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Mr. Vladimir Raigorodsky
Lord Bethell asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What representations they have made to the Government of the Ukraine over their refusal to allow Mr. Vladimir Raigorodsky of Kharkov to emigrate; whether they have raised the case in the political co-operation machinery of the European Union or with Ukrainian officials in the human rights machinery of the Council of Europe.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: We have made several bilateral representations to the Ukrainian authorities asking that the Raigorodsky family be allowed to emigrate. We have not sought action in the EU or Council of Europe but will be considering appropriate further action once we have a formal response to our latest demarche.
Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands: Right of Individual Petition
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer given by Baroness Chalker of Wallasey on 29th June 1995 (WA 59), when they expect to be able to take a decision as to the renewal of the right of individual petition under the European Convention on Human Rights in respect of the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: The Government of the British Virgin Islands has indicated that it does not intend to renew the right of individual petition. The Government of the Cayman Islands has yet to express a firm position. We will discuss the issue further with both governments in the context of our continuing consultations with them on good governance.
UN Law of the Sea Convention
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they intend to ratify the UN Law of the Sea Convention in time to take part in the next tranche of nominations to positions in the institutions set up under the convention.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: Nominations for the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf are due to close on 5th February 1997. We are unlikely to have acceded to the UN Law of the Sea Convention in time to nominate a candidate for the Commission. We consider that the long-term interests of the UK will be best served by accession to UNCLOS. Parliament will be told as soon as a decision has been taken.
Airspace: Definition
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the Written Answer given by Baroness Chalker of Wallasey on 13th November last (WA 101) to the effect that "there is no intentionally agreed definition of outer space" indicates that they do not have a working definition of British airspace within which the United Kingdom has sovereign rights, and of outer space in which it does not; and whether, if they do make such a distinction, at what altitude do they make it.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: In the absence of an internationally agreed definition of outer space, we consider each instance in which the distinction between airspace and outer space may be relevant in light of the particular circumstances and the relevant international agreements.
Under the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, the United Kingdom has sovereignty over the airspace above its territory.
NATO Enlargement: Military Equipment Purchases
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the military consequences of NATO enlargement, and of the belief among countries applying to join NATO that they will be required both to increase their defence budgets and to buy new military equipment from Western firms are being taken into account in discussions of the adjustment of the Conventional Forces in Europe Agreement to new circumstances.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: Defence budgets are a matter for each country to decide. However the purchase of any new conventional weapons systems must be consistent with the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty and the transparency provisions of the Vienna Document 1994 on Confidence and Security Building Measures.
Former Yugoslavia: Arms Control
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is the status under the terms of the Conventional Forces in Europe Agreement of the weapons now being provided to the Bosnian Federation by the United States under its Equip-and-Train programme and of the weapons the Muslim armed forces received with the knowledge of the United States from Iran and Turkey during the period of the embargo
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: The Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty does not cover arms control issues in the former Yugoslavia and the parties of the former Yugoslavia are not signatories to the CFE Treaty. Such issues are covered by Annex 1B of the Dayton Peace Agreement, Article IV of which provides for a sub-regional arms control agreement similar to the CFE Treaty. All weapons presently held in Bosnia by the former warring factions are subject to these provisions.
NATO Enlargement and OSCE
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether, if it is proposed that the new members of NATO be given "the same security guarantees as
- have been enjoyed by NATO's original members throughout the organisation's existence" without the creation of new dividing lines in Europe, as stated by Baroness Chalker of Wallasey on 30th October 1996 (WA 21-22), the broad security architecture by means of which such lines are to be "transcended" and "rendered obsolete" is that governed by the OSCE; and
Whether the enlargement of NATO without alteration of its "current nuclear posture", as described by Baroness Chalker of Wallasey on 22nd January 1997 (WA 58), is compatible with confidence building measures to which they have subscribed in the OSCE; and whether it is their intention to adopt as a code of conduct the Stockholm Declaration adopted by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in July 1996; and
Whether, in any negotiations for the expansion eastwards of NATO they will have particular regard to paragraph 20 of the Stockholm Declaration, "that no participating State will strengthen its security at the expense of the security of other states ", and of paragraph 26t requiring "full recognition that the enlargement of security organisations cannot be considered in isolation but only as part of a wider process in which OSCE, a wide-ranging partnership among NATO, Russia and Ukraine, an enlarged NATO, and an active Partnership for Peace and the WEU form complementary parts of a broad, inclusive European security architecture based on mutual confidence and supporting the objective of an undivided Europe".
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: NATO is a defensive alliance. Its enlargement does not threaten the security of any other state and is compatible with OSCE confidence building measures. NATO enlargement will be a further step towards the Alliance's basic goal of enhancing security and stability throughout the Euro-Atlantic area, within the context of a broad European security architecture, referred to in my answer of 30th October (WA 22). This comprises all the organisations and activities in Europe with a security role, including NATO, the WEU, the EU, Partnership for Peace, the North Atlantic Cooperation Council and the OSCE as reflected in paragraph 26t of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Stockholm Declaration of July 1996. It is not the Government's intention to adopt the "Stockholm Declaration" as a code of conduct.
Ms Roisin McAliskey
The Marquess of Ailesbury asked Her Majesty's Government:
- On what grounds England was deemed to be
the appropriate country for the imprisonment of
Ms Roisin McAliskey.
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Blatch): Roisin McAliskey was arrested in Belfast on the basis of a provisional arrest warrant issued by Bow Street Magistrates' Court on 25th November under
Section 8 of the Extradition Act 1989. That Act makes no provision for a separate jurisdiction for Northern Ireland. The court of committal under Section 9 of the Extradition Act can only remand a person in custody to a prison in England or Wales. Roisin McAliskey is currently being held in Holloway prison.Police Firearm and Shotgun Licensing Records
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will list those police authorities which keep their firearms and shotgun licensing records on computer and which do not, and what arrangements, if any, exist for direct electronic exchange of information between the databases concerned.
Baroness Blatch: I understand from the Association of Chief Police Officers in England and Wales and the equivalent association for Scotland that all but two of the 51 police forces in Great Britain keep their firearm and shotgun licensing records on computer. No force can exchange this information directly with another by electronic means. We are currently discussing with the Association of Chief Police Officers the development of a computer system, PHOENIX, which would make this possible.
Prisoners: Passport Applications
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What arrangements exist or are proposed to prevent those serving prison sentences from obtaining or renewing passports.
Baroness Blatch: There are no existing or proposed arrangements by either the United Kingdom Passport Agency (UKPA) or the Prison Service which prevent British nationals serving prison sentences from obtaining or renewing United Kingdom passports. They can make applications from prison to the UKPA, which provides a passport service to British nationals in the United Kingdom. Any passport provided will be sent back to the applicant through the prison governor, who will issue it to the prisoner on release.
A prisoner subject to immigration control who is to be deported at the end of his or her sentence will have any necessary request for a replacement travel document made on his or her behalf to the appropriate authority. Other prisoners subject to immigration control who are not to be deported must make their own arrangements to replace or renew their passports. There are no arrangements or proposals to prevent them applying to their own authorities.
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