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13 Oct 2004 : Column 298W—continued
Azerbaijan
Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on the situation concerning Nagorno-Karabakh in the Republic of Azerbaijan; what recent representations he has made regarding the presence of Russian forces; what plans there are for (a) mediation and (b) the provision of (i) observers and (ii) peacekeeping forces by international organisations; and if he will make a statement. [189873]
Mr. Rammell: We will support any mechanism for the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh dispute which both parties can accept and which has a realistic chance of delivering a lasting political settlement. The framework for discussing such mechanisms is the OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by Russia, the US and France. While the UK is not a member of the Minsk Group, we support its work and remain in close touch through the UK Special Representative to the South Caucasus, Sir Brian Fall.
The Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman in Office arranges for periodic observation of the line of control from both the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides. There are no Russian forces in Nagorno Karabakh that we are aware of. At its summit in 1994, the OSCE agreed in principle to the deployment of a multi-national peacekeeping operation, following the conclusion of a political agreement on the cessation of the armed conflict, and established a High Level Planning Group (HLPG) to work on details of an operation. This point has not been reached but high level governmental contacts between Armenia and Azerbaijan continue on a regular basis with and without the facilitation of the Minsk Group.
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Bakassi Peninsula
Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Governments of (a) Nigeria and (b) Cameroon on the handover of the Bakassi peninsula. [189680]
Mr. Mullin:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn) discussed this issue with President Obasanjo in Nigeria on 7 September, and I did likewise with the Cameroonian High Commissioner in London on 20 September. We made clear our support for the International Court of Justice ruling, and that we look to Nigeria and Cameroon to negotiate the detail of its implementation with the support of the United Nations.
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British Tourists (Murders)
Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British tourists were murdered in each year since 1995, broken down by country. [189886]
Mr. Mullin: The number of British nationals murdered overseas since 1996 of whose deaths we have been notified is provided in the table below. We have no figures for 1995. We are unable to differentiate between tourists, business or other travellers.
We are in the process of transferring our consular records to a new system. Consequently there may be some inconsistencies in the data we are currently able to present.
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China
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Chinese authorities about the death sentence of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche. [190002]
Mr. Rammell: We have raised the case of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche with the Chinese authorities on several occasions and have supported EU demarches about his case. At the latest round of the biannual UK/China Human Rights Dialogue, held in London on 13–14 May, we asked for confirmation that his death sentence would not be carried out. We also raised concerns about the judicial process and requested a re-trial.
The EU included his case on the list of individual cases presented at the latest EU China Human Rights Dialogue, held on 24 September.
Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letter to him dated 20 July from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. M. Abbass. [189708]
Mr. Mullin:
My hon. Friend the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Douglas Alexander) replied on 5 October. I apologise for the delay in replying while inquiries with our High Commission in Islamabad were finalised.
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EU Legislation
Mr. David: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of European legislation has lapsed during the last (a) year and (b) seven years. [190052]
Mr. MacShane: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the Commission has identified more than 450 pieces of legislation which it considers could be repealed or formally recognised as obsolescent, and it will be putting proposals to do this to the Council and the European Parliament. As EU regulatory reform champions, we have strongly supported the Commission's work in this area and will continue to do so. It should be a priority for the new Commission too, and I welcome Commissioner Verheugen's comments on the issue in his recent European Parliament hearing. We are also working with EU partners on initiatives to use impact assessments as a basis for competitiveness testing, to simplify existing legislative proposals and encourage the use of alternatives to regulation.
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