Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps have been taken to help ensure that Bahraini female political prisoners Hajer Mansoor, Medina Ali, and Najah Yusuf will be protected from reprisals when their case is raised at the (a) UK Parliament and (b) United Nations.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Honourable Lady will be aware from previous answers to questions and from my reply to the Westminster Hall Debate on 11 September that our Embassy in Bahrain and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office continue to monitor the cases of Hajer Mansoor, Najah Ahmed Yusuf and Medina Ali and that we have raised the cases at a senior level with the Government of Bahrain.
We encourage those with concerns about treatment in detention to report these to the appropriate oversight body. We urge these oversight bodies to carry out swift and thorough investigations into any such claims. We understand that the National Institution for Human Rights and the Ministry of Interior Ombudsman are aware of these cases and have been in contact with the three individuals.
Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has to allocate unused money from the Integrated Activity Fund.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Integrated Activity Fund is intended to be both flexible and responsive, able to support Her Majesty's Government (HMG's) needs in the Gulf Region in the achievement of regional strategic objectives. In the event that there is likely to be unused money at the end of the financial year it will, with the agreement of Her Majesty's Treasury, be used to support HMG strategic objectives elsewhere.
Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has to allocate unused money from the Integrated Activity Fund.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Integrated Activity Fund is intended to be both flexible and responsive, able to support Her Majesty's Government (HMG's) needs in the Gulf Region in the achievement of regional strategic objectives. In the event that there is likely to be unused money at the end of the financial year it will, with the agreement of Her Majesty's Treasury, be used to support HMG strategic objectives elsewhere.
Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Special Investigation Unit in Bahrain receives training from organisations funded by the UK Government.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Government works with a number of implementation partners and beneficiaries to support Bahraini-led reform. These programmes aim to support progress on building effective and accountable institutions, strengthening the rule of law, and justice reform. All of our work is in line with international standards, and aims to share the UK's expertise and experience. Any training provided by, or on behalf of, the British Government fully complies with our domestic and international human rights obligations. As many projects and programme activities deliver across the region, it is not possible to provide a breakdown according to each beneficiary state.
Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the case of Bahraini death row inmate and torture victim Maher Al-Khabbaz has been recorded in line with his Department's torture and mistreatment reporting guidance.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office registers details of alleged torture whenever this comes to the attention of a UK official in the course of their duties, in line with the UK Torture and Mistreatment Reporting Guidance.
We continue to follow the case of Maher al-Khabbaz and, where we have concerns, we raise them at a senior level with the Government of Bahrain.
Asked by: Karen Lee (Labour - Lincoln)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations have been made to the Government of Bahrain on the denial of access to adequate medical treatment of imprisoned Bahraini political leader Hassan Mushaima.
Answered by Alistair Burt
We have raised the case of Hasan Mushaima at a senior level. The UK encourages those with concerns about treatment in detention to report these to the relevant human rights oversight bodies. We urge those bodies to carry out swift and thorough investigations. The UK continues to encourage the Government of Bahrain to deliver on its international and domestic human rights commitments.