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Colombia

23. Paul Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking to support the peace process in Colombia. [39586]

Mr. MacShane: The UK strongly support the Colombian peace process, as I made clear in a press release on 23 January. We are particularly active in the EU. We have invited the Colombian presidential candidates to the UK to exchange views on the situation in Colombia, including prospects for the peace process.

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will use the forthcoming session of the UN Commission on Human Rights to promote human rights in Colombia, with special reference to (a) the safety of human rights defenders and (b) groups at particular risk; [41619]

(2) if he will take steps to ensure that this year's UN Commission on Human Rights adopts a resolution calling for the Colombian Government to implement fully the recommendations made by the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights in Bogota. [41620]

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Mr. MacShane: We are currently discussing preparations for the forthcoming session of the UN Commission on Human Rights with EU partners. We will be contributing fully to a range of EU initiatives, including a chairman's statement on the situation in Colombia. Our concerns about human rights violations in Colombia, and especially the threats to vulnerable communities, trade unionists and human rights defenders, will be reflected in this statement.

World Cup

26. Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with the Japanese Government in connection with preparations for the world cup. [39589]

Mr. Bradshaw: When he visited Japan from 25–29 January, my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs held a number of meetings on the World Cup. He assured the Japanese Government that we will continue to co-operate closely with them to ensure that preparations are in place for a successful tournament. Our posts in Japan have been in close contact with the Japanese world cup organising committee, stadium authorities, police and security authorities, to provide advice and assistance. They have also facilitated contacts between the Home Office, police and other relevant agencies and their Japanese counterparts.

Central America

28. Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking to support the work of organisations helping street children in central America. [39591]

Mr. MacShane: We regularly raise our serious concerns on child rights issues with all the Governments of Central America, where our Missions monitor the situation closely. We work closely with Casa Alianza, a non-governmental organisation, and support its efforts to protect street children in Central America.

Nepal

29. Mr. Purchase: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the situation in Nepal since the recent rebel attack in the Accham district; and if he will make a statement. [39592]

Mr. Bradshaw: We were appalled by the barbaric attacks on the Nepalese Army and Police by the Maoists in Achham on 16 February. I discussed the attacks with the King of Nepal, the Nepalese Prime Minister and the Nepalese Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs when I visited Kathmandu on 19–20 February. The situation in Nepal is extremely serious, and the UK is supportive of the efforts of the democratically elected Government of Nepal to bring security to its people. Without security, the Nepalese people will not be able to achieve the development and prosperity that they need and deserve.

EU Accession

30. Dr. Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions are

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taking place between his Department and the countries applying for entry to the EU; and if he will make a statement. [39593]

Peter Hain: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary earlier in the House today to the hon. Member for Lewes. (Norman Baker).

Afghanistan

31. Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made on the implementation of the Bonn agreement with respect to women's human rights. [39596]

Mr. Bradshaw: Since the signing of the Bonn Agreement on 5 December, progress has been made in restoring rights to women in Afghanistan. We have encouraged the involvement of women in the Afghan Interim Administration and the Special Commission for the Convening of the Loya Jirga, established under the Bonn Agreement. We welcome the appointment of two women to the Cabinet of the Interim Administration, including Dr. Sima Samar as Vice Chair and Minister for Women, and three women to the Loya Jirga Commission.

Women have begun to return to work and girls are going back to school. We welcome the commitment made at the Tokyo Donor's Conference by Hamid Karzai, Chair of the Interim Administration, to ensure that the needs of women are a high priority in the reconstruction process. Life for women in Afghanistan has always been difficult. Afghanistan has more than a million war widows. NGO and UN run projects to get women back to work will have a huge impact on the lives of many Afghan women and children.

But more needs to be done. We have long said that we would expect any Afghan Government to recognise international human rights norms, including women's rights. We believe that adherence to international human rights norms, including the UN Charter and CEDAW (the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which the then Afghanistan government signed on 14 August 1980, but did not ratify) are key to restoring the rights of women.

Iraq

32. Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the human rights situation in Iraq. [39597]

Mr. Bradshaw: Iraq's human rights record is appalling. We remain committed to doing what we can to bring about improvements in the human rights situation in Iraq and take every opportunity to raise this issue in international fora.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 5 February 2002, Official Report, column 731, on Iraq, if he will specify to which diplomatic ploys by Saddam Hussein he was referring. [39724]

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Mr. Bradshaw: Recent moves by the Iraqi regime include:

Demarching the EU to establish high-level EU-Iraq relations. We have made clear that this would not be appropriate while Iraq remains in breach of its international obligations.


Resuming dialogue with the UN. While we commend the UN Secretary-General's efforts to persuade Iraq to comply with relevant Security Council resolutions, including by allowing in the UN weapons inspectors, we note that the Iraqi regime has so far made no concrete commitment to do so.


Announcing, via the Iraqi media, that a British team is welcome to visit Iraq to prove that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. Although we have received no such offer, we have made clear that we regard this as a propaganda stunt. Iraq is obliged to grant full, unconditional access to UN weapons inspectors.

We regard these moves as diplomatic ploys because we have yet to see any sign that the Iraqi regime is genuinely intending to co-operate with the UN. It will take actions, not words, to persuade us otherwise.

38. Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his US counterpart concerning American policy towards Iraq. [39603]

Mr. Bradshaw: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary regularly discusses a wide range of issues with his US counterpart including policy towards Iraq. He last visited the US for policy discussions on 31 January.

India

33. Mr. Gareth R. Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he has taken to advance proposals in the Delhi declaration, and in particular the recommendation that India take up a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. [39598]

Mr. Bradshaw: In the last two months I have visited India once and met twice with India's External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh. We have discussed a number of areas of partnership including terrorism, peacekeeping, defence relations, and Afghanistan and other regional issues. The two Prime Ministers' Personal Envoys, David Manning and Brajesh Mishra, also met on 4 February.

I discussed Security Council reform with Jaswant Singh on 27 February. We looked forward to progress on this issue at the United Nations.

Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the India-UK Round Table's contribution to furthering the partnership in education and science and technology. [39594]

Mr. Bradshaw: The India-UK Round Table has produced wide-ranging and constructive recommendations which complement the British and Indian Governments' efforts to develop a strong partnership. HMG, with the British Council, have taken many of the Round Table's recommendations into account, including those aimed at attracting more Indian students to the UK, and developing closer links between Indian and UK universities and research institutions in areas such as information technology. The Round Table meets again in April 2002.

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