Tag: Lord Alton of Liverpool

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-07-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last raised with the government of Pakistan the issues of (1) the honour killing of women, (2) the exclusion of minority communities from full citizenship, and (3) the imprisonment of citizens under the blasphemy laws; and what response they received.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We remain concerned by ongoing reports of so-called honour killings, the persecution of minority communities and the misuse of blasphemy laws in Pakistan. We regularly raise human rights with the Government of Pakistan. The former Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), pressed Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all its citizens during his visit to Islamabad in March. He also attended an event to stimulate debate about honour killings. It is encouraging that Pakistan has enacted laws to protect religious minorities. We urge Pakistan to implement this legislation, uphold the rule of law and ensure the rights of all citizens are respected regardless of gender, ethnicity or religious belief.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-09-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the findings and recommendations in the report published in June by the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, The Darkest Moment: The Crackdown on Human Rights in China 2013–2016.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

My officials and I have read the report with interest. Although the Government was not asked to give evidence to it and the views stated within it do not reflect Government policy, there is much in the report with which we agree. We are already pursuing an approach consistent with many of the recommendations. For example my ministerial colleagues and I regularly raise concerns about the crackdown on human rights lawyers, repressive legislation, and challenges to freedom of religion or belief. Equally, there are parts of the report which require further investigation to substantiate the claims made, for instance about organ harvesting.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Amnesty International report on the use of chemical weapons in Darfur; whether they intend to ask the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to open an investigation; and what representations they have made, or plan to make, to the Sudanese Ambassador to London in the light of that report.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are concerned by the allegations of the use of chemical weapons in Sudan and we are aware that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is looking into these. The use of chemical weapons under any circumstances is contrary to international law and we wholly condemned it. We were also concerned to read the other allegations made in the Amnesty International report, which highlight the need for access to conflict-affected areas. We see ensuring access for the UN/AU Peacekeeping Mission throughout Darfur as the most important next step and have raised this in the context of the report with the Sudanese in London, Khartoum and New York.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) internally displaced persons, and (2) refugees from other countries, there are in Sudan.

Lord Bates

According to figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there are a total of 3.2 million internally displaced people in Sudan, of which 2.6 million are long term displaced in Darfur alone (as stated in the attached).

OCHA also estimates that Sudan hosts a total of 386,283 refugees from neighbouring countries.

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 what steps they have taken to respond to North Korea’s most recent nuclear test.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on 6 January was a serious violation of UN Security Council resolutions. Following the test, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), issued a Written Ministerial Statement on 13 January strongly condemning the nuclear test as a grave breach of UN Security Council resolutions. The Foreign Secretary is also in close contact with our key allies and partners to press for a robust international response. The UK, in conjunction with other members, is currently working on a new UN Security Council Resolution to include further significant measures.

On 7 January, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), summoned the DPRK Ambassador to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. During this meeting, Mr Swire made clear to the Ambassador the UK’s firm condemnation of his country’s nuclear test and instructed him to make clear to the authorities in Pyongyang that the DPRK risked increasing isolation and further action by the international community unless it followed a different path.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 22 January (HL4827), what assessment they have made of the capacity of the United Nations Special Advisers on the Prevention of Genocide and on the Responsibility to Protect, to investigate and bring to justice those responsible for genocide against Yazidis and Christians.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The role of the UN Office of the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide is to raise awareness of the causes and dynamics of genocide, to alert relevant actors where there is a risk of genocide, and to advocate and mobilise for appropriate action. The role of the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect is to lead the conceptual, political, institutional and operational development of the Responsibility to Protect. They are not mandated to carry out criminal/judicial investigations, and therefore the British Government has made no assessment of their capacity to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-02-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 27 January (HL5039), what evidence the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has received that a major cause of miscarriage is the failure of embryos to develop to the blastocyst stage; what records they hold regarding miscarriages occurring after human embryos that were known to be unable to develop further in vitro had been deliberately transferred to the uterus of a patient; and what sanctions are imposed on clinics in which such implantations take place.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has not received any such evidence. With regards the role of the HFEA in granting a research licence, its role is to ensure that any project fulfils one of the purposed set out below:

– Increasing knowledge about serious disease or other serious conditions.

– Developing treatments for serious diseases or other serious medical conditions.

– Increasing knowledge about the causes of congenital diseases.

– Promoting the advances in the treatment of infertility.

– Increasing knowledge about the causes of miscarriages.

– Developing more efficient techniques of contraception.

– Developing methods for detecting gene, chromosome or mitochondrion abnormalities in embryos before implantation.

– Increasing knowledge about the development of embryos.