Tag: Hilary Benn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 January 2016 to Question 15523, what assessment he has made of whether incidents of alleged violations of international humanitarian law in Yemen have been investigated fully by each party involved in that conflict.

Mr Philip Hammond

The UK’s support for military action is contingent on adherence to International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The Ministry of Defence monitors alleged IHL violations, using available information, which in turn informs our overall assessment of IHL compliance in Yemen. We consider a range of information from government sources, foreign governments, the media and international non-governmental organisations. We are also offering advice and training to Saudi Arabia to demonstrate best practice and to help ensure continued compliance with IHL. We are aware of reports on alleged violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) in Yemen by the Coalition and take these very seriously. We are also concerned by reports of alleged IHL violations by Houthi-Saleh and pro-government forces and again take these very seriously. The UK government has regularly raised with the Saudi Government the need to comply with IHL in Yemen and we continue to engage with them on this. I raised the issue of compliance with IHL during my October visit to Saudi Arabia. We have also raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with IHL. It is important that open and transparent investigations are conducted into all incidents where it is alleged that IHL has been breached. We welcome the public announcement by Saudi Arabia to establish a fact finding committee into the alleged airstrike on MSF mobile clinic in Taiz on 2 December.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2016 to Question 21464, what progress his Department has made on looking into reports of Saudi Arabia bombing the Iranian Embassy in Sana’a; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Hammond

From the evidence we have seen, it does not appear that a Saudi airstrike hit the Iranian Embassy in Sana’a. We continue to urge calm and are speaking with all sides to de-escalate tensions in regional affairs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether marketing standards conformity certificates issued by Israel covering consignments of fresh fruit and vegetables grown in the occupied Palestinian territories indicate that the products they cover originate in Israel.

George Eustice

The Horticultural Marketing Inspectors have no reason to believe that these certificates do not contain correct information. In 2012, the European Commission announced that their research into Israeli/Palestinian export certificates “did not reveal any evidence of non-conformity regarding the indication of the country of origin”. The Commission also reaffirmed the requirement that the origin needed to be clearly indicated whether it was Israel or an Occupied Territory.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-09.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2016 to Question 23906, if the Government will make it its policy to provide formal advice to banks or building societies offering second charge mortgages in territories outside the UK which are illegal under international law on potential financial risks of such products.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government has no plans to provide formal advice to banks or building societies offering second charge mortgages in territories outside the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK nationals work for the European External Action Service; and what proportion of the total number of employees in that service they represent.

Mr Philip Hammond

The European External Action Service (EEAS) has not published statistics on numbers of permanent staff by nationality since 2013, when a total of 133 British citizens were working for the EEAS. As of April 2015, our records show there were a total of 119 British citizens working for the European External Action Service, representing 4.8% of approximately 2500 total staff (excluding approximately 1000 local agents in Delegations) employed by the EEAS in 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 26922 and the statement with reference to genocide on 17 March 2016 by the US Secretary of State on Daesh atrocities, if he will reassess the Government’s policy on judgements as to whether genocide has occurred.

Mr Philip Hammond

The US Secretary of State is right to draw attention to the appalling crimes Daesh are committing, both against minorities groups and Muslims. We will continue to work closely with the US and our other partners in the Global Coalition to defeat Daesh and to ensure justice for those who have suffered at their hands. It is a long standing UK policy that any judgement on whether genocide has occurred should be a matter for judicial decision, rather than for governments. As Secretary of State Kerry said, “ultimately, the full facts must be brought to light by an independent investigation and through formal legal determination made by a competent court or tribunal.”

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received of human rights workers being (a) summoned for questioning, (b) banned from travelling and (c) subject to attempts to freeze their personal funds and family assets by the Egyptian authorities.

Mr Philip Hammond

We are concerned about the decreasing space for civil society to operate in Egypt, including for Non Government Organisations (NGOs). Human rights defenders have been subject to measures including questioning, travel bans and judicial applications for asset freezing against individuals and their families. I refer you to the statement made by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of Sate for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood) on 22 March. UK officials have raised our concerns with representatives from the Egyptian Government in both Cairo and London.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has received any reports of (a) violence against opposition officials, candidates and activists and (b) intimidation of journalists during the Parliamentary elections taking place in Serbia.

Mr Philip Hammond

Elections took place in Serbia on 24 April. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) deployed a 22 person election monitoring mission and we and other countries fielded additional observers. We await final reports and ODIHR’s full and thorough assessment of the fairness and conduct of yesterday’s elections.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on how many occasions his Department has requested access to post-activity operational reports of air strikes by Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

Mr Philip Hammond

The Government reviews a range of information on Saudi operations which helps inform our analysis of Saudi Arabian activity in Yemen. The UK is not a member of the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition and British military personnel are not directly involved in the Saudi led Coalition’s operations. We have deployed a small number of military personnel serving as liaison officers to Saudi headquarters to provide insight into Saudi operations. They remain under UK command and control.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff of his Department at what grades have received training on the international human rights context for freedom of religion or belief in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr Philip Hammond

Since 2010, the FCO has run an Advanced Human Rights course which has included a module on freedom of religion or belief (FORB). Approximately 160 staff from across all grades have attended this course over this period. For the vast majority of that period we have also covered FORB on our Introduction to Human Rights Course. We estimate that around 600 staff have attended this course. Training on FORB remains a core element of human rights training under the FCO’s Diplomatic Academy. In addition, we have run a course on religion and foreign policy since 2013. 188 people have completed this course since Autumn 2015.