The UK is deeply concerned by the dismissal of an appeal against the decision of Russia's Supreme Court to categorise the Jehovah's Witnesses as extremists. This ruling effectively criminalises the peaceful worship of some 175,000 Russian citizens and is at odds with the right to religious freedom which is enshrined in the Russian Constitution.<\/p>
I issued a statement on 18 July expressing our concerns. We have raised this issue with the Russian Government and continue to call on them to uphold their commitment to this basic freedom in international fora, including in the Council of Europe.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4210", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2017-07-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2017-07-19T15:57:06.487Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "16"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2017-07-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decision by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to ban the Jehovah's Witnesses on the grounds that the group is considered to be an extremist organisation.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4266", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Coventry"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "The Lord Bishop of Coventry"} ], "uin" : "HL427"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/747974", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/747974/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Her Majesty's Government welcomes the peace accord, signed on 19 June. However, we remain concerned by continued violence between armed groups in the Central African Republic, which is causing heavy civilian loss of life and significant population displacement, despite the agreement including an immediate cessation of hostilities. We call on all armed group leaders immediately to implement the cessation provisions in the agreement as well as to honour their commitment, without any restriction, to the disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and repatriation process.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4210", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2017-07-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2017-07-13T14:40:08.97Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "16"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2017-07-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the peace accord between the government of the Central African Republic and 13 armed groups, signed in Rome on 19 June.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4266", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Coventry"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "The Lord Bishop of Coventry"} ], "uin" : "HL428"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }