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Human Rights
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if it is his policy to determine which former (a) Ministers, (b) senior armed forces personnel and (c) heads of state have records of human rights abuse; what relevant files have been communicated to (i) the Home Office and (ii) legal departments; and if he will make a statement. [118018]
Mr. Hain: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office passes specific allegations of criminal offences by foreign nationals that fall within the jurisdiction of the UK courts to the relevant UK authorities. Specific allegations of crimes which may fall within the jurisdiction of International Criminal Tribunals are also passed to the Tribunal concerned.
EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the EU intends to submit its planned Charter of Fundamental Rights to the European Court of Human Rights to ensure its compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights. [118271]
Mr. Vaz: The Cologne Conclusions state that the Charter
- should contain the fundamental rights and freedoms as well as the procedural rights
guaranteed by the ECHR. To ensure compatibility between the Charter and the ECHR the drafting Convention has invited Council of Europe observers actively to participate in all its meetings. I am not aware of any current plans to submit the Charter to the European Court of Human Rights.
Mr. Vaz: The Council has not yet considered this issue. The Cologne Conclusions state that the question of
- whether and if so how the Charter should be integrated into the Treaties
will only be considered once the drafting body has presented its draft before the Nice European Council in December 2000.
EU Veto and Commissioners
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) in which areas the British Government intend to retain their veto in EU negotiations; [118107]
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- (2) what the Government's policy is in respect of reducing the number of Commissioners from the larger EU member states. [118106]
Mr. Vaz [holding answer 7 April 2000]: The Government's position on both these issues is clearly set out in the White Paper laid before this House on 15 February.
European Parliament
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the Government's policy in respect of proportional representation for the European Parliament on a Europe-wide list system. [118105]
Mr. Vaz [holding answer 7 April 2000]: The Government see little merit in a Europe-wide list system for the European Parliament. Nor is it an idea which has so far attracted any serious support from other member states in the Intergovernmental Conference.
European Court of Justice
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is in respect of strengthened powers for the European Court of Justice. [118104]
Mr. Vaz [holding answer 7 April 2000]: The Government are in favour of a strong and effective European Court of Justice. We support reforms that will allow the Court to cope more quickly and efficiently with a workload that will be increased further with enlargement.
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Sierra Leone
Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on UK policy towards Sierra Leone. [118769]
Mr. Hain: We are committed to helping the Government and people of Sierra Leone and people of Sierra Leone restore sustainable peace and security after a brutal civil war. We are also encouraging wider support for Sierra Leone from the international community.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development jointly chaired with representatives of the UN and the World bank at a high level conference on Sierra Leone at Lancaster House on 27 March. This resulted in pledges of new assistance totalling more than £40,5 million, including a further £17.5 million from DFID. Donors reaffirmed political support for the peace process, and agreed to speed up implementation of their programmes in Sierra Leone.
We have agreed with the Government of Sierra Leone that a number of the weapons and ammunition which we provided last year for the new Sierra Leone Army can be used temporarily by the new police force. This will help meet an urgent requirement for armed police to deploy in support of the UN peacekeeping force, and help promote peace and security.
We have also decided also to establish a UK-led Military Advisory and Training Team (MATT) of up to 90 personnel. This will provide advice and training to help the Government of Sierra Leone to build new, democratically accountable and effective armed forces, with a strengthened civilian Ministry of Defence. The UK contribution to the MATT will be funded by the FCO, MOD and DFID. The UK will provide the majority of the personnel, but other countries with an interest in building peace in Sierra Leone will also contribute. Work will begin as soon as possible.