Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Bahraini counterpart on the continued detention and wellbeing of Hasan Mushaima.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We continue to monitor and raise the case of Hassan Mushaima, as necessary, at senior levels with the Bahraini Government. The Government of Bahrain has been clear that access to medical care for those in detention is provided in line with the Constitution of Bahrain. We welcome those assurances. We encourage those with concerns about treatment in detention to raise the matter with the Bahraini human rights oversight bodies. The UK continues to engage with the Government of Bahrain to support its reform agenda, and to deliver on its international and domestic human rights commitments.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations his Department is making to the Bahraini Government on securing the release of Hasan Mushaima.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We continue to monitor and raise the case of Hassan Mushaima, as necessary, at senior levels with the Bahraini Government. The Government of Bahrain has been clear that access to medical care for those in detention is provided in line with the Constitution of Bahrain. We welcome those assurances. We encourage those with concerns about treatment in detention to raise the matter with the Bahraini human rights oversight bodies. The UK continues to engage with the Government of Bahrain to support its reform agenda, and to deliver on its international and domestic human rights commitments.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
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 China on that country's behaviour in the South China Sea.
Answered by Nigel Adams
In the South China Sea, our commitment is to international law, particularly the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and to freedom of navigation and overflight. We encourage all parties to settle their disputes peacefully through the existing legal mechanisms, particularly UNCLOS. This is in line with the recently published Integrated Review where we set out our commitment to upholding the international rules and norms that underpin free trade, security and stability.
We routinely raise our concerns, both in private and in public, with Chinese officials, including about reports of militarisation, coercion and intimidation in the South China Sea. We will continue to do so where we have concerns. In May last year, officials raised concerns with Chinese authorities about recent incidents, including the creation of new administrative territories. On 3 September 2020, I [Minister Adams] set out our legal analysis on the South China Sea in full to Parliament for the first time. On 16 September 2020, we issued a joint Note Verbale with France and Germany to the UN's Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in response to assertions in Chinese Notes Verbale that we consider inconsistent with UNCLOS. On 8 December 2020, the UK made a national statement at the annual UN General Assembly debate on the Law of the Sea reiterating our legal position on the South China Sea.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of bi-lateral relations between Taiwan and the UK.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan but we do have a strong, unofficial relationship, based on dynamic commercial, educational and cultural ties. This relationship delivers significant benefits to both the UK and Taiwan and has featured a wide range of exchanges and visits, for example on environmental, judicial and educational issues.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
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 effectiveness of current bi-lateral relations between Vietnam and the UK.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK's relationship with Vietnam has strengthened over time. In September 2020 the Foreign Secretary signed the renewed UK-Vietnam Strategic Partnership Agreement in Hanoi with his counterpart Deputy Prime Minister Pham Minh Binh. The Agreement spans a range of interests including climate change, trade, security, innovation and human rights.
We use our broad relationship with Vietnam to advance bilateral and regional priorities: The UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed in December is already benefitting businesses in the UK and Vietnam. Vietnam has been a strong supporter of the UK's bid to be a Dialogue Partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and application to accede to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
We have regular dialogue on areas of mutual interest such as climate change and energy, maritime security and tackling human trafficking. We also regularly raise our concerns over restrictions on freedom of expression with the Government of Vietnam.
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 representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on releasing prisoners of conscience Gedhun Choekyi Nyimain, Hu Chigen and Bishop James Zhumin due to the risk of covid-19 to detainees in overcrowded prisons.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The risk of the spread of COVID-19 in places of detention is a matter of concern around the world. We will continue to engage closely with the Chinese authorities on the COVID-19 crisis. We pay close attention to the human rights situation in Tibet, and raise our concerns with the Chinese authorities.
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 appropriateness of India’s designation as a country of particular concern for religious freedom violations by the US Commission for International Religious Freedom.
Answered by Nigel Adams
India has a proud history of religious tolerance and inclusive government. The British High Commission in New Delhi and our network of Deputy High Commissions maintain a continuous assessment of the human rights situation across India, talking regularly to the Government of India, including about freedom of religion or belief. Where we have concerns, we raise them directly with the Government of India, including at ministerial level. We also continue to engage Indian religious leaders of all faiths and to support Indian partners to promote interfaith relations among young people.
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 representations he has made to his Mexican counterpart on freedom of religion and belief in that country.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government continues to engage regularly with Mexican authorities at ministerial, official, and state levels to discuss human rights, including Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), and to support a broad human rights agenda in Mexico. Most recently, I discussed human rights with the Mexican Deputy Foreign Minister when he visited London on 9 March. During the Foreign Secretary's visit to Mexico in August 2019, he raised human rights with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who expressed his support for working with the UK both bilaterally and multilaterally to protect human rights. Additionally, Baroness Williams raised FoRB with the Mexican Interior Minister in September 2019.
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 representations he has made to the Saudi Arabian Government on releasing prisoners of conscience Raif Badawi, Ashraf Fayadh and Ahmad Al Shamri due to the risk of covid-19 posed to detainees in overcrowded prisons.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We remain concerned over the continued detention of a number of individuals in Saudi Arabia. The Foreign Secretary raised our concerns on a number of cases during his visit to Saudi Arabia on 4 and 5 March, including Raif Badawi. In response to COVID-19, Saudi Arabia temporarily released a small number of prisoners with debt-related convictions. Embassy staff visited a number of high security prisons in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam in February and March, where the facilities and prison wings appeared to be in good and clean condition. Prison services and administration appeared professional. We will continue to raise concerns about individual cases regularly.
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 representations he has made to his Egyptian counterpart on releasing prisoner of conscience Rami Kamil due to the risk of covid-19 to detainees in overcrowded prisons.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have raised the case of Ramy Kamil with the Egyptian authorities. We also regularly raise the broad issue of prison conditions in Egypt: improving them was one of the specific recommendations we made in our intervention at Egypt's Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last year. Encouragingly, the Egyptian Government has accepted our recommendation, which we are following up. In addition, we are speaking to partners about supporting practical projects to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in prisons.