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Butler Inquiry

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral answer of 15 March 2004, Official Report, House of Lords, columns 1–3, of the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, what export controls were in place at the time of the sale of biological materials to Iraq by the United States. [176578]

Mr. Rammell: The exports of biological materials from the United States to Iraq in the 1980s were licensed by the US Department of Commerce under the (US) Export Administration Act.

Chagos Islanders

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements have been made since 2000 for Chagos islanders to be allowed to visit Diego Garcia and the Chagos Islands. [179521]

Mr. Rammell: We have twice put in hand preparations to arrange such a visit, most recently in 2002. However, those preparations fell through for reasons outside our control. Nevertheless, we remain ready to consider the re-instatement of the visit once the situation permits.

Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to reply to the letter of 5 May from the hon. Member for Walsall, North regarding a constituent, ref. PO 5158/4. [177875]

Mr. Mullin: A reply will be sent shortly.

International Criminal Court

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those countries which have yet to ratify the Rome Statute; and what efforts his Department is making to encourage those countries to ratify the Statute. [177716]

Mr. Rammell: A list of countries that have ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court can be found on its website at: http://untreaty.un.org/ENGLISH/bible/englishinternetbible/partI/chapterXVIII/treatyl0.asp.

It is a UK and EU objective to increase the universality and jurisdiction of the ICC by urging as many states as possible to ratify the Rome Statute. The
 
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EU has a Common Position and Action Plan in support of the ICC. The plan identifies target countries and the presidency tasks individual member states with lobbying exercises. The UK has lobbied in the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana and St. Lucia as well as in Troika demarches in other countries.

The UK also looks for appropriate opportunities to raise ratification of the Rome Statute in bilateral and multilateral fora such as annual bilateral human rights talks and the recent UK/Caribbean Forum 10–12 May. We have also made clear, at various levels in the US Government, that while we understand the US concerns about the ICC, we do not share them. We hope that, over time, the court will be able to demonstrate that US concerns are unfounded and that the US will adopt a more positive approach to the ICC.

We recognise that ratification of the Rome Statute must be accompanied by the ability to implement the statue. We have funded a number of initiatives including courses, this year and last, for legal officials (mostly from Africa and Eastern Europe) involved in drafting implementing legislation, and are working with the Commonwealth Secretariat on a project to produce and disseminate model ICC implementing legislation.

Working Time Directive

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many employees in his Department have (a) signed a formal opt out from and (b) are exempt from the Working Time Directive; and how many employees in his Department have recorded hours, including any accruing on a flexitime basis, in excess of the maximum allowed under the Working Time Directive in the last month for which figures are available. [178377]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: A staff survey taken earlier this year showed a total of 77 UK-based staff have signed an opt-out.

No exemptions from the Working Time Directive apply to Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff. The directive applies to all workers in EU countries. It does therefore apply to FCO local staff in EU countries as well as to UK-based staff. It does not apply to FCO local staff in non-EU countries. We do not keep records centrally of hours recorded in excess of the maximum allowed under the directive.

The FCO is committed to meeting the standards of the directive; line managers are responsible for ensuring that any excess hours worked are kept to an absolute minimum.

DEFENCE

Environmental Modification

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether Ministry of Defence flights adhere in all respects to the requirements of the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques. [179458]

Mr. Ingram: Yes.
 
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Gibraltar

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether Battle of Britain memorial flight aircraft will take part in the 300th anniversary celebrations of British sovereignty in Gibraltar. [179285]

Mr. Ingram: No.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many army regiments will take part in the 300th anniversary celebrations of British sovereignty in Gibraltar; and what role they will play. [179293]

Mr. Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 16 March 2004, Official Report, column 200W.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cases of death, injury or ill-treatment in Iraq have been referred to the Attorney-General or the Crown Prosecution Service for review. [179010]

Mr. Ingram: One.

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his Statement of 8 June 2004, Official Report, columns 4–5WS, on Iraq, what the names are of the individuals concerned in the cases where investigations are still in progress where individuals died. [179029]

Mr. Ingram: The names of the individuals concerned are Tanik S. Mahmud, Ather Khalaf Mohammed, Ahmed Jabber Kareem, Said Shabram, G. G. H. D. Roomi, S. Kazim, R. Z. Habib and F.T. Zaab. There are also nine cases where the identity of the individual remains unknown.

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his Written Statement of 8 June 2004, Official Report, columns 4–5WS, on Iraq, what deficiencies in the recording and investigation of civilian deaths and injuries as a result of actions by armed forces personnel were identified as a result of the verification exercise. [179034]

Mr. Ingram: No deficiencies in the recording or handling of investigations by service police have been revealed by the verification exercise. The exercise has, however, served to illustrate shortcomings in the arrangements for the central reporting of information relating to investigations into the death, injury or alleged ill-treatment of Iraqi civilians as a result of actions by UK Service Personnel.

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has examined in relation to the deaths of (a) Hazim Jum'aa Gattel Al-Skeiri, (b) Baha Ahmed Al-Awari, (c) Abbas Kuhdayar Gatteh, (d) Kasber Farhoud Jasim, (e) Laffeh Ahmed Awdeh and (f) Riyadh Turthi Taha Haseen. [158877]

Mr. Ingram: The deaths of the individuals named were all raised by Public Interest Lawyers and form part of the Judicial Review to be held in July and therefore it would be inappropriate to give details.
 
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Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Ministers from his Department have visited prisons run by the British coalition forces in Iraq; what the dates of the visits were; what report was made of the visit; and whether he read that report and discussed with the Minister his impressions of prison conditions in British-run prisons in Iraq. [177248]

Mr. Hoon: I visited Shaibah, the UK's only detention facility in Iraq, on 14 June. The facility is run to exacting standards to meet the requirements of the Geneva Convention. The International Committee of the Red Cross have inspected the arrangements in place and have declared them satisfactory.

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