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29 Oct 2003 : Column 285W—continued
Al-Qaeda
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received about links between Qatar and (a) Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and (b) other members of al-Qaeda. [134632]
Mr. Rammell: Qatar faces a terrorist threat from al-Qaeda and associated groups, like other countries in the region and elsewhere. It has played a constructive role in the international co-operative effort against terrorism and we have a regular dialogue with the Qatari government on the subject. Our policy is not to make public the details of such dialogue.
Arms Exports
Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in which countries Ministers in his Department conducted arms promotion activities in (a) 2002 and (b) 2003 to date; and if he will make a statement. [112293]
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Mr. Straw [pursuant to his answer, 14 July 2003, Official Report, c. 48W]: I regret that an administrative error led to an omission in my answer of 14 July 2003 to the right hon. Member. The correct answer should read as follows:
Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers regularly conduct overseas visits in the course of which they promote British exports, including those of defence equipment.
For 2002, our records indicate that Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers carried out such promotion activities in Chile, Hungary, India and Singapore; and in 2003 to date, Singapore. In 2002, Ministers also carried out promotion in relation to exports to the Czech Republic, but while in the UK. In 2003, ministerial promotion also took place in relation to exports to India, but while the Minister was in the UK. Negotiations for defence exports may extend over many years and may often be raised informally in the margins of other meetings.
Correspondence
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 18 September from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Shasta Parveen. [134216]
Mr. Mullin: I regret that as a result of a series of administrative errors, no reply was sent to my right hon. Friend to his letter of 18 September to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary. The Foreign Secretary will write to him in the next few days on this case.
Human Trafficking
Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Government of the United Arab Emirates on trafficking in human beings. [134355]
Mr. MacShane: The Government of the United Arab Emirates is taking action against trafficking. But we remain concerned about the use of young boys as camel jockeys. In July 2002 the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs announced a ban on the use of camel jockeys under the age of 15. We welcomed this announcement, but there are reports that legislation is not always enforced. Visiting UK Ministers and our embassy staff at Abu Dhabi have raised our concerns with the UAE authorities and we will continue to press the UAE authorities to implement the ban fully.
Iceland
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Iceland about its decision to resume whaling. [135126]
Mr. MacShane: On 8 August, my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Ben Bradshaw), issued a press statement expressing serious concern at the announcement by Iceland on 6 August that it intended to carry out lethal scientific whaling. On 10 September, the British Ambassador in
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Reykjavik, together with representatives from France, Germany, Sweden and the United States, handed the Icelandic Government a demarche, signed by the United Kingdom and 22 other countries, stating that the killing was unjustified and unnecessary. The UK will continue, along with other countries, to urge Iceland to reconsider its position.
Indonesia
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on recent progress with the investigation into the deaths of Brian Peters and Malcolm Rennie in Indonesia. [132999]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I am not aware of any recent progress in the investigation into the deaths of Brian Peters and Malcolm Rennie at Balibo in 1975, but I have recently written to the Special Representative of the Secretary General in East Timor, Kamalesh Sharma, to ask for an update. I am informed that the UN Serious Crimes Unit are unable to advance their investigation due to Indonesia's reluctance to co-operate with the investigation.
Iranian Refugees
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the well-being of (a) Mr. Jamil Bassam and (b) Mr. Ebrahim Khodabandeh, the Iranians with refugee status in the United Kingdom arrested in Syria and handed over to the Iranian authorities; what representations he has made to the (i) Syrian and (ii) Iranian authorities on this matter; where the men are being held; and when they were last visited by (A) relatives, (B) Foreign Office officials and (C) the Red Cross. [134121]
Mr. Rammell: Jamil Bassam and Ebrahim Khodabandeh are not British nationals, so the UK has no legal right to offer consular assistance. After the two men were detained in Syria, our embassy in Damascus repeatedly asked the Syrian authorities for information, but the Syrian authorities did not respond to any of the embassy's four formal notes. Our embassy in Tehran has made it clear to the Iranian Government that we are taking a keen interest in the human rights of these two men. On 5 August Iranian authorities told our embassy that Mr. Bassam and Mr. Khodabandeh were well, that they continued to be held during investigations and that the Iranian judicial authorities had noted our call for due process. We are not aware of contact between the two men and their families. We have urged the Iranian Government on a number of occasions to allow a visit by the International Committee of the Red Cross. We are not aware that one has taken place.
Middle East
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been received by his Department about the proposed demolition by the Israeli authorities of the Shawamreh home in Anata in the West Bank; and what representations he has made to Israel on the issue. [133232]
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Mr. Rammell: We have received representations about this specific case. We deplore the seizure of Palestinian land and the destruction of property in the Occupied Territories by Israel and have called upon the Government of Israel to stop these actions which undermine their commitment to the roadmap. The seizure of land and the destruction of property is provocative, increasing tension and mistrust, and making a comprehensive settlement more difficult to achieve.
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the implications for (a) the implementation of UN Resolutions on Israel and Palestine and (b) for Israel's obligations as an occupying power under the Geneva Conventions, of the military order issued by Israel on 2 October 2003 declaring land in the Occupied West Bank between the security fence and Israel's preoccupation 1967 border as a closed zone; and what action the UK Government intend to take. [133530]
Mr. Rammell: The implementation of this Israeli military order will have grave consequences for those Palestinians who live between the fence and the 1967 border and those who farm land in this area. It reinforces the concern that Israeli construction of the fence on occupied land amounts to de facto annexation of Palestinian land west of the fence, and prejudges the outcome of a final settlement based on UN Security Council Resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 1397 (2002).
Under Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Occupying Power is only permitted to evacuate a given area of the occupied territory:
- "if the security of the population or imperative military reasons so demand".
My noble Friend the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean has raised with the Israeli Ambassador our concerns about this and other Israeli activities affecting the humanitarian situation of Palestinians. We are in close touch with the US and other allies to ensure that Israel understands the opposition of the wider international community to the route of the fence.
Nepal
Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress on human rights in Nepal. [135193]
Mr. MacShane: We remain seriously concerned about continued violations of human rights by both the Nepalese security forces and the Maoist insurgents.
There has been some encouraging progress this year, in particular during the ceasefire which held from January to August. We welcomed, for example, the formation of a Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) human rights cell to monitor and investigate reported human rights violations, and the first ever courts martial for human rights abuses. Reports of violations on both sides went down during the ceasefire.
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Regrettably, however, credible reports of human rights violations have continued to be received, and have increased since the ceasefire broke down. These reports implicate the security forces in serious abuses such as illegal detentions, torture, disappearances, and summary executions (the Ramechhap incident as reported by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is a particular example), and point to a residual culture of impunity in some elements in the security forces. We are pressing hard for these matters to be investigated thoroughly and for those responsible to be held to account. There is also clear evidence of Maoist abuses, including public torture and executions.
The UK is actively involved in encouraging greater respect for human rights, including through political pressure; human rights training for the security forces; and support for the National Human Rights Commission, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and civil society. A human rights Code of Conduct applicable to both sides would be a key element in any resumed peace process.
Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether Nepal is a safe country for the return of refugees. [135194]
Mr. MacShane: Asylum applications from Nepal—as with other countries—are considered on their individual merits in accordance with the United Kingdom's obligations under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights. In reaching decisions on individual cases, the Home Office—the Department responsible for considering these applications—takes full account of objective country information about the situation in Nepal. This would include information regularly provided by officials. An individual recognised as a genuine refugee from Nepal would not be made to return.
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