To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking in response to the arrest
by Chinese security agents on 5 March 2017 of John Cao, a Christian pastor and humanitarian
worker, and his subsequent imprisonment in China.
<p>The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is concerned by the arrest and detention of
John Cao and will raise his case at the next round of the UK/China Human Rights Dialogue.
We remain concerned by the restrictions placed on Christianity and other religions
in China, that include individuals being harassed or detained for their beliefs. The
freedom to practise, change or share ones faith or belief without discrimination or
violent opposition is a human right that all people should enjoy. We believe that
societies which aim to guarantee freedom of religion or belief are more stable, prosperous
and resilient against violent extremism.</p><p>We are robust in raising the full range
of our human rights concerns with the Chinese authorities. We raised our concerns
over restriction of freedom of religion or belief as part of China’s Universal Periodic
Review in November 2018, and in our 27 June 2018 statement at the UN Human Rights
Council.</p><p></p>
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government
of Egypt about the forced repatriation of the Sudanese journalist, Mohamed Boshi.
<p>We are aware of recent reports regarding Mohamed Boshi and are monitoring the case.
The UK regularly raises concerns about freedom of expression with the Egyptian Government
both in public and private. On 18 September we issued a statement at the UN Human
Rights Council in which we raised specific concerns about the 'arrests of activists,
bloggers and journalists'. The Minister for the Middle East and North Africa also
raised concerns over freedom of expression with the Egyptian Foreign Minister during
his visit to Cairo on 14 October. I raised concerns over freedom of the media with
the Assistant Foreign Minister during my visit to Cairo on 19 November.</p>
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government
of Iraq about the prosecution of ISIS operatives responsible for the murder, enslavement,
deportation, forcible transfer, imprisonment, torture, abduction, exploitation, abuse,
rape, forced marriage, and enforced disappearance of Yazidis, Christians and other
religious minorities in Iraq; and how many prosecutions have taken place.
<p>We regularly urge the Government of Iraq, at both official and ministerial levels,
to uphold the freedoms and rights of all minorities across Iraq. We are working with
the Government of Iraq to ensure that members of Daesh are held to account for their
appalling crimes. The Prime Minister underlined this message with former Prime Minister
Abadi during her visit to Iraq in November 2017, and both the Minister for the Middle
East and North Africa and I reiterated it during our visits in March and April 2018
respectively. The Minister for the Middle East and North Africa also raised the need
to protect minority communities with the new Iraqi Foreign Minister during a phone
call on 14 November.</p><p>The UN Investigative Team (established under UN Security
Council Resolution 2379) has deployed to Iraq to begin gathering evidence. The UK
has committed £1 million to the establishment of this team. It will gather evidence
of Daesh crimes, including those against the Yezidi, Christian and other minority
communities; it aims to help secure justice for all Daesh's victims, regardless of
their religion or belief.</p><p>The British Government does not publish details of
prosecutions carried out by other governments.</p>
