Tag: Lord Alton of Liverpool

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what procedures they have in place to identify the occurrence of genocide for the purposes of fulfilling their obligations as a contracting party under Article VIII of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide 1948; and whether there is a protocol in place to guide those procedures.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UK is party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 1948 which requires that we prevent and punish the crime of genocide in our jurisdiction. As a State Party to the International Criminal Court Statute (ICC), the UK has made it a domestic crime to commit any of the crimes in the ICC Statute, including genocide. Where such crimes take place in the UK, or are committed by UK nationals, they can be prosecuted before the UK courts. Responsibility for investigation and prosecution in the UK lies with the Crown Prosecution Service and the Police.

Our seat on the UN Security Council means that the UK is able to swiftly engage where a threat of atrocity crimes emerges. The form of that engagement depends on the particulars of any individual situation. Where prevention has failed, it is the international community’s responsibility to take collective action, through diplomatic, humanitarian and other means. Where timely and decisive action to end, or prevent, the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes is necessary, the UK is active in calling for UN action. However, the Government believes that formal recognition that genocide has been committed is ultimately a matter for the courts, not political bodies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-07-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 7 July (HL830), what prevents Genomic England from sharing all 8,408 genomes in the rare disease and all 1,671 cancer genomes programmes with the relevant commercial interpretation partners to accelerate the delivery of full reports back to patients.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The interpretation of a genome for clinical purposes requires high quality genomic and clinical data. Genomics England is expanding the access to genome data by clinical interpretation partners at an appropriate rate to avoid exceeding their capacity. This is to ensure there are interpretation services that are sustainable for the remainder of the project.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-09-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, following North Korea’s launch of three ballistic missiles on 5 September, the UN Security Council will be convened to consider the implications of that launch and an international response.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UN Security Council (UNSC) met on 6 September to discuss a response to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) ballistic missiles launches on 5 September. The UNSC subsequently issued a statement condemning these launches as a flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolutions. The UK strongly supports this statement, as we have with previous UNSC statements condemning DPRK provocations in 2016. We will continue to discuss at the UNSC, and with close partners, further measures in response to the DPRK’s destabilising and provocative actions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 11 May (HL8212), what steps they are taking to ensure that the human rights of Christian pastors in Sudan are protected, in the light of the ongoing detention of Reverend Hasan Kodi Taour.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are aware that the four men in question remain in detention. Officials from our Embassy in Khartoum were present in court to observe the most recent hearing on 26 September, and are in close contact with the lawyers representing the defendants. We regularly raise our concerns over this case with the government of Sudan, most recently during the visit of the UK Special Representative for Sudan and South Sudan to Khartoum in September. We will continue to monitor this case closely.

More widely, freedom of religion or belief remains a consistent theme in our ongoing human rights dialogue with the government of Sudan. We consistently call on them to ensure all legislation is consistent with the commitment to their citizens in the Interim Constitution of 2005, within which religious freedom is enshrined.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of deaths caused by the naval blockade of Yemeni ports; and what part the UK has played in that blockade.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

There is no blockade, although some measures were put in place to prevent the flow of arms to Yemen. We welcomed the Government of Yemen’s announcement in October 2015 that all of Yemen’s ports were open.

It is vital that commercial shipments of food and fuel enter the country to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis. That is why the Department for International Development is providing £1.42 million to support the establishment of the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM), which became operational on 5 May. It is successfully verifying, and where necessary inspecting, ships in line with UNSCR 2216 (2015). This should speed up the clearance process for ships and improve commercial confidence, increasing supply and in turn aiming to reduce the price of basic goods. We call on all parties to facilitate and respect the operation of UNVIM.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made, if any, of who was responsible for the recent heavy missile attack on Camp Liberty.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We strongly condemn the shameful attack against the civilian residents of Camp Liberty in Iraq on Thursday 29 October. Officials from our Embassy in Baghdad raised the attack with the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office on Friday 30 October and made clear the importance of an urgent and comprehensive investigation into the incident and ensuring that all those responsible are brought to justice.

It is not clear at this stage who carried out the attack. Iraqi militia, the al-Mukhtar Army, has claimed responsibility, but we are unable to verify this claim.

In all of our engagement with the Government of Iraq on this issue, including at Ministerial level and in our Statements, we have emphasised the importance of the Iraqi government doing everything possible to ensure the safety of the residents of Camp Liberty. We support UN calls for more to be done to protect the residents.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-11-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with EU member states and other European countries about the implementation of targeted human rights sanctions against named North Korean officials who are suspected of committing crimes against humanity.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We remain in close contact with other EU member states regarding our concerns over the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). These include discussion on how we can address concerns over the DPRK’s nuclear programme and how we can improve the DPRK’s appalling human rights record. During our meetings we have discussed the full range of measures at our disposal including the option of targeted human rights sanctions against DPRK officials. We will always carefully consider the impact and benefits of sanctions measures before they are imposed. These considerations include our ability to defend the legality of the sanctions should they be challenged under EU law and the likelihood of achieving our objective of improved human rights for North Koreans.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-12-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 7 December (HL4065), whether they are in the process of submitting evidence of genocide against Yazidis and Assyrian Christians to international courts, and if so, which ones; when the international courts last declared a genocide to have taken place; and when the international courts last initiated a trial for genocide, and against whom.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are not submitting any evidence of possible genocide against Yezidis and Christians to international courts, nor have we been asked to.

The most recent occasion on which an international court found genocide to have occurred was on 10 June 2010, when the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted several of the accused in the Prosecutor v. Popović et al. case for either committing, conspiracy to commit, or aiding and abetting, genocide in and around Srebrenica and Žepa in 1995. These convictions were subsequently upheld by the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY on 30 January 2015.

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) initiated a trial against Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, two former Khmer Republic senior officials, which remains ongoing, and includes charges of genocide against the Cham and Vietnamese people. Evidence relating to the genocide charges began being heard on 7 September 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to declare ISIS’s actions against Christians and Yazidis a genocide.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The British Government has received a number of recent representations on these issues from Parliament and members of the public and is responding in writing.

We condemn in the strongest possible terms the atrocities committed by Daesh against all civilians, including Christians, Mandeans, Yazidis, and other minorities, as well as the majority Muslim population who continue to bear the brunt of Daesh’s brutality. The UK has led efforts within the UN to tackle and condemn Daesh and on the protection of civilians more widely. For example, we co-sponsored the UN Human Rights Council Resolution mandating the UN to investigate and report on Daesh abuses.

It is a long-standing Government policy that any judgements on whether genocide has occurred are a matter for the international judicial system rather than governments or other non-judicial bodies.

Ultimately, the only way to protect Christians, Yazidis and other minorities in the region from Daesh is by defeating this terrible organisation, which in turn requires, amongst other things, ending the conflict in Syria. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), set out the UK’s comprehensive strategy for defeating Daesh and finding a political settlement to the Syria conflict in his response to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 26 November 2015.

The joint Office of the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect (the Office) are engaged with these issues and publish much of their activity online, including statements in relation to the situation of Christians and other minorities in Syria and Iraq. Our officials maintain regular contact with officials from the Office to discuss issues related to the prevention of genocide and mass atrocities. The Government provides funding for the Office, including for their work with religious leaders and faith based organisations in the Middle East and North Africa region, aimed at the prevention of incitement to violence that could lead to atrocity crimes.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for providing unmonitored mobile and internet communications to the people of North Korea as a contribution to breaking that country’s information blockade.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The provision of mobile and electronic communications are strictly controlled by the North Korean government. Supplying the population with mobile and internet equipment would require the consent and cooperation of the regime. Establishing an alternative system without the agreement of the North Korea government could be viewed as a violation of local laws; all our Missions overseas must abide by the law of their host countries and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. We regularly raise human rights concerns and freedom of expression.