Asked by: Baroness Berridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Iran regarding Rasoul Abdollahi, imprisoned in Iran because of his religious beliefs.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We remain deeply concerned by the detention and ill treatment of all prisoners of conscience in Iran, and the ongoing discrimination against Christians and other minority religious groups. We have not raised this individual case with the Iranian government. However, we have called for the Iranian government to end the persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith, most recently at Iran’s Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights at the UN on 31 October.Asked by: Baroness Berridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the assassination of the Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan, and in particular, the recent assasination of Latif Aalam Butt.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We remain concerned about the violence faced by the Ahmadiyya and other communities in Pakistan and continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to protect and guarantee the fundamental rights of all its citizens as laid down in the Constitution and in accordance with international standards. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office closely monitors the situation in Pakistan as documented in the annual Human Rights report and quarterly updates. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) and the former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), raised human rights concerns with Prime Minister Sharif during his visit in May 2014.
Asked by: Baroness Berridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have met the administration of Kurdish-controlled Iraq since ISIS took control of other Iraqi regions; and in particular whether they have discussed the situation of Iraqi Christian refugees.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), met the President and Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq on 27 June, and our Consul General in Erbil regularly meets the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and others to discuss the humanitarian crisis and assistance to displaced persons including Christians from Mosul. Most recently the Consul General met the Head of the KRG’s Department for Foreign Relations on 6 August to discuss the specific needs of Christians and other minority groups including Yezidis fleeing from Sinjar. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials meet regularly with the KRG representation to the UK, and have done so several times since the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) attacks on Mosul and other parts of Iraq in mid June 2014.