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Peru
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monitoring is being undertaken by United Kingdom representatives of the electoral process in Peru. [110489]
Mr. Battle: Presidential and Congressional elections will be held in Peru on 9 April. We sponsored the visit to Peru in January of an electoral expert from Electoral Reform International Services to help the Defensoria (an umbrella organisation representing numerous human rights and civic groups in Peru) to supervise the electoral process, and are considering sponsoring a follow-up visit in March. The British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union has accepted an invitation from the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send election observers in April. In addition, we have contributed £20,000 to support plans by the Peruvian Ombudsman's office to supervise the electoral system.
Austria
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to monitor human rights in Austria. [110588]
Mr. Vaz: We have welcomed the commitments made by the new Austrian Government to abide by the common obligations and values of EU membership, to combat all forms of discrimination, and to deal with Austria's Nazi past; and we have made clear our hope that their actions will fully match their words.
Sanctions Policy
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the sanctions policy towards (a) Yugoslavia and (b) Iraq. [110587]
Mr. Hain: UN sanctions against the former Yugoslavia played an important role in bringing Milosevic to the negotiating table at Dayton. EU sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have been targeted to
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place additional pressure on the repressive regime, restricting the ability of Milosevic and his associates to travel and to finance their activities and underlining the political isolation of Serbia from the European mainstream.
Sanctions against Iraq have successfully contained Saddam Hussein for over nine years and have significantly reduced the threat from his weapons of mass destruction. The effort the Iraqi regime and its friends put into their campaign to have sanctions lifted is evidence of the impact of sanctions on the Iraqi leadership.
Tibet
Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Chinese Government about reports that Tibetan woman are to be compulsorily sterilised after their second child. [111019]
Mr. Battle: We raised our concerns about these reports with the Chinese, at official level, during the UK/China Human Rights Dialogue which took place in Beijing from 16-18 February.
Sombrero
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is towards the proposal by Andrew Beal to lease for the Government of Anguilla the Island of Sombrero for a rocket launch pad to carry telecommunications satellites. [111231]
Mr. Vaz: It is for the Government of Anguilla to respond to the request by Andrew Beal for permission to build a rocket launching pad on Sombrero Island. The Government of Anguilla have requested technical advice from Her Majesty's Government to help them decide on this planning proposal. This is to allow the Government of Anguilla to investigate thoroughly the proposal's many implications and reach an informed decision. When the Outer Space Act 1986 is extended to Anguilla the Governor will have the discretion to set the terms and grant licences for individual launch missions.