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Uganda

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are being taken by (a) the United Kingdom and (b) the international community to ensure that violence does not occur in Uganda following the presidential election. [55495]

Ian Pearson: Primary responsibility for ensuring that violence does not occur rests with the Ugandan Government, opposition, and population. The elections and their aftermath have been generally peaceful. An EU Observer Mission is still present in Uganda to monitor all remaining aspects of the electoral process. We have called on all involved, in particular the candidates, their parties and supporters, to demonstrate a responsible attitude and to abide by constitutional procedures.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the fairness of the recent elections in Uganda; and if he will make a statement. [55676]

Ian Pearson: On 24 February, the EU's Election Observation Mission issued a statement of preliminary conclusions, which noted that the elections had so far been generally well administered, transparent, competitive and relatively peaceful, demonstrating some significant improvements in comparison to previous elections.

On 27 February we, along with our EU partners, issued a statement. It noted that voting passed generally peacefully and with significant voter turnout and congratulated the people of Uganda for demonstrating a clear commitment to democracy in the first multi-party elections in 25 years. However, there were shortcomings, primarily the lack of a level playing field for all parties in the run-up to the elections.

UN Human Rights Council

Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government have taken to support the establishment of a new United Nations Human Rights Council; and if he will make a statement. [56071]

 
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Ian Pearson: The Government have been and remain actively involved in negotiations on the establishment of a UN Human Rights Council. This has included co-ordination of EU negotiating positions during our presidency of the EU in 2005, working closely with partners in New York, Geneva and Brussels. We have engaged consistently and constructively with the process, lobbied widely and provided our full support to the efforts of the President of the General Assembly (PGA) and his two co-chairs. We will continue to work hard with partners, and closely in support of PGA Eliasson, as we try to progress this important piece of the UN reform agenda.

UN Peacekeepers

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department plans to take to assist the United Nations in ensuring that individual peacekeepers face proper judicial process when accused of criminal acts. [55678]

Ian Pearson: We are deeply concerned by any allegations of criminal acts and misconduct by UN peacekeeping personnel. We strongly support the actions of the UN Secretary- General to implement a 'zero-tolerance' approach in all United Nations Missions.

We welcomed last March the comprehensive report on sexual exploitation and abuse prepared by the Secretary-General's Adviser on this issue, His Royal Highness Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein. We were active in ensuring that the UN General Assembly's Special Committee on Peacekeeping adopted the report's recommendations.

The UN is now focusing on five key areas to ensure that peacekeepers who commit crimes are bought to justice:

a model Memorandum of Understanding between the UN and countries whose troops are participating in peacekeeping operations, ensuring that those countries are fully aware of and can be held to account for their responsibilities in this area;

establishment of full-time Conduct and Discipline Teams in all UN missions, as well as at the UN Headquarters in New York, dedicated to addressing cases of misconduct, providing advice to missions, ensuring coherent application of UN procedures and providing guidance and advice for peacekeeping personnel;

ensuring that managers and commanders are made responsible for creating and maintaining an environment that prevents misconduct, are clearly directed to facilitate investigations and are held accountable for their failures in this regard;

work through a Group of Legal Experts nominated by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations to ensure that individuals are held accountable for criminal offences they have committed, and that there is no impunity for any category of staff, whether civilian or military;

a framework for collaboration in investigations between the UN's Office of Internal Oversight and national authorities, to ensure that any evidence collected is admissible in the relevant national jurisdiction of the country of the offender.

The UK is working closely with the EU and other partners to ensure that work is concluded successfully in all these areas.
 
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CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

1911 Census

Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 111W, on the 1911 Census, what the date was (a) of the 171 requests for access to information contained in the 1911 Census returns, (b) of the response to each request, (c) of the 14 appeals from enquirers and (d) on which each appeal was responded to; and what reasons were given for each refusal. [56480]

Bridget Prentice: The information is as follows:
 
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(a) The National Archives received 171 requests for access to information contained in the 1911 census returns between 2 February 2005 and 29 January 2006.

(b) The response to each of these requests, which were considered in consultation with the Office for National Statistics, was that access could be not granted because the information was covered by S.41 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

(c) The National Archives reviewed the 14 appeals against this decision between 8 February 2005 and 18 January 2006. These were responded to between 4 March 2005 and 28 February 2006.

(d) After review, it was determined that the original decisions to deny access under S.41 of the Act should stand, in the context of government policy that the decennial census returns should be opened after 100 years.

 
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DEFENCE

Active Service (Military Police Investigations)

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether it is his policy that every shooting incident involving UK military personnel on active service must be investigated by the military police. [55463]

Mr. Ingram: Ministry of Defence policy is that every shooting incident involving United Kingdom military personnel in Iraq should be subject to a Shooting Incident Review carried out by the Commanding Officer. If evidence emerges that there are any grounds to suspect that a criminal act has occurred or that Rules of Engagement might have been breached the incident would be referred to the Service Police immediately for an investigation.

Afghanistan

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his Answer of 27 February 2006, to Question 53831, whether his definition of the term support includes (a) intelligence gathering and sharing for specific operations, (b) provision of lift capability for Afghan forces and (c) protective cordons for Afghan forces. [55613]

John Reid [holding answer 2 March 2006]: As I have made clear on a number of occasions, counter-narcotics operations are the responsibility of the government of Afghanistan. The support that the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) may provide is set in this context and will be determined by the requirements of any particular operation at the time.

Aircraft Carriers

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether, following his meeting with the French Defence Minister, consideration is being given to the possible purchase of the Rafale Aircraft as an option to equip the proposed new aircraft carriers; and if he will make a statement. [56498]

Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2 March 2006, Official Report, column 1251W, to the right hon. Member for Fylde (Mr. Jack).

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