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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Airspace (Extraordinary Renditions)

Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 19 December 2005, Official Report, column 2468W, on airspace (extraordinary renditions) what media report first caught (a) his and (b) his officials' attention; and on what date. [43481]

Dr. Howells: Press reports and correspondence from Members of Parliament brought these allegations to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) attention in the summer of 2004. I cannot say with certainty precisely which press report first caught the attention of FCO ministers and officials.

Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 20 December 2005, Official Report, column 2839W, on airspace (extraordinary rendition) in which category of (a) records and (b) data renditions should be listed. [43601]

Dr. Howells: Cases of rendition would not be recorded in either such records or such data because the Ministry of Defence records neither the purpose of civil flights using military airfields nor transit passengers on civil flights using military airfields, except VIPs, and because neither national air traffic services data nor the British Airports Authority records include information about passengers or, beyond very broad category types, the purpose of flights.

Information about requests for the use of UK airspace or airfields for the purposes of rendition would be held in the records of the policy branches which provided advice on those requests to Ministers in the Departments concerned.

Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the US Administration about the obligations in relation to the rendition of terrorist suspects under (a) the European Convention on Human Rights and (b) the UN Convention on Torture. [45320]

Dr. Howells: I refer the hon. Member to my written answer to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Peter Law) on 16 January 2006, Official Report, column 969W.

Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what account he has taken of the UK's obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights when (a) considering requests for the rendition of terrorist suspects through UK airspace and (b) making reference to the US Secretary of State's statement on the legality of such renditions.
 
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Dr. Howells: I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's written answer to the right hon. Member for North East Fife (Sir Menzies Campbell) on 12 December 2005, Official Report, column 1643W.

In her statement on 5 December 2005, the US Secretary of State said,

in conducting such renditions, it is the policy of the United States . . . to comply with its laws and comply with its treaty obligations, including those under the Convention Against Torture".

The United States is not bound by the European Convention on Human Rights, to which it is not a party.

Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2006, Official Report, columns 151–52, in what circumstances the Government would assist another state in a rendition operation. [45892]

Dr. Howells: I refer to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Peter Law) on 16 January 2006, Official Report, column 969W.

Arms Trade Treaty

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will begin negotiations within the UN General Assembly for an arms trade treaty. [45554]

Dr. Howells: We are working to build support for the launch of a UN based process to take forward the initiative for an international treaty on the arms trade. In 2005, support was secured from both the EU and the Commonwealth. We will continue to build further support during 2006 with the aim of securing the start of a formal process at the earliest opportunity.

Audible Fire Alarms

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 18 January 2006, Official Report, column 1430W, on audible fire alarms, what plans he has to extend audible fire alarm coverage in his Department's buildings. [45682]

Dr. Howells: Although 91 per cent. of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) UK estate is covered by audible fire alarms featuring voice instructions via a public address system or similar, all of the FCO UK estate is covered by automated audible alarm systems. The FCO carries out regular assessments of its fire precautions and seeks to implement any recommendations arising from these assessments. These may include improvements to existing fire alarm systems.

Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what representations he has made to the Government of Burma about the confiscation of Muslims' farmlands, including Waqf properties, in Arakan; [45551]

(2) what representations he has made to the Government of Burma about the building of Buddhist pagodas and monasteries on mosque land in Arakan state; [45556]
 
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(3) what representations he has made to the Government of Burma about the prohibition of repairs, renovation and construction of mosques in Arakan state; [45558]

(4) what representations he has made to the Government of Burma about movement restrictions imposed on the Rohingya people; [45559]

(5) what representations he has made to the Government of Burma about the treatment of the Rohingya people. [45804]

Ian Pearson: The UK co-sponsored the latest resolution on human rights abuses in Burma at the UN General Assembly in December. This highlighted the ongoing systematic violation of the human rights including violations of the right to an adequate standard of living, discrimination and violations suffered by persons belonging to ethnic nationalities, women and children. This includes forced relocation; forced labour, including child labour; denial of freedom of assembly, association, expression and movement; wide disrespect for the rule of law, and the confiscation of arable land, crops, livestock and other possessions.

We believe that some of the most serious of these human rights abuses are suffered by the Rohingya population in Northern Rakhine State, and in particular their freedom of religion.

Embassy staff have raised the situation of the Rohingya with Government officials during regular visits to Northern Rakhine State. They also draw the attention of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representatives in Burma to reports of abuses and encourage them to raise them in their contacts with the local authorities.

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Burma about the detention of National League for Democracy Vice Chairman U Tin Oo. [45734]

Ian Pearson: The UK co-sponsored a highly critical Resolution on Burma at the UN General Assembly in December which called for the release of U Tin Oo.

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the private banking sector in Burma. [45736]

Ian Pearson: The domestic banking crisis of February 2003, and subsequent restrictions imposed by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) on banking transactions have led to problems in the banking sector, with a knock-on effect on the private sector economy. We welcome the SPDC's investigations into money-laundering which have led to the closure of certain banks, but believe that the reports of these investigations should be made public.

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Burma about the administrative detention of (a) Kyaw Hsan, (b) Htwe Myint and (c) Thu Wai. [45793]

 
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Ian Pearson: Htwe Myint and Thu Wai are no longer in detention. We are aware of three political prisoners called Kyaw Hsan; we have not raised any of these individual cases with the Burmese Government.

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Burma about the continued imprisonment of the Buddhist nuns Ma Than Htay and Ma Thin Thin Oo. [45797]

Ian Pearson: We have made no representations to the Burmese regime about Ma Than Htay and Ma Thin Thin Oo.

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of (a) the effectiveness of EU sanctions on Burma, (b) the effects EU sanctions are having on (i) the Junta and (ii) ordinary Burmese citizens and (c) the role EU sanctions are playing to bring about the freedom of Aung San Suu Kyi. [46321]

Ian Pearson: We consider that the best interests of the people of Burma continue to be served by a twin-track common position of targeted measures against members of the regime, and humanitarian support to the poorest and most vulnerable. The targeted measures are intended to exert pressure on the regime to enact democratic reforms. We would expect the release of Aung San Suu Kyi to be among the first steps in such a process.

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