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14 Oct 2003 : Column 104W—continued
Zimbabwe
22. Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the situation in Zimbabwe. [132019]
Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the human rights situation in Zimbabwe. [132022]
Mr. Mullin: I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Macclesfield (Sir Nicholas Winterton), Official Report, column 20.
Afghanistan
Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking to help ensure that the Afghanistan elections in June 2004 are free and fair. [127130]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: We welcome the establishment on 26 July of the Afghan Interim Management Body. We are encouraging the Transitional Administration to ensure the necessary preparations are made for free and fair elections, including a law on political parties to encourage the formation of national political groupings which renounce violence and espouse democratic principles.
£1 million of DFID funds and a further £2 million of joint FCO/DFID/MOD funding has been allocated so far to support the United Nations programme for voter registration in Afghanistan. We are also working with the European Commission to secure further support for Afghanistan's electoral process.
British Aerospace
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether British Aerospace sought or obtained clearance from his Department for payment of agency commission in connection with the sale of defence equipment to Qatar. [132366]
Mr. Rammell: I am not aware that British Aerospace has ever sought or obtained clearance from the FCO for payment of agency commission in connection with the sale of defence equipment to Qatar.
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Indian High Commission Visa Service
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received concerning the Indian High Commission's visa services in the UK. [131750]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I am advised that officials have no record of representations concerning the Indian High Commission visa service in the UK.
International Covenant on Economic, Social andCultural Rights
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions (a) he and (b) members of his Department have had with representatives of the US Administration concerning the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. [131531]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Neither my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, nor officials have had recent discussions with the US Administration specifically about the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does, however, have regular contact with the US Administration on human rights issues, including economic and social rights. Our discussions at official level in the margins of the UN General Assembly Third Committee and the annual Commission on Human Rights in Geneva include a range of discussions on economic and social rights.
Pitcairn Island
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements there are for hearing Pitcairn Island criminal cases in New Zealand. [131403]
Mr. Rammell: On the advice of the Pitcairn Chief Justice, the Governor of Pitcairn signed an order on 28 March granting authority for criminal legal proceedings to take place in New Zealand. Necessary legislation has been passed by the New Zealand Parliament to enable such trials to be held in New Zealand under Pitcairn law. A final decision on the venue for trials in individual cases is however a matter for the Pitcairn Supreme courts.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Bosnia
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) casualties and (b) injuries in Bosnia were directly attributable to (i) mines, (ii) de-mining activities and (iii) cluster bomb submunition in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [131793]
Mr. Gareth Thomas: According to "Landmine Monitor" the casualties recorded in the following table were landmine/UXO casualties in Bosnia and Herzegovina. DFID does not have figures for victims of cluster munitions nor can we disaggregate mine victims from victims of demining accidents.
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| Number of casualties | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 290 |
| 1998 | 149 |
| 1999 | 95 |
| 2000 | 100 |
| 2001 | 87 |
| 1 January 2002 to 30 June 2003 | 72 |
Source:
International Committee of the Red Cross
Cancun Conference
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which Ministers attended the World Trade Organisation meetings in Cancun; how many (a) advisers and (b) staff accompanied them; at which hotel Ministers and their advisers stayed in Cancun; what the total cost of (i) hotel rooms and (ii) expenses was; in which aeroplane class advisers attending the World Trade Organisation meetings in Cancun travelled; and what the total cost of their flights was. [129728]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
In addition to myself, my right hon. Friends, the Secretaries of State for Trade and Industry, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and my noble Friend, the Secretary of State for the International Development attended the 5th WTO Ministerial Conference held in Cancun in September 2003. The length of stays varied.
We were accompanied by 32 civil servants from the five Government Departments involved and by five advisers from the CBI, the TUC, NGO's and Parliament. Other Members of Parliament attended and assisted with advice.
Ministers and part of the delegation stayed in the Fiesta Americana Coral Beach Hotel, where the EU delegation and others were based. The remainder stayed at the Hotel Riu.
The majority of civil servants travelled via a European Commission charter flight, for which special discount fares were negotiated. Ministers were accompanied on their flights by a small team of support staff, some of whom travelled in the same class as Ministers.
Final accounts for the WTO ministerial are not currently available, and could be produced only at disproportionate cost at this stage. Once the costs have been finalised, we will inform the House.
Darfur
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment the Department has made of human rights abuses in Darfur; what recent assessment has been made of their effect on the human rights situation in Sudan; and if he will make a statement. [131799]
Hilary Benn: We are concerned about the human rights of the people of Sudan, including in Darfur. We continue to raise specific human rights cases in Darfur
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relating to the rights of minors and women and the application of the death penalty with the Government of Sudan as part of the EU/Sudan dialogue. In July, a member of the British embassy in Khartoum visited Nyala, South Darfur, and held meetings with the Wali, the South Darfur Security Committee, the Chief Judge, the Commissioner of Nyala, and Fur Tribal leaders. He also toured the prison. We are also supporting human rights monitoring and human rights awareness projects in Darfur through the Human Rights Project Fund.
The Secretary of State welcomed the signing on 3 September of a 45-day ceasefire between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan Liberation Army and the launch of the UN Greater Darfur Initiative (UNDGI) which we hope will enable the provision of basic services and help to address basic human rights. The UK has pledged £1 million to UNDGI.
Euro
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much has been spent in each year by his Department in preparing for UK entry to the euro; how much his Department plans to spend on preparations for UK entry to the euro for each year from the current financial year up to and including 2005–06; and what estimates he has made of the total costs to his Department of changeover to the European Single Currency. [131596]
Hilary Benn: Approximately £55,000 will have been spent this year on consultancy costs. These are the only separately identifiable costs incurred since 1999. Other costs comprise modest internal staff time and ensuring that IT system developments are euro compatible; these cannot be separately identified but are likely to have been modest. The costs of conversion in the event of a positive decision on UK entry are estimated at around £500,000.
Foreign Aid
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how the Government intends to use the funds allocated for trade-related capacity building and technical assistance; over what period it will be spent; what support the Government will give to the G21 nations; and if he will make a statement. [131489]
Hilary Benn: The UK trade related capacity building programme works closely with developing countries, including those in the emerging G21 grouping, to build the skills and knowledge they require to deal with trade issues as they relate to their country's specific needs. The programme will continue to be responsive to emerging developing country concerns. These include the effects of trade-distorting subsidies on West African cotton producers and technical assistance to poorer developing countries on a range of trade-related issues.
The UK programme is delivered through a mixture of bilateral programmes with national governments; contributions to multilateral organisations working
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on Trade-Related Capacity Building; support to governments and to the private sector. The programme is a rolling one with new initiatives agreed as earlier programmes end. Most of the £160 million allocated to Trade-Related Capacity Building since 1998 will be spent over the next five years, although one programme will not finish until 2010.
The UK TRCB programme includes:
- training government officials to analyse trade issues, develop trade policy and negotiate internationally. This can also involve improving systems linked to trade, such as customs and excise;
helping governments and the private sector respond to opportunities arising from the multilateral trading system as well as cope with possible negative knock on effects;
making sure that trade policy takes into account the impact of trade on the lives of poor people;
support to regional trade groups as they work to increase regional trade opportunities;
funding to organisations in Geneva offering legal, analytical and networking support, particularly to those developing countries without representation in Geneva.
Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Department has no bilateral programme to Mexico, nor are we contributing anything currently to the Chiapas region through the UN or other organisations. The EC are planning future support to the Chiapas region with a Euro15 million poverty reduction programme, the UK share being 19.7 per cent.
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