Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support he is providing to the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of that group on prosecutions for war crimes committed in Ukraine.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK, in partnership with the EU and the US, launched the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA) in May 2022. Its mission is to support the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine (OPG), and to ensure efficient coordination of our respective support to accountability efforts on the ground, including facilitating the deployment of financial resources and skilled personnel. UK funding for this work has totalled £6.2 million to date. ACA has made significant progress in supporting the OPG, including through the case-mapping and prioritisation of over 170,000 recorded atrocity crimes. ACA's Mobile Justice Teams operate on the ground across Ukraine to support OPG investigations, including in areas such as evidence collection and case building.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to increase support for international justice initiatives aimed at prosecuting people responsible for (a) war crimes and (b) crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. As early as February 2022, the UK led efforts to expedite an ICC investigation into Russian war crimes in Ukraine. The ICC's investigation is ongoing, with several arrest warrants already issued.
The UK has led the way in ensuring the ICC has the resources and support necessary to conduct its independent investigations, including by seconding personnel to support the Ukraine investigation. The UK is one of the Court's major funders, providing £13.6 million to the annual budget in 2025.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce the economic (a) stability and (b) powers of people involved in human rights abuses in Sudan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK condemns human rights violations and abuses committed by the warring parties in Sudan. Since the outbreak of the conflict in 2023, the UK has frozen the assets of nine commercial entities linked to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces. These sanctions were designed to disrupt the financial networks fuelling the war, to press the parties to engage in a sustained and meaningful peace process, allow humanitarian access and to commit to a permanent cessation of hostilities. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the UK also supported the imposition of UN sanctions on two RSF generals for their crimes against civilians in November 2024. We will continue to work closely with partners at the UN Security Council to enforce these. UK leadership has been critical to the continued scrutiny of Sudan at the UN Human Rights Council, where we are the leader of the Core Group alongside Germany and Norway. The UK also led lobbying for the renewal of the Fact-Finding Mission mandate in October 2024 to ensure allegations of human rights violations and abuses by all sides are investigated impartially.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he has taken to sanction people involved in human rights abuses in Sudan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK condemns human rights violations and abuses committed by the warring parties in Sudan. Since the outbreak of the conflict in 2023, the UK has frozen the assets of nine commercial entities linked to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces. These sanctions were designed to disrupt the financial networks fuelling the war, to press the parties to engage in a sustained and meaningful peace process, allow humanitarian access and to commit to a permanent cessation of hostilities. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the UK also supported the imposition of UN sanctions on two RSF generals for their crimes against civilians in November 2024. We will continue to work closely with partners at the UN Security Council to enforce these. UK leadership has been critical to the continued scrutiny of Sudan at the UN Human Rights Council, where we are the leader of the Core Group alongside Germany and Norway. The UK also led lobbying for the renewal of the Fact-Finding Mission mandate in October 2024 to ensure allegations of human rights violations and abuses by all sides are investigated impartially.
Asked by: Uma Kumaran (Labour - Stratford and Bow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 52505 on Sri Lanka: War Crimes, for what reason his Department provided legal representation to the freedom of information tribunal against the application for Major David Walker to be summoned to give evidence.
Answered by Catherine West
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) takes seriously its statutory obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and has complied with all relevant directions issued by the Tribunal. The FCDO accepts the Tribunal's decision of March 2024 not to call Mr Walker as a witness in the case. It would be inappropriate for the FCDO to comment any further on ongoing legal proceedings.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to support any cases going before any international courts relating to the removal of children from Ukraine by Russia.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued warrants of arrest for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova for crimes linked to the deportation of children. It is an independent court and carries out its investigations impartially and without government interference. We are supporting the work of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and the ICC to ensure allegations of war crimes in Ukraine are fully and fairly investigated by independent and robust legal mechanisms. We welcome progress made by the ICC in its active investigation, including the arrest warrants for individuals connected to the forced deportation of Ukrainian children.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to (a) support and (b) help uphold human rights in Syria.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has consistently advocated for an inclusive political transition and underlined the importance of protecting the rights of all Syrians, both publicly and as part of our engagement with the Government of Syria. We have been clear that civilians must be protected from violence and those responsible held to account. Our regular engagement with and support to Syrian civil society focuses on protecting and advocating for human rights and gender equality, ensuring an inclusive transitional process and supporting social cohesion. Through the Integrated Security Fund, we are also funding programmes to document human rights violations and support the trial and convictions of perpetrators of war crimes, including sexual violence.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) questions Ukrainian personnel are asked and (b) checks on their criminal past are conducted by the UK (i) military and (ii) civilian enforcement agencies when they arrive in the UK to undergo military training as part of Operation Interflex.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Declared Overt Polling Team (DOPT) ask questions to understand the backgrounds of Ukrainian personnel, including levels of education, where they are from, whether they experienced war crimes, lived under occupation and any military experience. The question sets are agreed by the Ukrainian General Staff and the data is owned by the Ukrainian state.
As with the majority of NATO Member and Partner Forces visiting or training in the UK, Ukrainian personnel entering the UK are administered per the provisions in the Visiting Forces Act 1952 and the Partnership for Peace Status of Forces Agreement, as agreed by UK and Ukrainian Ministries of Defence. As part of these arrangements, criminal checks are not conducted.
Asked by: Uma Kumaran (Labour - Stratford and Bow)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information his Department holds on whether former SAS soldiers working in private mercenary companies had any involvement in the committing of war crimes during the Sri Lankan civil war.
Answered by Catherine West
The UK Government is committed to human rights in Sri Lanka for all its communities and will continue to press for truth, reconciliation, accountability and justice for victims of the Sri Lankan civil war. On 24 March, the Foreign Secretary announced sanctions on four Sri Lankan individuals responsible for serious human rights abuses and violations during the Sri Lanka civil war.
We take very seriously the allegations raised in relation to the committing of war crimes during the conflict in Sri Lanka. In March 2020, the Metropolitan Police War Crimes Team received a referral regarding British mercenaries in Sri Lanka during the 1980s which started an investigation into these claims. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has previously assisted the police in relation to this matter but does not hold any relevant information. We are not able to provide further comment on the content of relevant information, as the investigation by the police is ongoing.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his policy is on the provision of potential evidence possessed by the Government of (a) genocide, (b) war crimes, (c) crimes against humanity and (d) crimes of aggression to the International Criminal Court (i) where the evidence is relevant to an ongoing case before the ICC and (ii) in other circumstances.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Support for international criminal justice and accountability is a fundamental element of our foreign policy. The International Criminal Court is the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern. We strongly support its work and endeavour to cooperate with the Court wherever possible.