APPENDIX 2
Letter from the Foreign Secretary to the
Chairman concerning the Government Response to the Committee's
First Report, Session 1998-99, Foreign Policy and Human Rights,
3 August 1999
Thank you for your letter of 13 July raising
some questions about the Government's response to the Committee's
report on Foreign Policy and Human Rights. You express concerns
about five of the 69 points in the Government's response. Although
you do not say so explicitly, I infer from your reply that the
Committee is content with the other 64 responses by the Government
to its report.
Let me address your points in turn. You will
already have seen our latest annual human rights report, which
reports in detail on our action to promote human rights worldwide.
RECOMMENDATION 11:
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL
COURT
I am strongly committed to the estabishment
of the International Criminal Court and am proud that the UK played
a leading role in achieving considerable progress to this end.
The Government has repeatedly made clear, including in the latest
annual human rights report, our wish for the UK to be among the
first 60 states to ratify. We are working hard to prepare the
necessary legislation, which we will introduce as soon as the
Parliamentary timetable allows.
RECOMMENDATION 19:
EU REPORTS ON
HUMAN RIGHTS
We believe that the EU's policy on human rights
needs to be as transparent and open as possible. As the Government's
response to the Committee pointed out, this is one of the key
objectives of the EU annual human rights report that Joschka Fischer
and I proposed. We hope to publish the first of these annual reports
later this year.
Our belief in openness was also why, in our
response to the Committee, we said we would seek to make available
EU human rights reports to the Committee on request with the usual
safeguards. We will continue to press for partners to be as open
as possible. But these reports are confidential inter-governmental
political reporting. They sometimes contain information passed
to our Posts in confidence. This is why the Government's response
pointed out the possible danger their release may pose to individuals
or groups referred to in them. I am therefore not convinced that
a blanket decision to publish these reports would be appropriate.
RECOMMENDATION 27:
COUNTRY STRATEGY
PAPERS
As our country human rights strategy papers
are updated we will make sure that they all address the Committee's
points regarding core UN human rights treaties (most already do).
We will also make sure that the Committee is kept updated on the
list of countries for which we have human rights strategies and
that the Committee receives on request relevant strategy papers,
with the usual safeguards, before visits overseas. I am arranging
for the latest list of countries for which we have strategies
and a copy of the Russia paper to be passed to the Committee.
RECOMMENDATION 35:
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR
ORGANISATION CONVENTION
138
The Department for Education and Employment
lead on this issue. The Government's review of its position on
ILO Convention 138 is now well advanced. We are also working towards
the ratification of the new ILO Convention on the Worst Forms
of Child Labour, which was agreed with our support in June 1999.
The Government expects to be in a position to make an announcement
with regard to both Conventions very shortly.
RECOMMENDATION 36:
REPORTING FROM
POSTS
We agree with the Committee on the importance
of human rights reporting from posts. Heads of Mission are individually
briefed by the Head of Human Rights Policy Department before taking
up their appointments. As the Government's response to the Committee
noted, our Heads of Mission are responsible for all human rights
reporting from our Posts. Exactly how this is handled depends
on the size of the Post and the extent of our human rights concerns
in a particular country. In some posts covering countries where
we have serious human rights concerns, human rights reporting
might be the responsibility of a member of the post's staff working
closely with the Head of Mission. Regular reporting to London
on human rights issues in such cases is already a requirement.
But there are other posts where our human rights objectives are
better served by reporting on specific issues as they arise, rather
than requiring the Head of Mission to conform to a regular reporting
cycle.
| 
