Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with Kurdish authorities on the release of (a) Sherwan Sherwani, (b) Guhdar Zebari and (c) other political prisoners in the Kurdish region of Iraq.

The UK is committed to pressing the case for improvements in the human rights situation in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), and we consistently raise our issues about restrictions on freedom of expression, in particular the conviction and sentencing of journalists and political activists. During his visit to the KRI in March the Minister for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon raised concerns over restrictions on media freedom with senior figures in the Kurdistan Regional Government. Our Ambassador in Baghdad, and our Consul General in Erbil, also raise these issues regularly with senior figures in the Kurdistan Regional Government, including the Prime Minister and President, and meet Kurdish journalists and members of civil society to discuss their concerns.