Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to raise with the government of Iran (1) the detention of lawyers defending Iranian protesters, and (2) the detention of 17 journalists, including Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, who first reported on Jina Mahsa Amini's death in custody.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Iran's human rights record is dire. The UN Fact Finding Mission's update to the Human Rights Council (HRC) on 5 July echoed our serious issues over the continued detention of protesters, lawyers and journalists, the ongoing wave of executions, and new legislation targeting women accused of breaching headscarf rules. We continue to work with our international partners to ensure the regime is held to account. That is why the UK initiated the joint statement of 5 July calling on Iran to end executions, which was signed by 54 countries. On 6 July we announced a further package of human rights sanctions, including on senior prison officials and on the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (SCCR) - the body responsible for setting headscarf policies. Our annual Human Rights Report, published on 13 July, outlines our wide-ranging concern with the human rights situation in Iran and Iran remains an FCDO Human Rights Priority Country. We continue to raise these and other human rights issues with Iran at all appropriate opportunities, including through our Ambassador in Tehran.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they intend to have with the government of Iran regarding the executions, and threat of executions, of many of those connected to the protests that began in that country in September 2022.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Iran's human rights record is dire. The UN Fact Finding Mission's update to the Human Rights Council (HRC) on 5 July echoed our serious issues over the continued detention of protesters, lawyers and journalists, the ongoing wave of executions, and new legislation targeting women accused of breaching headscarf rules. We continue to work with our international partners to ensure the regime is held to account. That is why the UK initiated the joint statement of 5 July calling on Iran to end executions, which was signed by 54 countries. On 6 July we announced a further package of human rights sanctions, including on senior prison officials and on the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (SCCR) - the body responsible for setting headscarf policies. Our annual Human Rights Report, published on 13 July, outlines our wide-ranging concern with the human rights situation in Iran and Iran remains an FCDO Human Rights Priority Country. We continue to raise these and other human rights issues with Iran at all appropriate opportunities, including through our Ambassador in Tehran.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Iranian authorities about punishments for women and girls found in breach of provisions requiring the wearing of a headscarf.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Iran's human rights record is dire. The UN Fact Finding Mission's update to the Human Rights Council (HRC) on 5 July echoed our serious issues over the continued detention of protesters, lawyers and journalists, the ongoing wave of executions, and new legislation targeting women accused of breaching headscarf rules. We continue to work with our international partners to ensure the regime is held to account. That is why the UK initiated the joint statement of 5 July calling on Iran to end executions, which was signed by 54 countries. On 6 July we announced a further package of human rights sanctions, including on senior prison officials and on the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (SCCR) - the body responsible for setting headscarf policies. Our annual Human Rights Report, published on 13 July, outlines our wide-ranging concern with the human rights situation in Iran and Iran remains an FCDO Human Rights Priority Country. We continue to raise these and other human rights issues with Iran at all appropriate opportunities, including through our Ambassador in Tehran.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to raise with the government of Iran the evidence gathered by the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Iran's human rights record is dire. The UN Fact Finding Mission's update to the Human Rights Council (HRC) on 5 July echoed our serious issues over the continued detention of protesters, lawyers and journalists, the ongoing wave of executions, and new legislation targeting women accused of breaching headscarf rules. We continue to work with our international partners to ensure the regime is held to account. That is why the UK initiated the joint statement of 5 July calling on Iran to end executions, which was signed by 54 countries. On 6 July we announced a further package of human rights sanctions, including on senior prison officials and on the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (SCCR) - the body responsible for setting headscarf policies. Our annual Human Rights Report, published on 13 July, outlines our wide-ranging concern with the human rights situation in Iran and Iran remains an FCDO Human Rights Priority Country. We continue to raise these and other human rights issues with Iran at all appropriate opportunities, including through our Ambassador in Tehran.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their announcement of new sanctions against the government of Belarus, what assessment they have made of the impact of previous sanctions against the government of Belarus, particularly in relation to the treatment of Belarusian political prisoners.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK introduced comprehensive sanctions in response to Belarus' flawed 2020 presidential elections and subsequent brutal crackdown, sanctioning over 120 individuals and entities. These include Lukashenko, security officials, judges and prosecutors. Belarus must be held accountable for both human rights violations, including treatment of political prisoners, against its own people and their support of Putin's illegal war. Since 2022, the Belarusian regime has facilitated Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the UK introduced sanctions in June 2022 and June 2023 in response which severely limited Belarus's ability to trade with the UK. We keep our sanctions under review, and reserve the right to introduce further measures.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to raise the issue of human rights abuses against political prisoners in Belarus in international forums; and if so, which forums.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is appalled by the brutal and ongoing repression that the Lukashenko regime conducts against its own people. We have already applied wide-ranging sanctions to Belarus in response to the regime's continued human rights violations, and are supporting further accountability measures including the International Accountability Platform for Belarus. The UK makes our solidarity with political prisoners clear, when possible attending trials and engaging with their families. We have raised political prisoners at the UN and OSCE and will continue to take every opportunity, both publicly and privately, to urge the Belarusian regime to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners and protect the human rights of its citizens.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to take any further action against the worsening situation for political prisoners in Belarus; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is appalled by the brutal and ongoing repression that the Lukashenko regime conducts against its own people. We have already applied wide-ranging sanctions to Belarus in response to the regime's continued human rights violations, and are supporting further accountability measures including the International Accountability Platform for Belarus. The UK makes our solidarity with political prisoners clear, when possible attending trials and engaging with their families. We have raised political prisoners at the UN and OSCE and will continue to take every opportunity, both publicly and privately, to urge the Belarusian regime to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners and protect the human rights of its citizens.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement by the European Commission that the government of China has run “targeted influence operations and disinformation campaigns" about COVID-19; and whether they are aware of any other attempts by that government to spread false views in order to damage democracy in the West.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government takes the issues of disinformation seriously and our priority is to protect UK citizens from disinformation by any actor. We condemn any intentionally false claims in relation to Covid-19, which are a distraction from the important global efforts and cooperation needed to beat the virus. From the outset of the crisis we have outlined the importance of all countries providing timely, transparent and accurate data as an essential part of an effective response. We are working with our international partners, to protect our democracies against disinformation.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assistance, if any, they have offered to the government of Australia to deal with the bushfire crises.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and I have been in contact with our Australian counterparts to offer our condolences and stress our readiness to help in whatever way they need. I also met with FM Payne on the 3 January in Sydney and offered our full support.
As set out by FCO Minister Heather Wheeler in her Oral Statement of 9 January, we have deployed a team of UK experts to Australia.
The team includes a senior member of UK Fire and Rescue Service, a medical specialist in trauma and mental health, and a military liaison officer specialising in crisis response.
They will work with Australian counterparts to establish what further UK support will be of most use to Australian emergency responders, and ensure that such contributions are fully integrated with Australian efforts.
Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans to commemorate in 2020 the 80th anniversary of the forming of the Special Operations Executive (SOE); and whether they will introduce a recognised annual date to commemorate the SOE.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
A major event was held in 2015 to mark the 75th anniversary of the foundation of Special Operations Executive. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is not aware of any plans at present for a further commemoration.