Human Rights (Commonwealth)

James Paice Excerpts

Wednesday 11th September 2013 Westminster Hall

[Sir James Paice (South East Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

I apologise for the fact that I was not here for the debate. I, too, was in Johannesburg and I want to endorse what my right hon. Friend the Minister says: there is far more that unites us over human rights than divides us. I happened to catch the debate on the screen earlier, so I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy) said that voices from this country’s delegation were united in support of the speech from the hon. Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) about the importance of human rights, particularly gay rights.

[Mr Swire]

The hon. Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy), who speaks for the Opposition, clearly made an excellent speech—I regret to say that I have not read it, but I shall certainly do so at the earliest opportunity. If you will permit me, Mr Gray, before I turn to Sri Lanka, I will quickly address some of the questions raised by the hon. Member for Rotherham, because the debate was designed to cover more than that topic.

The hon. Lady asked about early forced marriage, which I completely agree is entirely repugnant. Through our forced marriage unit, a joint Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Home Department operation, we directly support anyone at risk in the UK and British nationals abroad. We will continue to strengthen protection for those facing forced marriage. We provide training for professionals to help them to identify potential victims and improve awareness of the issues, so that those at risk, including children and young people, know where to go for support. I am sure that there is more that we can and should do, but we are entirely at one on how morally repugnant such marriages are and on female genital mutilation, about which I feel strongly. People in this country, where alas is it all too pervasive, are finally taking it seriously.

The hon. Lady also raised the death penalty in Nigeria. We are of course appalled that the execution of four prisoners on 4 June ended Nigeria’s seven-year moratorium on the death penalty. We consider the executions to be a serious setback for human rights there. We urge the Nigerian Government to halt further executions. It is worth reiterating the Government’s position: we oppose the death penalty in all circumstances. We lose no opportunity to make that clear to those who still use it.

The hon. Lady raised the proposed anti-homosexuality Bill in Uganda. We have raised our concerns with the Ugandan Government at the highest levels. The Foreign Secretary raised the issue with Sam Kutesa, the Ugandan Foreign Minister, during a bilateral meeting held in the margins of the Somalia conference on 7 May. We are in close contact with civil society groups and, through support for training, advocacy and legal cases, we support efforts to improve human rights in Uganda, including campaigns for LGBT rights. Commonwealth membership is based on shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and it is clear that the Commonwealth’s credibility is linked to its ability to uphold and protect those core values.

The debate has come at a crucial moment. The Commonwealth’s ministerial action group has a new, stronger mandate to protect standards of governance and human rights—it is time for CMAG to live up to that mandate.