Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the imprisonment of Christians in Iran for (a) involvement with house-churches and (b) the peaceful practice of their faith.
Answered by David Rutley
Promoting the right to freedom of religion or belief for all is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities. We continue to assess that Christians in Iran, particularly recent converts, face arrest, harassment and unfair detention. We raise these and other human rights issues with the Iranian authorities at all appropriate opportunities. We continue to work closely with our international partners to hold Iran to account for its dire human rights record, including through the Human Rights Council in Geneva and the UN General Assembly in New York.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Christians in Iran are not prevented from having places to worship.
Answered by David Rutley
Promoting the right to freedom of religion or belief for all is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities. We continue to assess that Christians in Iran, particularly recent converts, face arrest, harassment and unfair detention. We raise these and other human rights issues with the Iranian authorities at all appropriate opportunities. We continue to work closely with our international partners to hold Iran to account for its dire human rights record, including through the Human Rights Council in Geneva and the UN General Assembly in New York.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the risk of genocide from the targeting of Hazara Muslims in Afghanistan.
Answered by Leo Docherty
FCDO officials regularly press the Taliban to protect religious and ethnic minorities. On 8 December 2022, Lord Ahmad, the Minister of State for South Asia, met Hazara representatives who provided useful insight on the situation. It is HMG policy that it is for a competent national or international court, such as the International Criminal Court, to determine whether crimes against humanity and genocide have been committed and who is responsible.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the abduction of Christians in Kaduna State, Nigeria on 25 December 2022.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
We condemn all violence across Nigeria, including the recent kidnapping in Kaduna state and the murder of Fr. Isaac Achi in Niger state. Events such as these are occurring across Nigeria as conflict and insecurity rises. The Minister of State for Africa & Development recently discussed this challenge with some of Nigeria's leading presidential candidates, and with the Governor of Kaduna. The UK continues to support Nigeria to tackle this issue, and fulfil its constitutional commitment to Freedom of Religion or Belief, by strengthening military capabilities, human rights compliance, policing, and anti-kidnap capacity through our UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership.
The UK Government continues to raise Mr Bala's case with the Nigerian authorities, most recently with the Kano State Government on 19 January.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the killing of Fr Isaac Achi in Nigeria.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
We condemn all violence across Nigeria, including the recent kidnapping in Kaduna state and the murder of Fr. Isaac Achi in Niger state. Events such as these are occurring across Nigeria as conflict and insecurity rises. The Minister of State for Africa & Development recently discussed this challenge with some of Nigeria's leading presidential candidates, and with the Governor of Kaduna. The UK continues to support Nigeria to tackle this issue, and fulfil its constitutional commitment to Freedom of Religion or Belief, by strengthening military capabilities, human rights compliance, policing, and anti-kidnap capacity through our UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership.
The UK Government continues to raise Mr Bala's case with the Nigerian authorities, most recently with the Kano State Government on 19 January.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his counterparts in Nigeria on the case of Mubarak Bala.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
We condemn all violence across Nigeria, including the recent kidnapping in Kaduna state and the murder of Fr. Isaac Achi in Niger state. Events such as these are occurring across Nigeria as conflict and insecurity rises. The Minister of State for Africa & Development recently discussed this challenge with some of Nigeria's leading presidential candidates, and with the Governor of Kaduna. The UK continues to support Nigeria to tackle this issue, and fulfil its constitutional commitment to Freedom of Religion or Belief, by strengthening military capabilities, human rights compliance, policing, and anti-kidnap capacity through our UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership.
The UK Government continues to raise Mr Bala's case with the Nigerian authorities, most recently with the Kano State Government on 19 January.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of Turkish authorities’ actions towards Protestant Christian leaders in Turkey in 2023.
Answered by Leo Docherty
We keep the human rights situation in Turkey under close scrutiny at all times, including the monitoring of issues relating to freedom of religion and belief. We support the rights of all minority groups in Turkey, including Christians and note that the right to freedom of religion and belief is clearly enshrined in the Turkish constitution. We will continue to raise issues of freedom of religion and belief with the Turkish authorities.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom hearing on 14 December 2022 entitled China’s Religious Freedom Violations: Domestic Repression and Malign Influence Abroad.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's hearing on 14 December further highlights China's ongoing human rights violations.
The environment for freedom of religion or belief across China is restrictive, including the persecution of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners and others on the grounds of their religion or belief.
We work within the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance and other international organisations and networks to promote and protect freedom of religion or belief for all where it is threatened.
More broadly, we regularly raise the human rights situation in China directly with the Chinese authorities at the highest levels. Most recently, the Foreign Secretary did so in a meeting with his Chinese counterpart on 20 September.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to his counterparts in Pakistan on the case of Maira Shahbaz.
Answered by Leo Docherty
Protecting women's rights is central to the UK Government's human rights engagement in Pakistan. On 14 October 2022, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, raised forced conversions with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada. In December 2022, the UK announced sanctions against Mian Abdul Haq, a Pakistani cleric who is responsible for the forced religious conversions and forced marriages of young girls. We are not prepared to discuss the detail of individual cases where to do so could put individuals and their families' lives at risk.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the destruction of an Ahmadi Mosque in Pakistan on 8th December.
Answered by Leo Docherty
Protecting freedom of religion or belief for minority communities continues to be central to the UK Government's human rights engagement in Pakistan. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, raised the treatment of Ahmadi Muslims with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, on 30 January. On 9 January, Minister of State for Development Andrew Mitchell raised this issue with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The British High Commission in Islamabad continues to engage at a senior level with government representatives and civil society, including on recent attacks on Ahmadi mosques.