Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent meetings he has had with Bahraini human rights advocates.

Our Ambassador and his team in Bahrain, and FCO officials in the UK, regularly meet with Bahraini civil society and NGOs to seek the widest views possible. Our engagement is constructive and focused on supporting political and human rights reform. In June, my predecessor, Rt Hon Sir Hugh Robertson MP KCMG, visited Bahrain and met a wide range of representatives including human rights defenders and civil society groups to hear their views on the political and human rights situation.

We commend the steps taken by the Bahraini government to implement the recommendations set out in the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry. As outlined in our recent human rights case study on Bahrain, progress has been made in a number of areas but there is still more to be done.