Tag: Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the scale and frequency of human rights violations by Nigeria’s security forces in their actions against Boko Haram.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

There are credible reports that human rights violations have been committed by Nigerian security forces during its operations against Boko Haram. We welcome President Buhari’s commitment to overhaul the Nigerian armed force’s rules of engagement, to investigate credible allegations of human rights violations and to take appropriate action. We understand that there are a number of investigations currently underway. It is important that these investigations are comprehensive and credible, and we are monitoring these closely.

We regularly stress to the Nigerian authorities the importance of protecting civilians in conflict and detention, and that, whilst we support their fight against terrorism, this fight should be in full compliance with human rights standards and international law. Any member of the Nigerian security forces found to have been involved in human rights violations must be held accountable.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-10-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of international aid agencies’ efforts to support and protect their staff from sexual abuse.

Baroness Verma

Whilst we do not have a contractual obligation to have a duty of care for the staff of international aid agencies that are funded by DFID, all DFID funding is subject to DFID’s Due Diligence procedures which assess an organisation’s governance and control structure and those of their downstream partners.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-12-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what response they have made to the violence against women in South Sudan since conflict broke out in December 2013.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We remain deeply concerned by the situation in South Sudan and are responding accordingly. We are pressing the Government of Sudan to progress its commitments to tackle violence against women and raised this issue most recently with the Minister of Defence in November. The UK’s humanitarian programme has a strong focus on protection, including supporting the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence. We are also supporting projects that empower women and seek to provide justice to the most vulnerable groups, including women and girls. Additionally, the UK played a key role to ensure the new mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan has an even stronger focus on protecting civilians, including women and girls.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-02-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of calls by The Elders and other groups for changes in the composition and working of the UN Security Council in order to make it more democratic and representative.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK welcomes all contributions to the important debate on how to improve the working of the UN Security Council. We regularly re-examine our UN policies and take into consideration the views and thoughts of interested parties, including The Elders. We have long advocated expansion of the UN Security Council in order to reflect the growth in UN membership and the need for the Council to better represent the modern world. To achieve this we are in favour of new permanent seats for Japan, Germany, India and Brazil, along with permanent African representation. But we are also clear that Council reform should not make it less effective. We are also fully behind efforts to improve the workings of the Council so that it can better fulfil its function of maintaining international peace and security. It is for this reason that the UK was one of the initial signatories of the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency group’s Code of Conduct. This makes explicit the UK’s intention never to vote against credible Security Council action to end or prevent the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. It is also why we are at the forefront of efforts to improve the Council’s working methods, as demonstrated during our Presidency of the Council in November 2015 where we put the emphasis on transparency, action, and interactivity between states.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-03-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the situation of the Rohingya.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

UK officials frequently visit Rakhine State and receive regular reports about the situation of the Rohingya, which remains of grave concern. The Rohingya continue to suffer from severe restrictions on their freedom of movement, on their access to livelihoods, schools, healthcare and places of worship. The disenfranchisement of the community in the November election and removal of white card identity documents have further compounded the denial of the most basic rights of the community.

Addressing Rakhine and the persecution of the Rohingya community will be a pressing challenge for the incoming government in Burma. We will continue to work with the new administration on addressing the human rights violations carried out against the Rohingya. The UK is one of the largest bilateral donors to Rakhine providing over £18 million in humanitarian aid since 2012, including an additional £6.2 million in 2015/16.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-04-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Bangladesh about child marriage, and whether it is their policy that the revised Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 should retain the minimum age of marriage for women at 18 years age without exceptions.

Baroness Verma

We welcome the commitments made by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Girl Summit last year and in New York in September to end marriage under the age 15 by 2021 and under 18 by 2041. We expect the age of marriage to be maintained at 18.

Alongside other Donor Partners and NGOs we continue to discuss with the Government of Bangladesh our concerns regarding the legislation, including the possibility of an exception clause that might allow marriage below 18 in certain circumstances, with the aim of ensuring that the public commitments at the UK Girl Summit are maintained. Meanwhile, we are working with other parts of HMG and donor partners to press for improved implementation of policies that protect and promote the status of women and girls. Activities to tackle inequality and promote empowerment are embedded across all of our wider programmes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the credibility of investigations conducted in Nigeria into allegations of human rights violations committed by the Nigerian security forces.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

There are credible reports that human rights violations have been committed by Nigerian security forces during its operations against Boko Haram. We welcome President Buhari’s commitment to overhaul the Nigerian armed force’s rules of engagement, to investigate credible allegations of human rights violations and to take appropriate action. We understand that there are a number of investigations currently underway. It is important that these investigations are comprehensive and credible, and we are monitoring these closely.

We regularly stress to the Nigerian authorities the importance of protecting civilians in conflict and detention, and that, whilst we support their fight against terrorism, this fight should be in full compliance with human rights standards and international law. Any member of the Nigerian security forces found to have been involved in human rights violations must be held accountable.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-10-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the recent statement of the UNHCR that, under a 2003 United Kingdom–Cyprus memorandum, the United Kingdom is responsible for resettling Syrian refugees who arrive at a United Kingdom military base in Cyprus.

Lord Bates

Those migrants who seek asylum will have their claims considered by the Cypriot authorities on behalf of the Sovereign Base Authorities (SBA). There is no obligation to allow those recognised as refugees to take up residence in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2015-12-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what response they have made to the statement by the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court calling for the UN Security Council to do more to demonstrate its commitment to Darfur and to ensure that the perpetrators of past crimes are held to account.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

In response to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s report, presented to the UN Security Council on 15 December, the UK made clear that it remains fully committed to supporting UN Security Council action on Darfur. We continue to push for effective follow-up action to ensure the Court can fulfil the mandate given to it by the UN Security Council. We have also made clear to the Government of Sudan and the international community that we expect compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1593 and the Rome Statute, and execution of the arrest warrants for the ICC indictees, including President Bashir. The UK will remain active on this issue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether action on the promotion of women’s rights and social justice has been made central to the Post-2015 Development Agenda, and of whether women, as key stakeholders, are able to promote and negotiate their own development goals.

Baroness Verma

The UK was a leading voice in the Global Goals for Sustainable Development negotiations and insisted that that that these goals must start by empowering girls and women, and tackling discrimination. A key priority was to ensure a strong and explicit commitment to gender equality through a standalone goal, and further gender mainstreaming throughout the framework. These were both successfully included in the final set of global goals.