Tag: Lord Alton of Liverpool

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will commission an assessment of the implications for the mental and physical health of children conceived through the use of sperm from prolific, unregulated donors, and whether they intend to review the regulation of sperm donation.

Lord Prior of Brampton

According to media reports, this particular case concerns private arrangements made between individual women seeking sperm for home insemination and the man providing the sperm. There is no third party involved. Such private arrangements between a man and a woman are not regulated. We understand that there is also no evidence to support the claim of up to 800 children having been born.

It is important that women seeking sperm donation treatment fully understand the benefits of using clinics licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 22 January (HL4827), in the light of the statements of the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, in their press releases on Islamophobia (Dec 2015), some religious leaders’ incitement to Holy War (Sept 2015), bombing by the Assad regime (June 2015), and concerns about people caught in Yarmouk (April 2015), where their statements about the murder, abduction, enslavement and genocide of Christians and Yazidis appear.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Statements made by the Office of the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect are published on the UN website.

The statements cover a range of issues including incitement to violence in Syria on religious grounds; urging against rhetoric that escalates the risk of violence against religious communities; expressing concern about the on-going threat to the safety of minority groups in Syria; expressing outrage at speeches and media articles that dehumanise Alawites and Christians; expressing alarm at reports of the abduction of 1,500 Yazidi, Christian and Shabak women and girls; expressing concern at the situation of religious and other minorities, noting that members of the Christian community were fleeing the northern city of Mosul following the Daesh-led invasion; urging leaders in the wider region to refrain from using or condoning any language that may escalate sectarian tension; calling on all actors to condemn hate speech that could constitute incitement to violence against communities based on their religious affiliation.

The complete statements are attached to this response, and the link to the website is provided below for your ease of reference: http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/statements.shtml

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ministries’ representatives the British Embassy in Pyongyang has met since the release of the report of the UN Commission of Inquiry on 7 February 2014.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Our Embassy in Pyongyang has met with a number of officials from various Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) ministries since 7 February 2014. These meetings are part of normal diplomatic business and play a crucial role in our policy of critical engagement with the DPRK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-03-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made at the UN Security Council in drafting a new Resolution on sanctions against North Korea, in particular to require that (1) in stemming the flow of illicit goods, UN member states conduct mandatory inspections of all cargo passing through their territory to or from North Korea; (2) member states freeze the assets of North Korean entities linked to Pyongyang’s nuclear or missile programmes; and (3) the opening of new branches or offices of North Korean banks, or the engagement with North Korean banks, is prohibited.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2270 on 2 March 2016 in response to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear test of 6 January 2016 and subsequent satellite launch, which used ballistic missile technology, of 7 February 2016.

The Government welcomes this Resolution, which was agreed unanimously. This is a clear demonstration that the international community is prepared to take tough measures in response to the North Korea’s repeated violations of UN Security Council Resolutions.

The Resolution contains a comprehensive set of measures aimed at tackling DPRK’s illicit proliferation. These include a ban on the export of coal, titanium, gold and other specialist metals which finance North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. In addition to this, all states are now required to conduct inspections of DPRK flagged vessels, and small arms and light weapons are included in the arms embargo.

UN Member States are obliged to freeze the assets of companies and entities linked to North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programme. The Resolution also bans DPRK banks and their subsidiaries from opening new branches overseas and prohibits financial institutions from establishing any joint ventures with these banks.

We urge all states to ensure these measures are implemented and all obligations under previous UN Security Council Resolutions are enforced.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mr Hugo Swire, on 25 February (HC27824), how many joint UK-China projects to counter the human trafficking of North Koreans have taken place in the past three years; what the objectives were of those projects; and what their outcomes were.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We have not supported any joint UK-China projects to counter the trafficking of North Koreans in the past three years. Our Embassy in China continues to fund projects to prevent trafficking in general, and we are currently funding a project involving an international non-governmental organisation to address the issue of child trafficking. We also continue to work with the Chinese authorities to prevent Chinese nationals being trafficked to the UK.

As the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), said in his reply of 25 February, we regularly discuss the range of issues on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with China, and we will seek to include this issue in the next round of the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they consider the impact to be of the displacement of people within Darfur on the legitimacy of the referendum taking place between 11 and 13 April.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We remain concerned by the timing of the Darfur referendum due to ongoing violence and the absence of a peace agreement. The continued fighting and level of civilian displacement in Jebel Marra is particularly troubling, and brings in to question the viability of holding the referendum at this time. We have raised such concerns with the Government of Sudan. We have also pressed for full humanitarian access to be granted, including at the UN Security Council and bilaterally as part our recent strategic dialogue with the Government of Sudan, led by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Africa Director. Officials from our Embassy in Khartoum are monitoring the situation closely.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have assessed the evidence that ISIS have sold Yazidi women to Saudi Arabians, and what representations they have made to the government of Saudi Arabia about recovering them.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We maintain a close dialogue with Saudi Arabia on Counter Terrorism issues. We have seen no evidence of Saudi Foreign Terrorist Fighters trafficking Daesh sex slaves to Saudi Arabia.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the treatment of Christians in Sudan, in the light of the arrests and continuing detention of Telahoon Nogosi Kassa Rata and Hassan Abduraheem Kodi Taour.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Freedom of religion or belief in Sudan continues to be an area of deep concern. We have consistently called on the Government of Sudan to ensure all legislation is consistent with the Interim Constitution of 2005; within which religious freedom is enshrined. We regularly attend court cases in Sudan on freedom of religion or belief and through our project work we also seek to support lawyers who take on cases addressing important human rights issues.

Our Ambassador in Khartoum raised the specific cases of Mr Talahon and Reverend Hassan with the Minister of Guidance and Religious Endowments and the Sudanese Director of Church Affairs in February. We also raised this issue with the Sudanese Director of Human Rights during the UK-Sudan bilateral talks in March, and again with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in April. Furthermore, we continue to raise concerns about the scope of the National Security Act (2010) and the powers it gives the National Intelligence and Security Service. Most recently, we highlighted this issue in our statement at Sudan’s Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council on 4 May. We will remain active on these issues.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-06-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) about reports that uranium from the DRC has been sold to North Korea.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

As the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), set out in his Written Ministerial Statement of 8 March, which I repeated in the House of Lords the same day [HLWS571], the Government remains deeply concerned by North Korea’s continued development of its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, and its sustained prioritisation of these programmes over the well-being of its own people. All states are obliged to abide by UN Security Council resolutions prohibiting uranium transfers to North Korea. We would take any credible reports of such transfers from anywhere in the world very seriously. We have not engaged with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo on this issue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that ISIS has (1) executed five activists who had been collecting evidence of ISIS genocide and crimes against humanity, (2) murdered the editor of Hentah, and (3) wounded the founder of the Syrian news site Eye on the Homeland; and what discussions they have held with the government of Turkey about bringing to justice those responsible for those crimes.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are aware of these reports, which appear to be further examples of Daesh crimes in the region. The Government continues to support the collection of evidence against Daesh and pays tribute to those risking their lives to document its atrocities. We are working tirelessly with our Coalition partners, including Turkey, to defeat Daesh and ensure that those responsible for committing atrocities are held to account.