Tag: Baroness Tonge

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the level of improvement in the conditions of children in prisons in Israel since the publication in 2012 of the report by British lawyers Children in Military Custody.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) progress report of October 2013 noted that Israel has taken some positive steps towards addressing the recommendations in the 2012 report by updating the existing Standard Operating Procedures and policies in relation to the arrest of minors. These updates included changing the policy on methods of restraint and the use of blindfolds. Israel also increased the age of majority for Palestinian children. The Israeli military committed to conducting a pilot of using written summons instead of night-time arrests.

We welcome the steps taken to date, but we continue to call for further measures, including the mandatory use of audio-visual recording of interrogations, investigation into continued reports of single-hand ties being used, and an end to solitary confinement for children.

We are also funding a follow up mission by the British lawyers who conducted the report in February.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-02-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel regarding the rejection by the Knesset of the amendment proposed by MK Jamal Zahalka to include a clause on equality in Israel’s Basic Law.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We have not raised this specific issue with the Israeli authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel regarding the use of tear gas at Qitoun checkpoint against Palestinian children on their way to school.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

While we have not made any representations to the Israeli authorities on this specific issue, we consistently urge Israeli contacts against the use of excessive force.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-03-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel following reports of the Israeli navy opening fire on Palestinian fishing boats off al-Sudaniya and Gaza city, on 1 March, and what assessment they have made, if any, of the damage done on that and other occasions.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Whilst we have not raised this issue with the government of Israel, officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have expressed our concern previously over the Israel Defence Forces use of live fire against fishermen and also about the confiscation of their boats.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-03-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how to achieve legally binding targets for air pollution should the third runway at Heathrow proceed.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Airports Commission published a large amount of analysis on air quality, which included an assessment of potential impacts on limit values, in its Final Report, which is available in the libraries of the House.

In addition, as announced in December, we are testing the Airports Commission’s work on air quality against the Government’s new air quality plan, as recommended by the Environmental Audit Committee.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take in response to Israel’s Jerusalem Municipality plan to demolish Palestinian homes to make way for a tourist complex in the Silwan neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We have not raised the specific issue of demolition of Palestinian homes to make way for the Kedem Compound. We are not aware of any impending home demolitions to make way for the site.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-05-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take within the World Health Organization to ensure that targets on universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services and reproductive rights are treated on an equal footing with other targets in terms of implementation, financial support, follow-up and review.

Baroness Verma

We support the World Health Assembly resolution that proposes to review, at future World Health Assemblies, the report of the Every Woman Every Child Independent Accountability Panel. The proposed accountability mechanism will review key indicators under the strategic themes of Survive, Thrive and Transform, including those on sexual and reproductive services (including for adolescents) and including rights.

UK officials are engaged in developing the rights component of the accountability mechanism.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-05-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take to protect the Golan Heights from further Israeli settlement expansion, discriminatory policies against the native Syrian population, and the extraction of natural resources from the area.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Government regards the Golan Heights – along with East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza – as Occupied Territory. We continue to call on Israel, as the Occupying Power, to uphold its obligations under international law in the Occupied Territories, including abiding by UN Security Council Resolution 497 (1981). We have been clear that Israel must comply with its obligations under international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have made for bilateral and multilateral aid to the Palestinian Authority after the UK has left the EU.

Baroness Verma

The Prime Minister has been clear that the negotiation for Britain’s future relationship with Europe will need to begin under a new Prime Minister, and we have now got to look at all the detailed arrangements. In the meantime, Departments continue working to deliver the Government agenda.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Tonge on 2016-09-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for ending the siege of Gaza in the light of the new data released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs confirming that Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip tightened during July and the warning from the UN that Gaza will be uninhabitable by 2020.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

While we have not made any assessment on this specific issue, we remain deeply concerned by the situation in Gaza. We continue to press for urgent measures to relieve the humanitarian suffering of those in Gaza and urge donors to disburse their Gaza pledges.