Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 24 January (HL4611), whether the UK played any role in awarding the EU Chaillot Prize to the Bahraini Ministry of Interior Ombudsman in 2014; and if so, what efforts they made to lobby others to secure that result.

The UK supported the decision to award the Chaillot Prize to the Ministry of Interior Ombudsman in 2014. The decision was reached through consensus by all 28 EU Member States. The UK believes that a body that has the power to investigate allegations of mistreatment in a timely, independent and transparent manner can be of great benefit to Bahraini society.