Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports by UN experts on 19 February of “credible allegations of egregious human rights violations” against Palestinian women and girls in Gaza and the West Bank by Israel Defence Forces; and whether they have offered practical support for investigating these alleged crimes, and for caring for survivors and witnesses.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK condemns human rights abuses and sexual violence unequivocally and without exception. As I [Lord Ahmad] said to the UN Security Council during the 11 March debate following the release of Special Representative Pramila Patten's report, it is vital that all reports of sexual violence are fully investigated to ensure justice for all victims and survivors and perpetrators are held to account.
The FCDO continues to closely monitor the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and stands ready to further utilise our Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) expertise and tools to ensure victims and survivors of CRSV, both Israeli and Palestinian, receive the holistic and survivor-centred support they need.
Through our PSVI programmes and dedicated funding totalling £60 million since 2012, we are leading work internationally to prevent conflict-related sexual violence and strengthen justice and support for all survivors.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific action they have taken to mitigate risk factors, and prevent atrocity crimes, in response to the conclusion of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia in October 2023 that “eight of the Common Risk Factors for atrocity crimes are present in Ethiopia and that there is evidence to suggest that certain indicators of majority of the Specific Risk Factors for atrocity crimes are also present”; and what steps they are taking to support continued international scrutiny and independent investigations into past and ongoing violations in Ethiopia.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has repeatedly called for those responsible for atrocities in Ethiopia to be held to account. The UK was strongly supportive of the establishment of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE). The UK has deployed an expert to support the drafting of Ethiopia's national Transitional Justice Policy and we are working to promote a survivor-centred, gender-sensitive approach. We fund UNOHCHR to deploy international human rights monitors and build early warning networks of CSOs and human rights defenders. Through our Human Rights and Peacebuilding Programme, we are supporting the investigative capacity of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and facilitating dialogue between groups from across Ethiopia. We regularly convene with likemindeds to coordinate support and ensure accountability for atrocities and human rights violations and to ensure the effective, full implementation of the Tigray peace agreement and the Transitional Justice Policy once finalised.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of efforts since the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement in November 2022 to achieve justice and accountability for conflict-related sexual violence in Tigray, and what support they are providing to those efforts.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual violence in Ethiopia. We have consistently called for an end to the appalling gender-based violence committed across Ethiopia, including sexual violence, particularly during the Tigray conflict. We therefore welcome the recent agreement to implement a comprehensive national Transitional Justice policy aimed at accountability, redress for victims, reconciliation, and healing. The UK has called for the perpetrators to be held to account and the importance of a victim-centered, gender-sensitive approach. We will work with the Ethiopian Government and civil society in their efforts to hold perpetrators to account, including building the capacity of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission through the UK's Human Rights and Peacebuilding programme (HARP).