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Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department on how many occasions he has deposited papers in the Library in response to parliamentary questions tabled to his Department between 19 October 1999 and 20 April. [132128]

Mr. Lock: According to departmental records covering the relevant period, papers were deposited in the Library on 27 occasions in response to parliamentary questions.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

British Council

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what new British Council offices have been opened in the last 12 months. [131801]

Mr. Hain: The following new British Council offices have opened in the last 12 months:







This list does not include branch offices in towns and cities with pre-existing operations.

Rachel McGee

Mr. Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements were made by the consular staff in Cuba to facilitate payment for private legal assistance to Rachel McGee prior to her trial there in September 1999. [131908]

Mr. Hain [holding answer 21 July 2000]: On 18 March 1999 Consular Division in London contacted Ms McGee's mother, Mrs. Griffen, about the cost of private legal assistance for Rachel. This was estimated by Bufete Internacional, the Cuban law firm that is allowed to represent foreign nationals, to be a minimum of US$2000.

Mrs. Griffen deposited US$2000 with Consular Division on 6 April 1999. The money was made available to our Embassy in Cuba on the same day.

On 23 April 1999 Consular Division told Mrs. Griffen that the costs of the lawyer was now estimated by Bufete Internacional to be US$5000. Mrs. Griffen decided she could not afford that amount.

Mrs. Griffen asked our consular staff in Cuba to use the money deposited with them to fund her visit to Cuba.

Mr. Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial assistance for the payment of private legal assistance consular staff in Cuba offered to Rachel McGee prior to her trial there in September 1999. [131909]

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Mr. Hain [holding answer 21 July 2000]: None. There is no provision for public funds for legal assistance for British Nationals overseas.

Mr. Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the British consular staff in Cuba were acting on the understanding that Rachel McGee had waived her right (a) to give evidence and (b) for a lawyer to represent her, at her trial there in September 1999. [131910]

Mr. Hain [holding answer 21 July 2000]: The information is as follows:




The Consul met with Rachel at court prior to the trial. Up to then she had not said that she did not want to give evidence nor had she indicated that she did not want a lawyer to represent her.

Mr. Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times lawyers from the law firm that is allowed to represent foreign nationals in Cuba (a) met Rachel McGee prior to her trial in Cuba in September 1999 and (b) discussed the case with her during or after her trial. [131911]

Mr. Hain [holding answer 21 July 2000]: The information is as follows:


Westminster Foundation for Democracy

Mr. Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the annual report of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy will be published. [132739]

Mr. Hain: I have arranged for copies of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy's annual report to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses today.

The Foundation has continued its crucial work in building and strengthening democracy overseas during the last 12 months. In 1999-2000 the Foundation managed 656 projects in almost 60 countries working with political parties, the media, trade unions, local government, legal organisations and human rights, civil society and women's groups.

The Foundation received a grant-in-aid of £4 million from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, a further £460,734 of earmarked funds for specific projects and £121,669 from corporate supporters and the National Lottery Charities Board.

Most of the Foundation's activities were in its priority areas which are Central and Eastern Europe; the Commonwealth of Independent States and Anglophone Africa. The Foundation has also carried out important projects in Asia and the Middle East.

In addition to its core projects, the Foundation has provided timely and effective responses to the need for technical assistance in the Balkans, especially in Kosovo, Serbia and Bosnia, to take forward work on political and civic development.

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Entry Clearance

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he plans to publish the report of the 1998 Joint (Foreign and Commonwealth Office/Home Office) Study on entry clearance. [132740]

Mr. Vaz: The Joint Study report on entry clearance has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. The Study was conducted between January and April 1998, by officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Home Office, Cabinet Office and Treasury. Its conclusions led to the establishment of the new Joint Entry Clearance Unit (JECU) as part of the Government's wider commitment to providing a 'fairer, faster and firmer' entry clearance process. The study report may be of interest to Members in the context of the Memorandum of Understanding agreed between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Home Office, which was placed in the Libraries on 7 June.

Diego Garcia

Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the position of the former residents of Diego Garcia. [132386]

Mr. Hain: I am aware that some of the former residents (Ilois) of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) seek a right of return, and to this end proceedings have been brought in the High Court in London which challenge the validity of the BIOT Immigration Ordinance. The matter is still before the Court. The outer islands of the territory have been uninhabited for 30 years so any resettlement would present serious problems both because of the practical feasibility and in relation to our treaty obligations. But a study has been commissioned from independent consultants to consider the former issues in more detail.

Most of the Ilois live in Mauritius where they are Mauritian citizens. Since they left the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) Her Majesty's Government has given over £4 million to the Government of Mauritius to assist with their integration into Mauritian society.

Sandra Gregory

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he made to the Thai authorities during his recent visit to Bangkok in support of Sandra Gregory's application for a royal pardon. [131978]

Mr. Hain: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State did not make any specific representations about any consular cases during his recent visit to Thailand, though the Government of course continues to discuss Consular issues with the Government of Thailand on other occasions.

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of when the request for a Royal Pardon submitted to the King of Thailand on behalf of Sandra Gregory is likely to be responded to. [131979]

Mr. Hain: The hon. Member may already be aware that on 20 July the Thai Foreign Ministry informed our Ambassador in Bangkok that His Majesty the King of

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Thailand had granted a Royal Pardon to Sandra Gregory. Miss Gregory and her parents were informed of the news the same day by staff in our Consular Division.

United Nations

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on which days he plans to attend the United Nations Millennium Summit; on which days he will be represented by his Ministers; and if he will make a statement. [131016]

Mr. Hain: My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister will head the UK delegation to the United Nations Millennium Summit. His full programme and the exact composition of the UK delegation have yet to be finalised.

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what objectives the Government seek to achieve at the United Nations Millennium Summit; what specific reforms the Government will be seeking; and if he will make a statement. [131017]

Mr. Hain: The UK wants the Millennium Summit, through wide-ranging discussion on the role of the UN in the 21st Century, to result in an action-oriented concluding document which sets the UN forward-looking objectives on a range of key issues, as outlined by the UN Secretary-General in his Millennium Report.

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which of the Core Group of Multilateral Treaties and Optional Protocols deposited with the Secretary-General which are representative of the United Nations key objectives for the Millennium Summit the UK has not signed and ratified, stating in each case (a) the reasons for non-signature and ratification and (b) when the Government plans to give UK assent; and if he will make a statement. [131019]

Mr. Hain: This Government remain dedicated to the international rule of law. Of the 25 treaties listed by the UN Secretary-General as representative of the United Nations' key objectives, the United Kingdom is a Party to 16 and has also ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear- Test-Ban Treaty, which has yet to come into effect.

My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister expects to be able to sign the First Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, at the Millennium Summit in September. The UK is looking closely at the implications for the UK armed forces of the Second Optional Protocol, on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and intends to sign in the near future.

Legislation is currently in preparation to enable the United Kingdom to ratify two more of the treaties on the list which it has already signed. The Government intend to make the United Kingdom one of the first 60 states to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The Terrorism Bill contains provisions which will enable us to ratify early next year the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings and the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. The Government attach great importance to universal adherence to both these Conventions.

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The Government expect to begin the ratification procedure for the Kyoto Protocol after the Conference of the Parties to the Protocol in The Hague in November, assuming it has a satisfactory outcome. This would coincide with the ratification by other EU member states.

After a thorough review of our obligations under international human rights treaties in 1999, we concluded that accession to the First Optional Protocol to ICCPR and the Optional Protocol to CEDAW, which call for the right of individual petition, would affect the major work under way in preparing for and implementing the Human Rights Act 1998 which will incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law. The Act will come fully into force on 2 October 2000. We will review our position on these Optional Protocols again once the Act has bedded down.

The International Covenant on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers goes far beyond the scope of the UK's existing immigration laws. Most of the 12 existing signatories are countries of origin of migrant workers. No EU states are signatories. The Government consider they have already struck the right balance between the need for immigration control and the protection of the interests and rights of migrant workers, who already have the protection of our existing commitments under international law.

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which reservations, lodged by the UK to United Nations treaties, the Government plans to lift; when they plan to lift them; and if he will make a statement. [131018]

Mr. Hain: We are committed to the international rule of law and to the United Kingdom's obligations under international law. We keep those commitments and the terms in which they are entered into under review. We have no specific plans at the present time to lift any reservations to United Nations treaties.

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