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Written Question
Nigeria: Christianity
Tuesday 1st September 2020

Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the extent to which Nigerian national or state Government officials have been involved in either preventing or allowing incidences of persecution and human rights abuses to take place against Christians in Nigeria.

Answered by James Duddridge

The UK Government is firmly committed to promoting and protecting human rights around the world. We have made clear to the Nigerian authorities at the highest levels the importance of protecting civilians, including all ethnic and religious groups, and human rights for all Nigerians.

We are aware of allegations of Nigerian military or government complicity in attacks on communities of all faiths in Nigeria. However, we do not assess that there is systemic complicity by the Nigerian authorities in the persecution of any peoples in Nigeria. The Nigerian Armed Forces are deployed in North East Nigeria to tackle the threat from terrorist groups including Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa, who continue to cause immense suffering on communities of all faiths. Through our engagement and programmatic activity in Nigeria, the UK Government is supporting efforts to bring about the long-term changes needed to improve human rights compliance. For example, UK capacity building training for the Nigerian Armed Forces specifically includes topics on human rights compliance and rules of engagement.

In January, the Prime Minister discussed insecurity in Nigeria with President Buhari. In June, I raised security concerns in Nigeria with President Buhari's Chief of Staff. We will continue to monitor levels of violence in Nigeria, and to push for allegations of human rights abuses to be investigated and for those responsible to be held to account.

Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 06 Jul 2020
Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime

"May I add my voice to the congratulations to the Foreign Secretary? This has been a personal crusade of his and this is a great moment not just for him, but for the Government and the country as well. May I press him to go a bit further and a …..."
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Written Question
Corruption and Human Rights
Monday 29th October 2018

Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the obstacles to the publication by the Government of a Magnitsky-style list.

Answered by Mark Field

Although not yet commenced, The Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 includes the powers to sanction individuals for a range of purposes, which are set out in Section 1 of the Act.

Before HMG can fully operationalise the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act (2018), the Government must ensure it has the necessary procedures and frameworks in place. This work is underway.

Once we have left the EU and it has come into force the government will publish the names of all those sanctioned under the Act on the appropriate government website (gov.uk).

Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 02 Jul 2018
Detainee Mistreatment and Rendition

"The Minister has rightly pointed out the unprecedented and extremely difficult position that many UK security operatives were in at the time, but the fact remains that clearly some terrible things were done. The ISC report says:

“the UK tolerated actions, and took others, that we regard as inexcusable.”

This …..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 01 May 2018
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill [Lords]

"I was about to ask the same question, and the answer that the Minister has just given will be enormously reassuring to many of us, particularly because the thing that many of these kleptocrats and organised criminals really fear is the glare of public disclosure...."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 01 May 2018
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill [Lords]

"May I just follow up on that last point? It is not just trusts that are an essential and major omission here. It is also other kinds of assets, including real estate, mineral rights, debt and bonds. Unless we have complete and comprehensive registers in due course, my worry, and …..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 01 May 2018
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill [Lords]

"I completely back up what my right hon. Friend is saying. The time for global action must be now. We need to use the lead that we will create by imposing this measure to drive and exert a global leadership. It must be about not just the transparency of company …..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 20 Feb 2018
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill [Lords]

"As the Prime Minister’s anti-corruption champion, I am listening very carefully to what my right hon. Friend is suggesting. He mentioned existing legal powers. Does he have any sense of how often they are being used at the moment, even though he believes they are relatively narrowly defined?..."
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Tue 20 Dec 2016
UK Nationals Imprisoned Abroad

"The right hon. Gentleman is being very generous in giving way, and is laying out his case carefully and strongly. I congratulate him on securing this important debate. May I pursue this question? He has already stated that Mr Tsege may quite possibly have been the victim of a crime …..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 18 Oct 2016
Oral Answers to Questions

"T6. Evidence from Syria of hospitals and aid convoys being deliberately targeted and bombed have horrified and outraged people around the world. The Foreign Secretary has already said those responsible should be held to account in the International Criminal Court and that the Russians and the Assad regime are primarily …..."
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