---

United States House of Representatives

Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in obtaining the hearings and reports from the United States House of Representatives on house joint resolution 220 of the 97th Congress, session one ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Waldegrave : We have asked Her Majesty's embassy in Washington to try to obtain copies of these reports. These will be deposited in the Library of the House.

Dr. Peter Southwell

Miss Hoey : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent action has been taken by Her Majesty's Government to ascertain the whereabouts of Dr. Peter Southwell, a British citizen missing in Kenya.

Mr. Sainsbury : The British High Commission in Nairobi is in regular contact with the Kenyan authorities about the progress of the latter's investigations into the disappearance of Dr. Southwell. To date, the investigations have proved inconclusive.

Iran

Mr. Crowther : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has about public executions in Iran since the death of the Ayatollah Khomeini.

Mr. Waldegrave : We have consistently condemned violations of human rights in Iran. We continue to be disturbed by reports of summary executions there. We therefore welcome the decision of the Iranian authorities to accept a visit by the United Nations special representative on human rights in Iran and urge them to co-operate fully with his investigations.

Visas

Mr. Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will reduce the cost of visas which Hungarian students require to come to the United Kingdom on student exchanges.

Mr. Sainsbury : No. Visa fees are levied at the same rates on a world wide basis, irrespective of the nationality of the applicant and the purpose of travel.

---

Column 334

Human Rights Day

Mr. Archer : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans the Government have to celebrate human rights day 1989.

Mr. Sainsbury : We have no particular plans to celebrate human rights day. The best way for all nations to do so is by better observance of human rights in accordance with the universal declaration of human rights.

Burundi

Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy on the use of the joint funding scheme for funding development projects being carried out by British non- governmental organisations in Burundi.

Mr. Waldegrave : There is no predetermined geographical allocation of resources under the joint funding scheme. Non-governmental organisations are free to submit long-term development project proposals for most developing countries, including Burundi. Decisions on funding rest on the quality and relevance of those project proposals.

HIV (Central Africa)

Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he intends to launch any specific programme to aid those regions of Central Africa where the HIV infection rate appears to exceed 30 per cent. of the population.

Mr. Waldegrave : According to the World Health Organisation, no country in Africa is known to have an HIV infection rate of 30 per cent. or more in the general population.

Subject to parliamentary approval, we shall contribute a further £4.5 million to the WHO's global programme on AIDS in 1990, bringing the total committed so far to £16.83 million. All countries in Africa collaborating with the WHO benefit from this contribution. In addition, we have agreed to provide £6 million so far through WHO to national AIDs programmes in 10 countries in Africa where we can build on our existing health assistance programmes. We stand ready to help further where we can and where countries can absorb more assistance.

---