Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the Answer of 11 September 2023 to Question 196343 on Abbas Deris, what recent discussions he has had with his Iranian counterparts on the imprisonment of Abbas Deris.
Answered by David Rutley
HMG opposes the death penalty in all circumstances. At the 78th UN General Assembly, we co-sponsored the Iran Human Rights Resolution, calling for Iran to establish a moratorium on executions. We condemn Iran's continued imposition of the death penalty on protesters and have sanctioned 94 Iranian individuals or entities for human rights violations since September 2022. We will continue to pressure Iran on its application of the death penalty.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his Bangladeshi counterparts on the imprisonment of Khadijatul Kubra.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Bangladesh remains a Human Rights Priority Country for the UK and we regularly raise our human rights concerns including the treatment of those in detention with the Government of Bangladesh. We are monitoring the implementation of the Digital Security Act including the case of Khadijatul Kubra. During the 5th UK-Bangladesh Strategic Dialogue in September, the FCDO raised this case with the Government of Bangladesh. Khadijatul Kubra was released on bail in December 2023. We will continue to monitor this case closely.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he plans to take steps to support inquiries by the International Criminal Court into potential breaches of international law by the Israeli Government in relation to the activities of Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK is a strong supporter of international justice and respects the independence of the International Criminal Court (ICC), this is a matter for the Court.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his counterpart in China on the arrest warrants for and HK$1 million bounty on eight self-exiled pro-democracy activists and law makers from Hong Kong.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
On 13 July, at the Foreign Secretary's instruction, his senior official conducted a formal démarche of the Chinese Ambassador. The senior official set out our strong objections to actions in Hong Kong in recent weeks, including the issuing of arrest warrants and bounties for eight individuals living overseas, three of whom live in the UK, as well as the detention and questioning of the family members of some of those individuals in Hong Kong. We also expressed our ongoing opposition to the imposition of the National Security Law by Beijing on Hong Kong, which is a breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his international counterparts on suspending extradition treaties to (a) Hong Kong and the (b) People’s Republic of China in the context of the issuing of arrest warrants by Hong Kong police for overseas Hong Kong activists, including three activists living in the UK.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
In response to China's imposition of the National Security Law on Hong Kong in 2020, we suspended the UK-Hong Kong extradition treaty immediately and indefinitely. We do not have an extradition treaty with China. Where they remain in force, we encourage countries to suspend their extradition treaties with Hong Kong and China. As I [Minister Trevelyan] stated in the House on 13 July, we will continue to work very closely with our international partners to stand up for the people of Hong Kong, to call out violations of their rights and freedoms, and to hold China to its international obligations.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will have discussions with the Treasury on the potential merits of issuing guidance to UK based pension providers that the British National Overseas passport should be considered a valid identity document for the purposes of unfreezing the pension assets of people from Hong Kong who have moved to the UK under the BNO visa scheme.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
We are aware of the difficulties British National (Overseas) (BN(O))s are experiencing in seeking early withdrawal of their pension held by the Mandatory Provident Fund in Hong Kong. The root of the problem is the Chinese Government's decision not to recognise the BN(O) passport as a valid identity document in Hong Kong. The UK firmly opposes the discrimination of BN(O)s in this way. We have urged the Hong Kong authorities to facilitate the early drawdown of funds as is the case for other Hong Kong residents who move overseas permanently. I last did so with Christopher Hui, Hong Kong Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury on 18 April and pressed for a pragmatic solution. The Investment Minister, Lord Johnson, also raised the matter with Hong Kong's Commercial Secretary, Algernon Yau, during his recent visit to Hong Kong.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether their Department has purchased mobile UV virus irradiation units.
Answered by David Rutley
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCDO) has not purchased mobile UV virus irradiation units for use on its UK Estate. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is currently funding a programme of work to assess the ability of air cleaning devices to mitigate aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and other air borne pathogens. This includes research to assess the ability of UVC (ultraviolet-C) devices to mitigate aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and other airborne pathogens.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October 2022 to Question 64377 on Syria: Crimes against Humanity and Human Rights, whether he had discussions with his international counterparts at the UN Security Council meeting in October 2022 on the release of detainees at Sednaya prison; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Leo Docherty
On 25th October, we used our position at the UN Security Council to draw international attention to the human right violations in Syria, in particular regime prison Sednaya. We called for the release of detainees at Sednaya during the UK statement to the Security Council https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/russian-and-regime-intransigence-continues-to-preclude-progress-in-syria
We co-sponsored UN General Assembly resolution on human rights on 9 November, which includes language calling for the release of arbitrary detained persons. We continue to strongly condemn all human right violations in Syria and make statements across multilateral fora, while contributing funding to support efforts to gather evidence and assist victims of human rights violations.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to raise the issue of Baha’I persecution in Iran at the United Nations General Assembly.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The Baha'i community in Iran is systematically persecuted by the authorities. Reports this year indicate Iran has redoubled this repression, with expropriation and repossession of land, destruction of homes, and increasing detention of members of the community. As the Minister with responsibility for the Middle East and Human Rights Lord (Tariq) Ahmad said on 5 August: persecution of religious minorities is a serious human rights violation and cannot be tolerated in 2022.
We reiterated our commitment to holding Iran to account for its persecution of the Baha'i at the UN General Assembly Third Committee on Wednesday 26 October. We raise Iran's dire human rights record at all appropriate opportunities, both directly with Iranian authorities and in multilateral fora.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Iranian counterpart on the persecution of the Baha’I community in Iran.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The Baha'i community in Iran is systematically persecuted by the authorities. Reports this year indicate Iran has redoubled this repression, with expropriation and repossession of land, destruction of homes, and increasing detention of members of the community. As the Minister with responsibility for the Middle East and Human Rights Lord (Tariq) Ahmad said on 5 August: persecution of religious minorities is a serious human rights violation and cannot be tolerated in 2022.
We reiterated our commitment to holding Iran to account for its persecution of the Baha'i at the UN General Assembly Third Committee on Wednesday 26 October. We raise Iran's dire human rights record at all appropriate opportunities, both directly with Iranian authorities and in multilateral fora.