Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of political prisoners in Bahrain; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK has an open dialogue with the Government of Bahrain on a range of issues, including human rights. We do not hold figures for the number of prisoners in Bahrain.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of incidents involving Bahraini security forces torturing detainees in each year for which information is available; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK has an open dialogue with the Government of Bahrain on a range of issues, including human rights. Bahrain has a number of human rights oversight bodies which investigate allegations of mistreatment and human rights abuse, including the Ministry of Interior Ombudsman and the Special Investigations Unit. These bodies regularly release reports with figures on the number of allegations they have investigated. We continue to encourage anybody with concerns about treatment in detention to report them to the appropriate oversight body. We also encourage the oversight bodies to carry out swift and thorough investigations into any such claims.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has recently raised the subject of the rape of female detainees in Bahrain with his Bahraini counterparts; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
I refer the hon. Member to answer of 23 October 2018 (PQ 180115). The UK has an open dialogue with the Government of Bahrain which allows us to raise issues of concern at a senior level both in London and Manama. Where we have been made aware of allegations we raise them in accordance with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's guidance on reporting such allegations. We continue to encourage anybody with concerns about treatment in detention to report them to the appropriate oversight body. We also encourage the oversight bodies to carry out swift and thorough investigations into any such claims.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, published in 2011, whether he has raised the issue of releasing detained political leaders with the Bahraini authorities since the publication of that report.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The British Embassy in Bahrain and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office continue to monitor events in Bahrain closely. The UK has an open dialogue with the Government of Bahrain which allows us to raise issues of concern at a senior level both in London and Manama. This dialogue covers all aspects of the UK-Bahrain relationship including human rights.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Spanish counterpart on the Arnaga declaration on the conflict in the Basque country; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alan Duncan
I have had no discussions with my Spanish counterpart on the Arnaga declaration that followed terrorist group ETA’s announcement of its dissolution. The British Government has however made clear that we stand united with Spain in the struggle against terrorism and remember, alongside the Spanish people, the many victims of ETA terrorism.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Taiwan's policies on tackling climate change.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We assess that the current and previous Taiwanese administrations have taken significant steps to tackle climate change. In 2015, Taiwan's legislature set a goal of reducing carbon emissions to 50 percent of 2005 levels by the year 2050, making it the first in the region to adopt legally binding greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. This legislation includes structures based on the UK model, specifically the Climate Change Committee and carbon budgets. This year the new administration has proposed new legislation on electricity market liberalisation, which should also help to reduce emissions.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the extent of Taiwan's engagement with UN agencies on that country's progress in tackling climate change.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Though not a UN member, Taiwan engages regularly on an unofficial basis with relevant UN agencies on the issues of climate change, including at The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Taiwan announced its own voluntary Intended Nationally Determined Contribution level before the UN Paris Conference in 2015, committing to a reduction of 20% on the 2005 level of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what criteria his Department plans to use in order to decide whether to recognise Palestine statehood.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK will recognise a Palestinian state at a time most helpful to the peace process. We judge that a negotiated end to the occupation is the most effective way for Palestinian aspirations of statehood to be met. We continue to be one of the principal supporters of Palestinian state building efforts, assisting them to tackle poverty, build institutions and boost their economy.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Iran on the imprisonment in 2008 of seven Bahá' í leaders in that country.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK regularly raises our concerns at the treatment of the Baha’i community in Iran. We call on the Iranian Government to end all persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith and to fulfil its international and domestic obligations to allow freedom of religion to all Iranians.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that UK expatriates living in EU countries are informed of their eligibility to vote in the EU referendum.
Answered by David Lidington
The Government is committed to ensuring as many eligible people are registered to vote ahead of the EU Referendum as possible. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office overseas network supported the Electoral Commission's Overseas Voter Registration Day last month - a global campaign to promote voter registration to British citizens abroad by raising awareness amongst overseas voters of their rights to vote through providing information on embassy websites and other activities.
I also spoke about voter registration to the English language media in Portugal during my visit to Lisbon on 9 March.
The Electoral Commission is organising its own campaign to increase voter registration.