Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions Ministers in his Department have had with the government of Kazakstan on human rights, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion.

The Prime Minister, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), visited Kazakhstan last year and had a wide ranging discussion on human rights with President Nazarbayev. The former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), raised human rights concerns with the Kazakhstani Foreign Minister during the latter’s visit to London in November last year. My Rt. Hon. noble Friend the former Senior Minister of State Baroness Warsi visited Kazakhstan in April and discussed a number of human rights issues with Kazakhstani interlocutors, building on previous visits and conversations.

We continue to raise our concerns about human rights, freedoms of expression, assembly and religion directly with the Government of Kazakhstan, and in relevant international fora, at every appropriate opportunity.