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Police Service of Northern Ireland Band

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the Northern Ireland charitable organisations that have benefited from a performance from the PSNI Band. [101609]

Jane Kennedy: The names of the charitable organisations who have benefited from a performance of the PSNI Band are not available. In 2002, the band played at six functions affiliated to registered charities and fourteen other fund raising functions for various community organisations.

Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many, and what proportion, of Police Service of Northern Ireland band members have been returned to normal policing duties. [101610]

Jane Kennedy: The PSNI Band will be stood down on 31 March 2003. When the decision to stand down the band was taken 32 officers were serving with the band. On 1 April 2003, 30 police officers will be returned to duties at District Command Units, 1 officer will take up duties in Crime department and 1 officer has resigned.

Policing Partnerships

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people applied to be members of the Belfast District Policing Partnership; and how many were deemed to be appointable candidates. [100440]

Jane Kennedy: 203 people applied to be members of the Belfast District Policing Partnerships and of those, 63 were deemed to be appointable candidates.

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have applied to be members of the District Policing Partnerships in Northern Ireland; and how many were deemed to be appointable candidates. [100435]

Jane Kennedy: 1,511 applications have been received for membership of District Policing Partnerships and of those, 737 were deemed appointable candidates.

Resettlement Grants

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been paid in resettlement grants to prisoners released under the early release scheme in Northern Ireland since the scheme began; and if he will make a statement. [100616]

Jane Kennedy: The Northern Ireland Prison Service has made payments of £44.5k to organisations or individuals assisting with the resettlement of prisoners under the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

British Indian Ocean Territories

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many joint financing arrangements, at what estimated budgetary cost, have been made since 1997 with the United

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States for (a) site preparation, (b) construction, (c) maintenance and (d) operation of facilities on British Indian Ocean Territories. [100886]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: None.

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the islands in the British Indian Ocean Territories that have buildings and facilities used or set aside for future use by the United States or UK for defence purposes. [100894]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Diego Garcia.

Charlotte Wilson

Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Burundi since the killing of British aid worker Charlotte Wilson in December 2000. [98985]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Since the tragic death of Charlotte Wilson we have made numerous representations to the Burundi authorities. As soon as our Embassy in Kigali was made aware of her killing, we made contact with the Burundi authorities, urging them to bring the perpetrators to justice. They assured us that they would do all they could to apprehend Charlotte's killers. The Burundi Foreign Ministry has confirmed this in writing.

Since that time, our Ambassador in Kigali and other Embassy staff have frequently raised Charlotte Wilson's case with the Burundi authorities and will continue to do so. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed Charlotte Wilson with Burundi President Pierre Buyoya and Minister of Justice, Fulgence Bakana, during his visit to Burundi in January 2002. More recently, on 10 February 2003, my noble Friend Baroness Amos raised Charlotte's case with the Burundi Foreign Minister, Therence Sinunguruza, during his visit to London. We also arranged for Charlotte's mother to meet the Foreign Minister on the same day.

We have offered assistance to the Burundi authorities from the Metropolitan police, should they require it. We continue to press for a full investigation and for the

perpetrators to be brought to justice.

Congo

Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of progress towards the ratification of the all inclusive agreement signed in December 2002 between the participants of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue; and if he will make a statement. [101047]

Mr. Rammell: Three issues are blocking the establishment of the transitional national government (TNG) provided for in the Global Accord (signed in Pretoria on 17 December 2002):

(i) Agreeing the constitution for the TNG;


(ii) Provision of security in Kinshasa for the TNG and its institutions;


(iii) Formation of a new national army.

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Talks aimed at resolving these issues started in Pretoria on 25 February under the mediation of the UN Secretary General's Special Representative and the Government of South Africa. Our diplomatic staff in Kinshasa and Pretoria are monitoring the talks and remain on hand to support the mediation as required.

Detention

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on paragraph 18 of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention opinion 16/2002; and what additional information his Department has sought from the authorities in Dubai. [99941]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in paragraph 18 of its opinion 16/2002 of 29 November 2002, comes to the conclusion that

"with regard to the present period of detention, dating from 13 December 1999, the Working Group considers that it does not have sufficient information to give an opinion on whether or not the continued detention is of an arbitrary nature, which would involve interpreting a domestic regulation on the granting of early release".

We have previously advised Mr. Atkinson in Dubai that a local lawyer would be best placed to address the issue of the application and interpretation of the laws governing his imprisonment. Early last year, our embassy supplied Mr. Atkinson's UK based lawyer with a list of Dubai lawyers. We will continue to offer Mr. Atkinson all the assistance we properly can.

Diego Garcia

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consultation has taken place with the United States concerning the use of construction labourers on Diego Garcia since 1997; and how many workers from Mauritius and the Seychelles have been employed on such construction projects. [100887]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Matters relating to the workers employed on Diego Garcia by the US contractors are regularly discussed between the United Kingdom and United States authorities at all levels. The number of workers fluctuates from year to year and within any given year. Currently, about 40 Mauritian workers are employed by US contractors on Diego Garcia. No workers have been engaged from the Seychelles for many years.

Diplomatic Corps

Mr. David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the range of salary scales for Her Majesty's ambassadors and high commissioners. [100857]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Her Majesty's Ambassadors and High Commissioners abroad are appointed from the following Foreign & Commonwealth Office grades. The current salary ranges for these grades are shown in brackets.

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Current Salary Ranges

	(£)
D6	34,544 to 776
D7	42,640 to 58,182
SMS	51,250 to 145,550
Grade 1 Ambassadors	115,000 to 189,000

Guantanamo Bay

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for how many hours in each month since their initial detention each of the UK citizens held at Guantanamo Bay has undergone interrogation. [100888]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The detainees at Guantanamo Bay are in US detention. We do not know the length of time each detainee has been interrogated.

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the legal authority for the detention of UK citizens at Guantanamo Bay. [100890]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The question of the status of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay under international humanitarian law is complex and has to be considered in the light of the facts relating to each individual detainee. We have made clear our position that, whatever their status, the detainees are entitled to humane treatment, and, if prosecuted, a fair trial.

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