Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking steps to help ensure the immediate and unconditional release of political prisoners in Bahrain.

Officials and ministers have regular discussions with senior Bahraini counterparts on human rights issues, most recently during Lord (tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon's meeting with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Dr Abdullatif Al Zayani in September in New York. We continue to monitor developments on all matters that relate to human rights within Bahrain and discuss individual cases both with the Bahraini Government as well as with the independent oversight bodies.