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Terrorist Incidents
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer of 30 October 2000, Official Report, columns 231-33W, how many persons from (a) Republican terrorist organisations and (b) Loyalist terrorist organisations have been charged as a consequence of RUC investigations into the (i) shootings, (ii) assaults and (iii) deaths listed. [136421]
Mr. Ingram: The table shows the number of persons charged in relation to terrorist and serious public order offences during the period 1 January to 27 October 2000.
| Number of Loyalists charged | Number of Republicans charged | |
|---|---|---|
| Murder | 7 | 1 |
| Attempted murder | 9 | 1 |
| Firearms | 29 | 19 |
| Explosives | 3 | 8 |
| Armed robbery | 8 | 8 |
| Other | 131 | 47 |
Note:
The central database cannot link persons charged to specific incidents.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Chagos Islanders
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what has been the total cost to date of support for the Chagos islanders in Mauritius since their transfer from their homes. [139979]
Mr. Battle: HMG has made available £4.65 million for the benefit of the Chagos islanders in Mauritius via the Government of Mauritius, £650,000 in 1973 and £4 million in 1982. In addition, various small welfare payments in kind, eg books, sports clothes, sewing machines, have been given regularly.
We have no information about the support given by the Government of Mauritius.
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the total cost to date of defending legal action brought by the Chagos islanders will be; and what the total costs awarded against the Crown by the High Court are. [139970]
Mr. Battle: The total costs incurred to date by the Government in the recent judicial review proceedings amount to £143,800 plus VAT. The extent of the applicant's costs is so far unknown since these have yet to be assessed.
27 Nov 2000 : Column: 391W
Departmental Employees (HIV)
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to ensure that people who are HIV-positive do not suffer discrimination as a result of employment practices followed by his Department. [137782]
Mr. Hain: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's equal opportunities policy states that no staff should have to face unfair discrimination on the ground of disability. Any members of staff who are HIV positive will be managed on a case-by-case basis according to their particular needs, taking the views of the FCO's medical and welfare advisers into account.
Gender Diversity Officer
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the appointment by his Department of a Gender Diversity Officer. [139490]
Mr. Hain: The Department is delighted that Melanie Allison, former National Campaign Manager at Opportunity Now, has joined the Department on secondment from the Ministry of Defence as the Department's Gender Diversity Adviser. Using her expertise the Department is determined to ensure that all of its staff, male and female, are able to fulfil their potential and maximise their contribution to advancing British interests overseas. Ms Allison's appointment is one of many steps taken by the Department aimed at ensuring that it represents the best of modern Britain's diverse society.
US Presidential Candidates
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the candidates for the US presidency since 7 November. [139493]
Indonesia
Mr. Fearn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the arms trade between Britain and Indonesia. [139402]
Mr. Battle: The expiry of the EU arms embargo last January has not opened the way to unrestricted arms sales to Indonesia. We continue to judge all cases against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria. We will for example refuse any applications for defence equipment where we judge there to be a clear risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression. For this reason we have refused a number of applications for Indonesia and we have consistently refused to license small arms and small arms ammunition for the security forces. We also refuse arms where there is a risk they may be diverted to undesirable end-users such as extremists in Maluku.
Burma
Mr. Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government's efforts to improve human rights in Burma. [139426]
27 Nov 2000 : Column: 392W
Mr. Battle: We are deeply concerned about, and take every opportunity to condemn, the Burmese regime's violations of human rights. In April this year we successfully persuaded EU partners to strengthen the EU Common Position on Burma by publishing the list of regime members subject to an EU travel ban, imposing a freeze on their funds held in the EU, and banning the supply of equipment that might be used for internal repression or terrorism. This constitutes the most important intensification of EU pressure on Burma since the Common Position's adoption in 1996 (it already contained a full arms embargo, bans on defence links, and non-humanitarian aid, and visa restrictions). Along with a wider range of countries than ever before, we are co-sponsoring this year's General Assembly resolution, which strongly condemns a whole catalogue of violations. We have also been active in the International Labour Organisation, which last week agreed to activate exceptional measures against the regime because of their failure to stop forced labour. We will continue to keep the pressure up on the regime until they change their policies.
EU (Political Parties)
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the references in official documents of the European Union relating to future conditions for official registration of political parties and their representation in, or candidatures for the European Parliament, including eligibility for funds or assistance in kind; and when proposals will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny in the United Kingdom. [139946]
Mr. Vaz: The Progress Report on the IGC (CONFER 4790/00 published on 3 November 2000) contains a proposed amendment to Article 191 of the EC Treaty for a legal base to allow the establishment of a statute to regulate European political parties, which were first recognised by the Maastricht Treaty.
We support the principle of a statute to ensure the transparency of the funding of European political parties, and we hope that a suitable enabling clause can be agreed at the IGC. The IGC Progress Report is available in the Library. A draft statute would be deposited in Parliament for scrutiny in the normal way.
Iraq
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the implications for UK sanctions against Iraq of recent French commercial dealings with the Iraqi regime. [140144]
Mr. Hain: Sanctions against Iraq, imposed by the UN in response to its illegal invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1990, will remain in place until Iraq fulfils its obligations under UN Security Council resolutions. Under the UN "oil for food" programme, $16 billion will be available this year for food, medicine and infrastructure contracts. European (including French and UK) companies are participating in this legal trade, which benefits the Iraqi people.
27 Nov 2000 : Column: 393W
Brigadier Saunders
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress made to bring those responsible for the death of Brigadier Saunders in Greece to justice. [139993]
Mr. Battle: A team of Metropolitan police officers is working closely with the Hellenic national police in Athens on the investigation into the murder of Brigadier Saunders. The Metropolitan police team are sharing UK technology and best practice with the Greek police, as well as their expertise in combating terrorism.
We remain committed to bringing the perpetrators of this crime to justice.
British Council (German Offices)
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with officers of the British Council concerning plans to close its provincial offices in Germany. [140007]
Mr. Hain: All the proposals contained in the British Council's new strategy were fully discussed with FCO officials and endorsed by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary. The proposals for Germany were agreed on the basis that Germany would continue to have the largest grant-in-aid budget in Europe, that core programmes would be retained and that funds released through reducing infrastructure costs would be channelled into new programmes, for example to develop IT services to provide widespread access, especially for young professional people.
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