Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if the Government will prioritise the issue of extrajudicial executions and torture in detention in its discussions with (a) the Syrian authorities and (b) states that support the Syrian Government, in its role as a member of the International Syria Support Group.

At the UN Human Rights Council, the UK asked the Syrian regime about unlawful detentions during the Universal Periodic Review of Syria in October 2016. Within the Review, we also questioned the regime about torture and disappearances of detainees from formal and informal detention centres in areas under state control and called for the release of those unlawfully detained. The UK as a member of the International Syria Support Group raised its concerns about detainees, and the Group called for any party holding detainees to protect their health and safety in its statement of 17 May 2016.