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10 Jul 2003 : Column 982W—continued
Foreign Visits
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the foreign visits he has made since 1 April 2003; what the dates were; whom he met; what the cost to public funds was of each; and what gifts were received on each. [124356]
Mr. Straw [holding answer 8 July 2003]: The table lists my overseas visits since 1 April 2003, including details of the main people I met, gifts and cost to public funds (where they are known). Full financial details will be available at the end of the financial year.
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Gripen Jets
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when his Department first received allegations of corrupt practice by BAE Systems regarding the supply of a package of Hawk and Gripen jets to the Government of South Africa. [123016]
Mr. Mullin: The FCO first received allegations against BAE Systems in January 2000. These, and earlier allegations to other Government Departments, were passed to the MOD Police and Metropolitan Police. The latter confirmed that they found insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations. In 1999, routine examinations by the South African Auditor General resulted in allegations of irregularities in the procurement process. Subsequent investigations by South Africa's Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts, and by a specially-convened Joint Investigating Team drawn from three expert bodies, concluded that the primary contracts—including those involving BAE Systems—were sound. The investigations did conclude that there were irregularities inherent in some of the subcontracting procedures, but not those involving BAE Systems.
Guantanamo Bay Detainees
Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British citizens detained at Guantanamo Bay were classed as juveniles at the time of detention. [123940]
Mr. Mullin: None of the British nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay was classed as juveniles at the time of detention.
Human Rights
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the UK Government are taking to ensure that those responsible for human rights abuses under the previous regime in Iraq will be brought to justice. [124111]
Mr. Rammell: We have always believed that those who have been responsible for crimes against humanity should be brought to justice. It is for the Iraqi people to decide how to do this, with suitable international help.
The Coalition Provisional Authority is establishing an Office of Human Rights and Transitional Justice, one of whose responsibilities will be to provide advice to Iraqis on the handling of these issues.
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Indonesia
Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the support being given to aid the process of reform that the Indonesian Government is undertaking. [124168]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The British Government aim to assist Indonesia in making a success of its democratic reform. A stable, democratic, peaceful Indonesia is important. We support the work of the Governance Partnership, which is undertaking research to help develop a constituency for governance reform, and which is supporting the rule of law, police reform and anti-corruption initiatives. Through the United Nations we will be making a major contribution to the 2004 National and Presidential Elections. We are developing, with the Indonesian Government and the World Bank, a programme to support the establishment of effective local government. The UK has supported the training of judges (we provided human rights training for five Supreme Court Judges in March this year). From our Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP) we have supported a free and independent media by holding workshops on security and peace journalism for journalists and editors in Jakarta. We also work through multilateral channels including the EU, Asian Development Bank and International Monetary Fund for various aspects of reform, including economic reform, democracy building, human rights and conflict prevention.
Iran
Mr. Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his recent visit to Iran. [123684]
Mr. Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary visited Tehran on 29–30 June. He had positive discussions on a wide range of bilateral, regional and international issues with President Khatami, Foreign Minister Kharrazi, and Dr. Rouhani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. The Foreign Secretary also urged Iran to sign and implement immediately and unconditionally an Additional Protocol to the IAEA Safeguards Agreement as a significant first step in creating the necessary confidence in Iran's stated peaceful intentions with regard to its nuclear programme.
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Iraq
Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many personnel have been deployed by (a) the UK and (b) coalition partners since 9 April 2003 to secure sites identified by the coalition as vital to the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. [115515]
Mr. Hoon: I have been asked to reply.
No United Kingdom personnel have been deployed to Iraq specifically to secure sites which may be related to programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction. UK Commanders in Iraq have been instructed to secure possible chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear hazards, with the aim of making their areas of operations safe for military forces and civilians, and to provide support, as appropriate, to efforts to investigate sites which may be related to programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction. Details of deployments of other coalition personnel are a matter for their respective Governments.
Mr. Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on information gathered by the Department's forensic team in Iraq about Iraqi citizens who have disappeared; and what assistance his Department is seeking from human rights organisations in uncovering the fate of such people. [123690]
Mr. Rammell: We are currently studying the recommendations of the team of forensic experts that we sent to Iraq. Their proposals include establishing an identification programme for bodies found in mass graves. We are in regular contact with human rights organisations on these issues. The Coalition Provisional Authority are setting up an Office of Human Rights and Transitional Justice in Iraq, whose tasks will include liaison with non-governmental organisations on human rights issues.
Mr. Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance the Government will provide for the families of Iraqi citizens who disappeared in Iraq seeking a return of their confiscated property and assets in Iraq. [123691]
Mr. Rammell: We recognise the past suffering of the Iraqi people, and the grief they have experienced. However, it will be for the Iraqi people to take decisions regarding possible compensation for confiscated property and assets of those who disappeared. The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) is setting up an Office of Human Rights and Transitional Justice, which will include the issue of the disappeared in its remit. The CPA is working with NGOs and international organisations on proposals to assist in this area, including counselling and advocacy, which might benefit surviving family members.
Mr. Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will meet the Committee for the Release of Hostages and Detainees in Iraq to discuss the fate of the disappeared in Iraq. [123692]
Mr. Rammell: The Coalition Provisional Authority is leading efforts to identify missing persons throughout Iraq, stemming from the brutal policies of imprisonment and execution under Saddam Hussein.
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We have already conducted an assessment with the International Commission on Missing Persons, and are working to facilitate the efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross and local organisations to create an overall comprehensive database and approach to missing persons. This will include strengthening the capacity of local organisations to feed into this process and provide counselling and community support.
I would suggest that the Committee for the Release of Hostages and Detainees in Iraq write to my officials in the Iraq Policy Unit in the first instance.
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the reliability of the information contained in the UNMOVIC working document, Unresolved Disarmament Issues, Iraq's Proscribed Weapons Programme, issued on 6 March. [123759]
Mr. MacShane: The working document issued on 6 March was read carefully by Ministers and officials.
As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary said in his speech to the UN Security Council on 7 March
"I have read . . . all 167 pages of that report in every particular. It's a very painstaking piece of work . . . But it's also a chilling read about the failure of Iraq to comply with successive resolutions of this Council over each day of the past 12 years . . ."
Mr. Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed Iraq and the evolving role of the EU, in helping to rebuild Iraq's future, with EU colleagues at the General Affairs and External Relations Council in Luxembourg on 16 June and in the margins of the European Council in Thessaloniki on 19/20 June. At Thessaloniki the EU made a commitment to participate in the reconstruction of Iraq within the framework of UNSCR 1483 and to the development of a prosperous and stable Iraq.
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