ceasefire and ensure humanitarian access.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2024 to Question 18492 on European Court of Human Rights, whether he considers the International Criminal Court to be a foreign court.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The clue is in the name.