Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the UN Human Rights Council (a) condemning the detention and torture of female human rights activists in Saudi Arabia and (b) requesting the release of those women.

The British Government is very concerned about the reports that women's rights activists have been subject to torture during pre-trial detention in Saudi Arabia. We consistently and unreservedly condemn torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and it is a priority for us to combat this wherever and whenever it occurs. We have raised concerns about these cases at Ministerial level a number of times with the Saudi authorities.