Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that religious persecution is on the agenda for the next session of the Human Rights Council.

The UK will co-sponsor the regular resolution on Freedom of Religion or Belief tabled by the EU at the next session of the UN Human Rights Council in March 2015. The UK also supports the work of Professor Heiner Bielefeldt , the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. He will deliver his annual presentation to the Human Rights Council at the March 2015 session, followed by an interactive dialogue during which we intend to make a statement.