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1167349

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
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	Ukraine: Hate Crime
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of hate crime investigations in Ukraine; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North East
tabling member printed	Fabian Hamilton
uin	7637
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The United Kingdom remains committed to working closely with the government of Ukraine, our international partners and local agencies to support efforts to report, investigate and reduce incidences of hate crime.</p> answering member constituency Tamworth answering member printed Christopher Pincher question first answered 04/11/2019 17:43:36 answering member 4075 label Biography information for Christopher Pincher
tabling member	415 label Biography information for Fabian Hamilton

1167378

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
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	South Sudan: Money Laundering
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his (a) Kenyan, (b) Ugandan and (c) South Sudanese counterparts on preventing money-laundering and profiteering by the South Sudanese elite.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	7752
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>​Illicit finance is a driver of destabilisation, poor governance and conflict. In South Sudan this leads to resources being diverted that could be used to support peace process implementation and end the suffering of the people of South Sudan. We encourage the region to address weaknesses in their financial systems that provide channels for illicit finance, including in relation to South Sudan. In January the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, HM Treasury and Home Office Ministers wrote to their Kenyan and Ugandan counterparts outlining UK concerns, as well as offering practical support to help ensure robust systems are in place to deter corruption and illicit financial flows. The UK has also deployed technical expertise from both the National Crime Agency and Department for International Development to ensure Kenya’s compliance with Financial Action Task Force standards that can help to address the illicit financial flows in the region. British officials in Juba also frequently engage with the South Sudanese Ministry of Finance to ensure its spending is in line with its approved budget and to urge transparency and accountability in line with the provisions of the 12 September 2018 Peace Agreement.</p> answering member constituency Pendle answering member printed Andrew Stephenson question first answered 04/11/2019 14:56:13 answering member 4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1167390

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
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	Diplomatic Service: War Crimes
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department takes steps to ensure that the credentials of foreign diplomats posted to the UK do not have military records linking those diplomats to suspected war crimes.
tabling member constituency	Rotherham
tabling member printed	Sarah Champion
uin	7692
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>Diplomatic agents, Administrative and Technical (A&amp;T) and service staff posted to foreign diplomatic missions in the UK are appointed freely by sending States in line with Article 7 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR). Heads of Mission and Defence Attaché positions require the UK's express agreement prior to arriving. This process confirms, or otherwise, the acceptability of a Head of Mission or a Defence Attaché. Comparable arrangements are in place for consular staff appointed to the UK under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), under which HMG requires prior agreement for Heads of consular posts.</p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler question first answered 04/11/2019 15:25:09 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
tabling member	4267 label Biography information for Sarah Champion

1167393

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
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	Sri Lanka: Armed Forces
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of undertaking an independent audit of the adequacy of the UK’s security sector reform program in Sri Lanka.
tabling member constituency	Rotherham
tabling member printed	Sarah Champion
uin	7695
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>UK support to security sector development in Sri Lanka is an integrated part of our post-conflict approach to building lasting stability and accountability. We have a long-standing partnership with the Sri Lanka police service where we provide training and support designed to enhance their community policing capacity. We are also engaged in discrete activities involving the military and wider security sector which are designed to to support the Sri Lankan military to adapt and modernise, in particular to be more professional and accountable. As most of this activity is delivered via the Conflict Security and Stability Fund which conducts regular monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the programme, we assess that an independent audit is not required. All CSSF programmes are subject to rigorous annual reviews, which are conducted by an expert team including at least one person who is independent from the programme. Annual review summaries for the Sri Lanka programme are published on gov.uk.</p><p>Following the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks that killed more than 250 people, the then Minister of State for Security visited Sri Lanka to demonstrate solidarity, and to offer UK assistance in countering terrorism and violent extremism. We continue to engage with the Sri Lankan authorities and other international partners on where UK support would be most helpful. All UK security sector assistance is subject to robust Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) assessments that analyse the potential human rights, international humanitarian law, political and reputational risks of any proposed assistance to ensure that it supports our values and is consistent with our domestic and international human rights obligations.</p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler grouped question UIN 7696 question first answered 04/11/2019 17:30:01 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
tabling member	4267 label Biography information for Sarah Champion

1167394

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
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	Sri Lanka: Terrorism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his assessment is of the level of compliance with human rights law of the UK's security assistance to Sri Lanka after the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
tabling member constituency	Rotherham
tabling member printed	Sarah Champion
uin	7696
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>UK support to security sector development in Sri Lanka is an integrated part of our post-conflict approach to building lasting stability and accountability. We have a long-standing partnership with the Sri Lanka police service where we provide training and support designed to enhance their community policing capacity. We are also engaged in discrete activities involving the military and wider security sector which are designed to to support the Sri Lankan military to adapt and modernise, in particular to be more professional and accountable. As most of this activity is delivered via the Conflict Security and Stability Fund which conducts regular monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the programme, we assess that an independent audit is not required. All CSSF programmes are subject to rigorous annual reviews, which are conducted by an expert team including at least one person who is independent from the programme. Annual review summaries for the Sri Lanka programme are published on gov.uk.</p><p>Following the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks that killed more than 250 people, the then Minister of State for Security visited Sri Lanka to demonstrate solidarity, and to offer UK assistance in countering terrorism and violent extremism. We continue to engage with the Sri Lankan authorities and other international partners on where UK support would be most helpful. All UK security sector assistance is subject to robust Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) assessments that analyse the potential human rights, international humanitarian law, political and reputational risks of any proposed assistance to ensure that it supports our values and is consistent with our domestic and international human rights obligations.</p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler grouped question UIN 7695 question first answered 04/11/2019 17:30:01 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
tabling member	4267 label Biography information for Sarah Champion

1167406

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
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	Sri Lanka: War Crimes
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the extent of the government of Sri Lanka's engagement with war crimes investigations; and what plans the Government has to refer cases of alleged war crimes in that country to to the International Criminal Court.
tabling member constituency	Rotherham
tabling member printed	Sarah Champion
uin	7704
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The UK supports Sri Lanka’s accountability commitments to the UN Human Rights Council through resolutions 30/1, 34/1 and 40/1 as the best way to establish truth and to achieve justice, restitution and reconciliation. A national process, initiated by the Government of Sri Lanka and supported by all communities, offers the best route to achieve this. There have been important developments since 2015 and some key domestic institutions have been established, although the pace of progress has remained slow in many areas. In the most recent resolution, the Council encouraged Sri Lanka to set a clear timeline for action through a national implementation strategy.</p><p>Sri Lanka is not party to the Rome Statute, so the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction to investigate the situation in that country. The ICC could only exercise jurisdiction if the situation is referred to it by a UN Security Council Resolution, or if Sri Lanka accepts the Court’s jurisdiction. Our assessment is that this step would not have the support of the required Security Council members. Nor would it advance the cause of accountability for an ICC referral to fail to win Security Council support or to be vetoed. Sri Lanka has made commitments to the UNHRC, and we continue to look to them to deliver those commitments in full.</p><p>​</p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler question first answered 04/11/2019 17:33:47 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
tabling member	4267 label Biography information for Sarah Champion

1167423

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
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	Bahrain: 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, what assessment his Department made of the (a) human rights situation in Bahrain since the execution of three men in that country in July 2019 and (b) efficacy of the UK Government's technical assistance programme to Bahrain.
tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
tabling member printed	Tom Brake
uin	7627
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>Bahrain remains a Foreign and Commonwealth Office human rights priority country, partly because of the use of the death penalty. Following the execution of three men in July 2019, Lord Ahmad issued a statement expressing deep concern and the UK raised the matter at the September Human Rights Council in Geneva. In addition, I called Dr Sheikh Abdullah, Bahraini Undersecretary for International Affairs following the executions, to express our disappointment. The Government of Bahrain is fully aware of the UK’s clear and longstanding position; we oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and all countries.</p><p>On British assistance, we are committed to supporting Bahrain-led reform and are confident of its positive impact across a variety of areas including building effective and accountable institutions, strengthening the rule of law, and police and justice reform. We continue to monitor events closely, regularly raising human rights concerns with the Government of Bahrain at senior levels, both in private and public, and most recently at the UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group on 17 October.</p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison question first answered 04/11/2019 15:34:08 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison
tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1167427

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
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	Jordan: Females
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 plans to have with his Jordanian counterpart on the imprisonment of women for disobeying their so-called male guardians in Jordan.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	7641
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>We are aware of the recent report by Amnesty International on this issue. We have close and frequent dialogue with the Jordanian government on human rights, including women’s rights, and will raise the report in that context.</p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison question first answered 04/11/2019 17:42:47 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1167477

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
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	The Gambia: 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, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in The Gambia in relation to (a) freedom of expression and (b) freedom of association.
tabling member constituency	Heywood and Middleton
tabling member printed	Liz McInnes
uin	7724
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The British Government has a strong relationship with The Gambia and is encouraged by positive progress on the human rights situation since President Barrow took office in 2017. We welcome the commitment of the President and the Government of The Gambia to embrace change by drafting a new Gambian Constitution that has a human rights based approach to development with freedom of expression, freedom of association and media freedom at the heart of it. As the former Foreign Secretary acknowledged at the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day event on 2 May 2019, The Gambia has made huge strides in improving media freedoms having climbed 30 places in the World Press Freedom Index over the last year.</p><p>When our Ambassador for Human Rights visited The Gambia in October, she held constructive meetings across the Government of The Gambia and with civil society on human rights issues. We now look forward to The Gambia’s upcoming Human Rights Universal Periodic Review on 5 November and urge the Government of the Gambia to implement recommendations appropriately in fulfilment of their human rights obligations.</p><p>The UK will continue to support The Gambia taking specific action to resolve the challenges still to be addressed so that the human rights of all its citizens are respected and protected.</p> answering member constituency Pendle answering member printed Andrew Stephenson grouped question UIN 7725 question first answered 04/11/2019 14:47:51 answering member 4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson
tabling member	4342 label Biography information for Liz McInnes

1167478

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
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	The Gambia: Press Freedom
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 is taking to help promote media freedom in The Gambia.
tabling member constituency	Heywood and Middleton
tabling member printed	Liz McInnes
uin	7725
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The British Government has a strong relationship with The Gambia and is encouraged by positive progress on the human rights situation since President Barrow took office in 2017. We welcome the commitment of the President and the Government of The Gambia to embrace change by drafting a new Gambian Constitution that has a human rights based approach to development with freedom of expression, freedom of association and media freedom at the heart of it. As the former Foreign Secretary acknowledged at the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day event on 2 May 2019, The Gambia has made huge strides in improving media freedoms having climbed 30 places in the World Press Freedom Index over the last year.</p><p>When our Ambassador for Human Rights visited The Gambia in October, she held constructive meetings across the Government of The Gambia and with civil society on human rights issues. We now look forward to The Gambia’s upcoming Human Rights Universal Periodic Review on 5 November and urge the Government of the Gambia to implement recommendations appropriately in fulfilment of their human rights obligations.</p><p>The UK will continue to support The Gambia taking specific action to resolve the challenges still to be addressed so that the human rights of all its citizens are respected and protected.</p> answering member constituency Pendle answering member printed Andrew Stephenson grouped question UIN 7724 question first answered 04/11/2019 14:47:51 answering member 4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson
tabling member	4342 label Biography information for Liz McInnes