Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the reasons that Shaker Aamer has not been released from Guantanamo Bay.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK Government continues actively to engage the US Government to secure Shaker Aamer’s release. No decision has yet been made.
Given the need to respect the confidentiality of the process, we cannot provide a running commentary on conversations with the US government.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
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 treatment of women by the legal system of the United Arab Emirates.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers published a report on the United Arab Emirates in May which noted gender discrimination in the UAE justice system. The report also praised the number of female judges and prosecutors in the UAE. The UK endorses the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations that the UAE should promote women’s equal access to justice and support ever greater participation for women in the legal system.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
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 United Arab Emirates counterpart about the timescale for democratic reform in that country.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
In October the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will hold elections to its parliament, the Federal National Council. These will involve the biggest UAE electorate to date, two-thirds larger than in the last elections in 2011. We welcome the steps taken by the UAE to increase political participation.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received of the conditions faced by migrant workers on construction of the Saadiyat Island project in the United Arab Emirates.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We are aware of media and Non-Governmental Organisation reports that raised concerns about the conditions faced by workers on Saadiyat Island. Earlier this year, our Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates visited the purpose-built village in which many of Saadiyat Island workers are accommodated to see living standards.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to the government of the United Arab Emirates on the unlawful detainment of political activists in that country.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The British Government does not condone unlawful detention of political activists. Our bilateral relationship with the United Arab Emirates allows us to discuss a broad range of issues, including concerns about human rights.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2015 to Question 1570, what commitments he has received from his Chinese counterpart in response to his concerns on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang province.
Answered by Lord Swire
At the UK-China Human Rights dialogue in April this year, we had a thorough discussion of this issue.
As a member of the UN Human Rights Council, China is bound to respect the international commitments to which it is a party, including those related to freedom of religion or belief. Freedom of religion or belief is also guaranteed under the Chinese constitution.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
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 the Chinese government about the treatment of Muslims in the Xinjiang region of that country.
Answered by Lord Swire
We remain concerned by all restrictions on freedom of religion or belief in China, including those placed on Muslims. Officials from our Embassy in Beijing carry out regular monitoring visits to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and have observed significant restrictions on the cultural, linguistic, and religious rights of minority communities. They have seen official efforts to discourage certain Islamic dress, and restrictions on the celebration of Ramadan.
We have raised our concerns directly with the Chinese government , most recently during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in April this year. We have highlighted them in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights (www.hrdreport.fco.gov.uk), and in the UN Human Rights Council.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to secure the release of Raif Badawi and Alaa Abdel Fattah.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
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Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to seek the release of Alaa Abdel Fattah.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK Government is very concerned by the sentencing of Alaa Abdel Fattah to five years in prison, on charges of organising an illegal protest. At the time of his initial conviction in June 2014, my predecessor, the right hon. Member for Faversham and Mid Kent (Sir Hugh Robertson) made a statement in which he expressed his concern over the case. We have raised this case in our conversations with the Egyptian government and will continue to do so.
The UK Government also remains concerned by the Protest Law under which Alaa Abdel Fattah was charged. Egypt’s constitution rightly demands respect for freedom of expression and association. I call on the Egyptian government to ensure that they implement these rights for Egyptian citizens, including by reviewing the Protest Law.