Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

155470

registered interest
date	11/11/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Central African Republic
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what (a) technical and (b) financial assistance the UK plans to provide to the Central African Republic for disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration.
tabling member constituency	Congleton
tabling member printed	Fiona Bruce
uin	214361
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/11/2014 answer text <p>The UN Mission to the Central African Republic (CAR), MINUSCA, assumed responsibility for peacekeeping in CAR on 15 September. MINUSCA is funded from the UN’s Peacekeeping Budget, to which the UK is a significant contributor.</p><p>The mission’s mandate specifies that it should provide “support for the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former armed elements, with specific attention to children, and the repatriation of foreign elements, as well as community violence-reduction programmes”. However, the Mission remains in its early stages and has faced operational challenges due to high levels of violence across the country. Once security improves, and staff numbers increase, the UN will, with the support of the international community, begin to take forward work aimed at disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) of rebel fighters.</p><p>We remain in regular contact with the MINUSCA leadership. An experienced Foreign and Commonwealth diplomat, Diane Corner, started as the UN Secretary General’s Deputy Special Representative to MINUSCA on 1 September.</p> answering member constituency Rochford and Southend East answering member printed James Duddridge grouped question UIN 214362 question first answered 18/11/2014 16:15:31 answering member 1559 label Biography information for Sir James Duddridge
tabling member	3958 label Biography information for Fiona Bruce

155480

registered interest
date	11/11/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Iran
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the issues of human rights and religious liberty in Iran were raised by Ministers and officials of his Department in their recent discussions with their counterparts in that country.
tabling member constituency	Congleton
tabling member printed	Fiona Bruce
uin	214233
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/11/2014 answer text <p>The UK most recently raised our concerns about the human rights situation in Iran, including the rights of religious minorities, with the Iranian Government during Iran’s Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council on 31 October.</p> answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood question first answered 18/11/2014 14:11:09 answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood
tabling member	3958 label Biography information for Fiona Bruce

114653

registered interest
date	05/11/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	North Korea
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to implement Recommendation 1224 of the report from the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (A/HRC/ 25/ CRP.1), in light of paragraph 39 of the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (A/HRC/26/43).
tabling member constituency	Congleton
tabling member printed	Fiona Bruce
uin	213481
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2014 answer text <p>Paragraph 1224 of the Commission of Inquiry’s report (A/HRC/25/CRP.1) recommends that states and others should provide more support for the work of civil society organisations to improve the human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), including efforts to document violations and to broadcast accessible information into each country. In paragraph 39 of his June 2014 report (A/HRC/26/43) the Special Rapporteur notes that the Human Rights Council called on all parties concerned, including United Nations bodies, to consider implementation of the recommendations made by the Commission of Inquiry. The Rapporteur also says that he interprets “all parties concerned” as all-encompassing.</p><p>The UK does not disagree with this interpretation, but it is clear that different parties will have different roles with regard to individual recommendations.</p><p>The UK has previously funded projects related to the documentation of violations that have been implemented by civil society organisations based in South Korea and we remain open to funding similar projects in the future. We have also worked with international non-governmental organisations and the DPRK’s Korean Federation for the Protection of the Disabled (KFPD) for example to improve the treatment of disabled people in the DPRK. This complements wider international efforts, like those of the US who support broadcasts into the DPRK.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Devon answering member printed Mr Hugo Swire question first answered 17/11/2014 15:31:02 answering member 1408 label Biography information for Lord Swire
tabling member	3958 label Biography information for Fiona Bruce

114782

registered interest
date	05/11/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Iran
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether (a) officials and (b) Ministers in his Department have raised the cases of Farshid Fathi, Behnam Irani, Shahin Lahouti and other Christians imprisoned for their faith in Iran when in conversations with representatives of the Iranian government.
tabling member constituency	Congleton
tabling member printed	Fiona Bruce
uin	213478
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/11/2014 answer text <p>We have not raised these cases directly with the Iranian Government, however we remain deeply concerned by the detention and ill treatment of all prisoners of conscience in Iran, and the ongoing discrimination against Christians and other minority religious groups. We have called for the Iranian government to protect the rights of all minority groups in Iran and end the persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith, most recently during our representations to the United Nations Human Rights Council during the Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights in Iran on 31 October.</p> answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood question first answered 11/11/2014 14:58:36 answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood
tabling member	3958 label Biography information for Fiona Bruce

114784

registered interest
date	05/11/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Iran
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to encourage the Iranian government to fulfil its obligations to uphold religious freedoms under Article 18 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
tabling member constituency	Congleton
tabling member printed	Fiona Bruce
uin	213479
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/11/2014 answer text We remain deeply concerned by the detention and ill treatment of all prisoners of conscience in Iran, and the ongoing discrimination against Christians and other minority religious groups. We have called for the Iranian government to protect the rights of all minority groups in Iran and end the persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith, most recently during our representations to the United Nations Human Rights Council during the Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights in Iran on 31 October. answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood question first answered 11/11/2014 15:06:00 answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood
tabling member	3958 label Biography information for Fiona Bruce

99832

registered interest
date	20/10/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	North Korea
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure the findings and recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are submitted to the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court; and what further steps his Department has taken pursuant to the findings of that inquiry.
tabling member constituency	Congleton
tabling member printed	Fiona Bruce
uin	211190
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is not a State Party to the International Criminal Court, so it has no jurisdiction in the absence of a UN Security Council resolution. The UK worked with the EU and likeminded partners to ensure a strong DPRK resolution at the March UN Human Rights Council, including a call for the UN General Assembly to submit the report of the Commission of Inquiry to the UN Security Council for its consideration and appropriate action. In April, we and other Security Council members took part in an informal public “Arria” briefing by the Commission of the Inquiry.</p><p>The UK has also played an active role in raising human rights violations in the DPRK in other meaningful ways. For example, in May we raised the need for a continued focus on human rights during a UN Security Council Sanctions Committee and in June I visited Geneva, where I took part in an Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the DPRK, Mr Mazuki Darusman and raised the importance of DPRK human rights with the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.</p><p>In addition to recommendations on accountability, the Commission of Inquiry made a number of recommendations with regard to human rights dialogue and people-to-people contact. Through our Embassy in Pyongyang and the DPRK Embassy in London the UK continues to support activity in both these areas.</p> answering member constituency East Devon answering member printed Mr Hugo Swire question first answered 27/10/2014 14:53:47 answering member 1408 label Biography information for Lord Swire
tabling member	3958 label Biography information for Fiona Bruce

99842

registered interest
date	20/10/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	North Korea
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the North Korean Ambassador to the UK on the North Korean government's acceptance of the recommendations of its recent Universal Periodic Review.
tabling member constituency	Congleton
tabling member printed	Fiona Bruce
uin	211098
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2014 answer text <p>Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Ministers have had no substantive meetings with the North Korean Ambassador to the UK since the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in May 2014, although senior FCO officials have met with the Ambassador to discuss a range of subjects. Following the adoption of the DPRK’s Universal Periodic Review report in September 2014 the United Kingdom issued a statement via our Mission in Geneva welcoming the DPRK’s engagement. We urged the DPRK to fulfil the commitment it made to respond to the 185 recommendations which it agreed to examine, and to take concrete steps to implement all the UPR recommendations. It remains of serious concern that 83 UPR recommendations did not enjoy the support of the DPRK, particularly those related to the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry, co-operation with the Special Rapporteur, the treatment of political prisoners and closure of political prison camps.</p> answering member constituency East Devon answering member printed Mr Hugo Swire question first answered 23/10/2014 16:07:03 answering member 1408 label Biography information for Lord Swire
tabling member	3958 label Biography information for Fiona Bruce

99844

registered interest
date	20/10/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	North Korea
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that UK manufacturing products are not used as components in North Korean produced weapons.
tabling member constituency	Congleton
tabling member printed	Fiona Bruce
uin	211097
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2014 answer text <p>North Korea is currently subject to sanctions imposed by the UN and EU. These measures include an asset freeze, travel ban and an extensive embargo which prohibits the export of arms, dual-use goods, and luxury goods and imposes restrictions on the export of other listed items which could contribute to nuclear or ballistic missile programmes. All export licence applications are assessed against the consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, considering the prevailing circumstances at the time of the application, including the capabilities of the equipment, and the end user. A licence would not be granted if to do so would be a breach of our international obligations or we assessed there was an unacceptable risk of diversion to a WMD programme or to a military programme in an embargoed destination. However, it is impossible to completely prevent non-listed items manufactured in the UK being used in North Korean produced weapons, for example if items are legitimately exported from the UK to third countries but are subsequently sold to entities in the DPRK. For this reason the UK is also active in encouraging other countries to enforce DPRK sanctions more effectively. HMRC works together with Border Force to enforce export controls and trade sanctions and they have a range of powers available to prevent illicit exports. Enforcing sanctions is a high priority.</p> answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood question first answered 23/10/2014 14:56:13 answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood
tabling member	3958 label Biography information for Fiona Bruce

99847

registered interest
date	20/10/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	North Korea
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if the Government will consider implementing sanctions against individuals and entities suspected of perpetrating crimes against humanity, as detailed in the UN Commission of Inquiry on North Korea.
tabling member constituency	Congleton
tabling member printed	Fiona Bruce
uin	211128
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p>The UN Commission of Inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) recommended the introduction by the UN Security Council of targeted sanctions on human rights grounds. Existing UN and EU sanctions against the DPRK are based on UN Security Council Resolutions prohibiting the further development of the DPRK's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. They target goods and activities that support those programmes, and individuals and organisations, both inside and outside the DPRK, who have acted in breach of these Resolutions. <br><br>Any introduction of sanctions on human rights grounds would require the establishment of a new sanctions regime. The UK would want any new sanctions proposals to have a clear impact on the human rights situation in North Korea without any unintended negative effect on the general population. Any sanctions against individuals or organisations would also have to meet the strict requirements established in recent legal cases where sanctions have been successfully challenged in the UK and European courts.</p> answering member constituency East Devon answering member printed Mr Hugo Swire question first answered 27/10/2014 14:23:44 answering member 1408 label Biography information for Lord Swire
tabling member	3958 label Biography information for Fiona Bruce

91020

registered interest
date	08/09/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	North Korea: Human Rights
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has requested the EU to implement targeted sanctions against people and organisations named in the UN Commission of Inquiry report on North Korea as being responsible for human rights violations in North Korea; and if he will discuss with his ministerial colleagues implementing sanctions in the event that the EU does not do so.
tabling member constituency	Congleton
tabling member printed	Fiona Bruce
uin	208489
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2014 answer text <p>We meet regularly with other EU member states to discuss how we can collectively press for substantial change in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). In June, I personally met representatives from the EU, France, United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea to discuss ways in which accountability toward the DPRK can be improved. An EU imposed targeted sanctions regime against individuals and organisations named in the UN Commission of Inquiry report has not been requested as it is not clear this will lead to improvements in the human rights situation. However, the UK will continue to work closely with the EU and other partners to ensure focus is maintained on improving the human rights situation in the DPRK. We intend to work for a strong, well supported resolution in the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee.</p> answering member constituency East Devon answering member printed Mr Hugo Swire question first answered 13/10/2014 14:22:04 answering member 1408 label Biography information for Lord Swire
tabling member	3958 label Biography information for Fiona Bruce