Asked by: Lord Selkirk of Douglas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of reports that Russian soldiers are castrating Ukrainian prisoners in prisoner of war camps, what assessment they have made of whether Russian soldiers are repeatedly committing crimes against humanity.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine is marked by increasing evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Ukrainian service personnel and civilians, including executions, torture and sexual violence. We are fully committed to holding Russian forces to account for any atrocities that have been committed in Ukraine. Established accountability mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court's investigations and Ukrainian domestic judicial processes are investigating all allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The UK continues to support these independent investigations, including by establishing the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group with the US and EU to provide practical and financial support to assist the War Crimes Unit of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
Asked by: Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has offered (a) police support, (b) legal support and (c) other technical support to the International Criminal Court to facilitate its work investigating and prosecuting genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK remains a staunch advocate for justice and supports the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in investigating war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. We provide assistance to the ICC in line with our obligations under Part 9 of the Rome Statute. The UK is under a duty of confidentiality in relation to specific requests for cooperation received from the Court as set out in article 87(3) of the Rome Statute. The UK has also provided further voluntary donations in response to requests from the ICC Office of the Prosecutor. Separately, outside of our work with the ICC, we are scoping potential remote monitoring mechanisms with the capacity to collect and preserve digital content pertaining to potential international crimes.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is investigating reports off mass burial sites in Mariupol.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The UK is fully committed to holding Russia to account for its actions in Ukraine. Established accountability mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court's investigations and Ukrainian domestic judicial processes are investigating all allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The UK continues to support these independent investigations, including by establishing the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group with the US and EU to provide practical and financial support to assist the War Crimes Unit of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking diplomatic steps to investigate potential mass burial sites in Mariupol.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The UK is fully committed to holding Russia to account for its actions in Ukraine. Established accountability mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court's investigations and Ukrainian domestic judicial processes are investigating all allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The UK continues to support these independent investigations, including by establishing the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group with the US and EU to provide practical and financial support to assist the War Crimes Unit of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answers of 14 July 2022 to Question 29907 and of 6 September 2023 to Question 40743 on Genocide: Rwanda, whether she has had recent discussions with the Metropolitan Police Service regarding Rwandan nationals in the UK allegedly involved in war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide or torture in relation to the 1994 genocide; and what information her Department holds on when those investigations will be completed; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
All meetings held by the Home Secretary in her Ministerial capacity are routinely released in quarterly Departmental transparency returns. The latest transparency returns can be found here: Home Office: ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Metropolitan Police has national responsibility for carrying out UK police inquiries for the investigation of all allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and torture. The Home Office do not hold information as to when any police investigations are likely to conclude. The Home Secretary will not be making a statement at this time.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to applying universal jurisdiction as a means of bringing to justice those who have committed atrocity crimes, but have evaded prosecution in international courts or domestic courts in other jurisdictions.
Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton
The International Criminal Court Act 2001 and The International Criminal Court (Scotland) Act 2001 allows jurisdiction over the offences of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed abroad by any person who: (i) is/was a UK national or UK resident at the time of the crime; or (ii) became a UK national or UK resident after the crime and still resides in the UK when proceedings are brought. Criminal law in the United Kingdom provides for universal jurisdiction over the crimes of torture and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, allowing prosecutorial authorities to investigate and prosecute these offences under certain conditions when they were committed abroad by foreign nationals. The relevant prosecuting authorities from across the UK will bring individuals to justice wherever possible, in line with their respective prosecutorial policies. Universal jurisdiction has been applied in the past in the UK, including in the case against Agnes Taylor who was accused of participating in crimes of torture during the first Liberian Civil War.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Stewart of Dirleton on 25 April (HL6969), how many requests to prosecute cases of international crimes were received by the Attorney General in the last five years; and how many of those were granted.
Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton
The Attorney General’s consent is required for the prosecution in England and Wales of several international crimes. These include: grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, contrary to the Geneva Conventions Act 1957; genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes, contrary to the International Criminal Court Act 2001; torture, contrary to the Criminal Justice Act 1988; and hostage-taking, contrary to the Taking of Hostages Act 1982. In the last five years, in relation to the above international crimes, the Attorney General’s Office has received one application for consent to prosecute. Consent was not granted. |
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform the law on universal jurisdiction; and in particular, what plans they have to expand the scope of section 51 of the International Criminal Court Act 2001, namely the group of perpetrators who can be tried for international crimes in domestic courts.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The criminal law of England and Wales provides for universal jurisdiction over the crimes of torture and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, allowing national authorities to investigate and prosecute these offences under certain conditions when they were committed abroad by foreign nationals. The International Criminal Court Act 2001 allows jurisdiction over the offences of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed abroad by any person who: (i) is/was a UK national or UK resident at the time of the crime; or (ii) became a UK national or UK resident after the crime and still resides in the UK when proceedings are brought. There are no plans to reform the law on universal jurisdiction.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what assessment she has made of the ability of Ukraine and its international partners to (a) gather and (b) analyse evidence of Russian war crimes for the Special Tribunal in Ukraine.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
On 20 January 2023, the Foreign Secretary announced that the UK will play a leading role in a core group of likeminded partners to pursue criminal accountability for Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Alongside other international partners invited by Ukraine, the UK will shape thinking on how to ensure criminal accountability for Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. An investigation into the Crime of Aggression by any new tribunal could complement established mechanisms investigating war crimes, including the International Criminal Court and Ukraine’s domestic investigations and prosecutions. In joining this additional core group focused on Crimes of Aggression, the UK will complement its support on those other mechanisms in pursuit of accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide. Investigations for those international crimes are well underway, supported by UK initiatives such as the UK-US-EU Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group, and judicial training by Sir Howard Morrison KC and Uk-based Advocates for International Development. On 4 March 2023, it was announced that an International Centre for the Prosecution of Crimes of Aggression against Ukraine will be established in The Hague, within the structure of Eurojust’s Joint Investigation Team for Ukraine. |
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the risk of genocide from the targeting of Hazara Muslims in Afghanistan.
Answered by Leo Docherty
FCDO officials regularly press the Taliban to protect religious and ethnic minorities. On 8 December 2022, Lord Ahmad, the Minister of State for South Asia, met Hazara representatives who provided useful insight on the situation. It is HMG policy that it is for a competent national or international court, such as the International Criminal Court, to determine whether crimes against humanity and genocide have been committed and who is responsible.