Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2018 to Question 168121 on Armed Forces: Training, what account his Department takes of the human rights records of those countries prior to engaging in training those countries' armed forces.

The Government applies its Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) human rights guidance to ensure that assistance offered to international partners meets its human rights obligations and values. Defence personnel consider the OSJA guidance for all new assistance proposals and extensions to existing assistance activity, and where a substantial change in circumstances has significantly altered the risk for existing assistance. The guidance is therefore considered in any country where assistance is planned. Authority for activity underpinned by OSJA assessments is made at different levels according to the risk, from personnel in-country to Ministers in Departments of State.