Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Russian counterpart on human rights in Chechnya; and if he will make a statement.

We are deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Chechnya, and have raised this in several public statements, as well as bilaterally with Russia. The UK, joined by 31 other countries, delivered a statement to the UN Human Rights Council on the persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya on 18 March. I also raised this issue directly with my Russian counterpart, First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov, in the margins of the Munich Security Conference in February. On 19 March, the Foreign Secretary publicly called for the release of Chechen human rights activist Oyub Titiev, following his sentencing to four years in prison. In November 2018, the UK was one of 16 countries to invoke the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Moscow Mechanism to investigate allegations of human rights abuses in Chechnya. We will continue to urge Russia to follow the recommendations outlined in the report of the Moscow Mechanism.