Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take in response to the remarks of the United Nations Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on Iran at its 52nd Session regarding crimes against humanity and human rights violations in that country.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The UK welcomes the report by the UN Special Rapporteur, which provides further confirmation of the extent of the Iranian government's human rights violations. Working alongside international partners, the UK has been at the forefront of ensuring the Iranian regime pays a political and diplomatic price for its brutality. The UK announced seven rounds of human rights sanctions, totalling over 60 Iranian individuals and entities since October 2022.

The UK has raised human rights both with Iranian representatives in the UK and directly in Tehran. The UK co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolution on human rights in Iran, supported the creation of a UN Fact Finding Mission on Iran and helped ensure Iran's removal from the UN Commission on the Status of Women. We have raised human rights in both the Human Rights Council and UN Security Council. We take note of the seriousness of the report's findings, and remain committed to continue holding the Iranian regime to account for their actions.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform the law on universal jurisdiction; and in particular, what plans they have to expand the scope of section 51 of the International Criminal Court Act 2001, namely the group of perpetrators who can be tried for international crimes in domestic courts.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The criminal law of England and Wales provides for universal jurisdiction over the crimes of torture and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, allowing national authorities to investigate and prosecute these offences under certain conditions when they were committed abroad by foreign nationals. The International Criminal Court Act 2001 allows jurisdiction over the offences of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed abroad by any person who: (i) is/was a UK national or UK resident at the time of the crime; or (ii) became a UK national or UK resident after the crime and still resides in the UK when proceedings are brought. There are no plans to reform the law on universal jurisdiction.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the UK's law on universal jurisdiction; what challenges any such assessment identified; and how they are planning to address those challenges to ensure that the UK can play a proactive role on ensuring justice and accountability for international crimes.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Applying universal jurisdiction in respect of certain offences helps to ensure that the UK does not provide a safe haven for war criminals or those who commit other serious violations of international law. The Crown Prosecution Service, as the agency responsible, will continue to bring individuals to justice wherever possible. Any decision to prosecute offences of universal jurisdiction in England and Wales is governed by the same principles that apply to any other prosecution and must be in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of the USA about the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression in Ukraine; and what response they received.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The UK is working closely with international partners, including the US government, to ensure those committing atrocities in Ukraine are held to account. As the Foreign Secretary announced on 20 January, the UK has accepted Ukraine's invitation to join a 'core group' to consider options for ensuring criminal accountability for Russia's aggression against Ukraine, including possibly through a special tribunal. These are complex issues of international law, which the group must be allowed time to consider. The UK recognises the importance of working with partners on accountability.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to laying a resolution before the United Nations General Assembly providing for a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression in Ukraine, citing the precedents of such tribunals in Sierra Leone and Cambodia.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The UK is working closely with international partners to ensure those committing atrocities in Ukraine are held to account, including at the UN level. As the Foreign Secretary announced on 20 January, the UK has accepted Ukraine's invitation to join a 'core group' to consider options for ensuring criminal accountability for Russia's aggression against Ukraine, including possibly through a special tribunal. These are complex issues of international law, which the group must be allowed time to consider.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assistance they are providing to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to bring to justice of those responsible for war crimes, potential genocide, and the abduction of children in Ukraine.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

We are making every effort to assist the International Criminal Court (ICC) and other international investigations as appropriate, including leading international efforts to build support to the work of the ICC in Ukraine. On 20 March, the Deputy Prime Minister co-hosted an international Justice Ministers Conference at Lancaster House, generating over £4 million in voluntary contributions and new offers of practical support for the ICC and its investigation into the situation in Ukraine. Further to the £1 million financial contribution from 2022, the UK announced an additional £1 million financial contribution to the ICC at the Justice Ministers Conference. The Government is exploring further the provision of expertise, advice and training including specialist support for children.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress is being made to establish a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression in Ukraine; and what contribution they are planning to provide in relation to resources and judicial expertise.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The UK is committed to holding Russia to account for its actions in Ukraine, including by supporting the International Criminal Court and Ukrainian domestic investigations into allegations of war crimes committed in Ukraine. As the Foreign Secretary announced on 20 January, the UK has accepted Ukraine's invitation to join a 'core group' to consider options for ensuring criminal accountability for Russia's aggression against Ukraine, including possibly through a special tribunal. Discussions are ongoing. These are complex issues of international law, which the group must be allowed time to consider. The UK also stands ready to work with Ukraine on establishing a register of damages.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Ukraine about establishing a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression; and whether, in any such discussions, the Ukrainian constitution has proved to be an impediment to establishing such a body during the current state of Martial Law.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

As the Foreign Secretary announced on 20 January, the UK has accepted Ukraine's invitation to join a 'core group' to consider options for ensuring criminal accountability for Russia's aggression against Ukraine, including possibly through a special tribunal. Discussions into how to achieve this continue, including around potential issues linked to the Ukrainian constitution. These are complex issues of international law, which the group must be allowed time to consider.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether Afghan refugees from Christian, Ahmadi, Baha’i, and atheist backgrounds have their freedom of religion or belief protected in (1) Afghanistan and (2) Iran.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

In Afghanistan, since the Taliban took control, the marginalisation of minorities has increased. Religious minorities are often victims of targeted attacks. FCDO officials regularly press the Taliban to protect religious minorities.

Iran hosts around 4.5 million Afghans from different backgrounds almost all of whom live side by side with Iranians in their host communities. Nonetheless, Iran has a track record of systematic discrimination, harassment, and targeting of minority religious and ethnic communities. We continue to raise human rights, including freedom of religion or belief, with Iran at all appropriate opportunities. The UK is committed to working with our partners to hold Iran to account for its dire human rights record.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Hazara refugees in Pakistan have been denied legal refugee status by the government of Pakistan.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The UK is a member of Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees, a group established in 2019 to bring together regional governments, the United Nations and donors to support long-term solutions for Afghan refugees. We encourage Pakistan to include all refugees in services provided to the wider population. We regularly raise the mistreatment and exclusion of minority religious and ethnic groups with the Government at a senior level. The Foreign Secretary raised Afghanistan, including the relocation of eligible Afghans, when he spoke to Foreign Minister Bhutto-Zardari on 20 December 2022. The UK has provided £6.5 million to support refugee preparedness in Pakistan and offer vital health services and additional nutritional support to communities hosting refugees.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the situation of (a) Afghan refugees who lack identification documents, and (b) those from Hazara backgrounds, living in Pakistan, and (2) reports that those groups lack access to the services of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, including medical treatment, accommodation, education and documentation, especially in the city of Islamabad.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The UK is a member of Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees, a group established in 2019 to bring together regional governments, the United Nations and donors to support long-term solutions for Afghan refugees. We encourage Pakistan to include all refugees in services provided to the wider population. We regularly raise the mistreatment and exclusion of minority religious and ethnic groups with the Government at a senior level. The Foreign Secretary raised Afghanistan, including the relocation of eligible Afghans, when he spoke to Foreign Minister Bhutto-Zardari on 20 December 2022. The UK has provided £6.5 million to support refugee preparedness in Pakistan and offer vital health services and additional nutritional support to communities hosting refugees.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that eligible Afghans in Afghanistan are able to access the Afghan Citizens Relocation Scheme.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)

In January 2022, we launched the scheme, with some of those evacuated under Op PITTING being granted a place on the ACRS and, in June 2022, we launched two further referral pathways onto the scheme.

The two further referral pathways onto the ACRS will continue to see individuals resettled to the UK. Beyond the first year of the third pathway, the Government will work with international partners and NGOs to welcome wider groups of Afghans at risk. Further detail will be set out in due course.

This is one of the most ambitious resettlement schemes in our country’s history and we are proud to offer a safe and legal route to those affected by events in Afghanistan. We look forward to welcoming new arrivals to the UK and supporting them to rebuild their lives.

We continue to work, including with likeminded partners and countries neighbouring Afghanistan, on resettlement issues and to support safe passage for eligible Afghans.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to publish the impact assessment for the Illegal Migration Bill.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)

We will publish an equality impact assessment and economic impact assessment in respect of the Illegal Migration Bill in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what advice the (1) Home Secretary, and (2) Permanent Secretary of the Government Communications Service, received concerning the exclusion of news organisations who may not support Government policy from attending the Home Secretary’s recent trip to Rwanda; and in particular whether they considered the Government Communications Service Propriety Guidance requiring media officers to "establish their impartiality and neutrality with the news media", by dealing "with all news media evenhandedly.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)

Media outlets who accompanied the Home Secretary’s visit to Kigali on March 18 – 19 were BBC News, The Daily Express, The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, GB News, Press Association, The Sun, The Times. There were also numerous outlets in the region who covered the visit.

Even-handed treatment of the media in accordance with the Government Communications Service guidelines is central to how the Civil Service communicates. Due consideration of the GCS guidelines is undertaken in Home Office communications.

All news organisations were kept informed of the progress of the visit regardless of whether they attended or not.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how the list of news organisations that attended to report on the Home Secretary’s visit to Rwanda was drawn up; and at what stage that list was considered against the Government Communications Service Propriety Guidance on the need for media officers to "establish their impartiality and neutrality with the news media", by dealing "with all news media evenhandedly."

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)

Media outlets who accompanied the Home Secretary’s visit to Kigali on March 18 – 19 were BBC News, The Daily Express, The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, GB News, Press Association, The Sun, The Times. There were also numerous outlets in the region who covered the visit.

Even-handed treatment of the media in accordance with the Government Communications Service guidelines is central to how the Civil Service communicates. Due consideration of the GCS guidelines is undertaken in Home Office communications.

All news organisations were kept informed of the progress of the visit regardless of whether they attended or not.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether journalists from The Guardian were invited to accompany the Home Secretary on her recent visit to Rwanda with journalists from other UK newspapers; if not, why not; and, further to the Home Office spokesperson’s comments reported in the Press Gazette on 25 April 2022 that the Home Office “fully adheres to the Government Communication Service Propriety Guidance when dealing with members of the media”, whether the decision on whether to invite Guardian journalists took account of the Government Communication Service Propriety Guidance which states that to "work effectively, media officers must establish their impartiality and neutrality with the news media, and ensure that they deal with all news media evenhandedly”.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)

Media outlets who accompanied the Home Secretary’s visit to Kigali on March 18 – 19 were BBC News, The Daily Express, The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, GB News, Press Association, The Sun, The Times. There were also numerous outlets in the region who covered the visit.

Even-handed treatment of the media in accordance with the Government Communications Service guidelines is central to how the Civil Service communicates. Due consideration of the GCS guidelines is undertaken in Home Office communications.

All news organisations were kept informed of the progress of the visit regardless of whether they attended or not.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken (1) to monitor the human rights situation in Afghanistan, (2) to prevent future atrocities in that country, and (3) to collect and safeguard evidence of current atrocities with a view to future prosecutions.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The FCDO continues to monitor the human rights situation in Afghanistan. On 7 October 2022, we co-sponsored a Human Rights Council resolution to extend the UN Special Rapporteur's, Richard Bennett, mandate to monitor Human Rights in Afghanistan.

Based on the UN Framework, we assess the risk of atrocity crimes taking place in Afghanistan to be very high. We use a range of internal and external sources to provide evidence-based analysis of the risks, and are using this to inform our programming activity, including incorporating atrocity prevention interventions into existing programmes.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any efforts by the Taliban to protect religious or belief minorities from attacks by the Islamic State–Khorasan Province; whether since September 2021 they have made any representations to the Taliban on the importance of protecting the rights of religious or belief minority groups; and if not, whether they intend to do so.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Since the Taliban took control, the marginalisation of minority groups has increased. Religious minorities are often victims of targeted attacks. FCDO officials regularly press the Taliban to protect religious minorities. We are working with international partners to urge the Taliban to act on their commitments on counter terrorism and ensure the safety of all Afghans.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether any UK academic institutions have been notified that they will lose access to research databases provided by the China National Knowledge Infrastructure platform; and what assessment they have made of extent to which academic institutions in China currently have access to academic research databases funded by UK research councils

Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Department does not collect data on institutional subscriptions to the China National Knowledge Infrastructure platform.

The UK is a global leader in open research. UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) support the principle that research data and publications are as open as possible and as secure as necessary. Responsible and trusted research requires a balance of considerations which are expressed in the UK Research and Innovation Trusted Research and Innovation Principles, published in 2021. Science outcomes published in Research Councils' open research databases are available to all subscribers.

“The CCP is following the Soviets’ 1970s and 80s-era model of repression of the churches by means of surveillance, co-option, regulation and indoctrination” - Nina Shea -“Vatican Largely Silent”…”Those who remain silent are responsible” St.Edith Stein https://t.co/47eRWwwt9R

Disability News Service: Disabled activists raise concerns over MPs’ assisted suicide inquiry – Hugely important that ⁦@HouseofCommons⁩ Inquiry hears the views of people with disabilities about legislation that would put their lives at risk. https://t.co/yclckuIzSh

Putin’s Shakespearean Demons -WSJ invites us to “Imagine the condition in the heart of Europe today had NATO’s boundaries stayed frozen after 1989.” NATO’s commitment that an attack on one is an attack on all remains the best hope for preserving freedom https://t.co/Zjb5cV9aZt

“On foreign policy, Biden’s gut is his guide” :- “Our deterrence against Iran is broken & must be restored, or we will face devastating consequences. Unfortunately, Biden is not doing what is best for Americans on the world stage.” https://t.co/oFmlseb4CI

Truly shocking. What kind of man would do this to a woman and her child? https://t.co/UfCfCbLKmD

Deadly serious - not an April Fools Day joke - Putin’s Russia today assumed the rotating Presidency of the UN Security Council - while it is accused of war crimes & an ICC arrest warrant is out for Putin. Makes the UN a laughing stock. https://t.co/1OtUdPUjrx https://t.co/ag1XfNYoPq https://t.co/fMYovubnqw

.⁦@COLRICHARDKEMP”⁩Xi encouraged this war with a pact of “friendship with no limits” on the eve of Putin’s invasion, just as the August 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Russia and Germany vouchsafed Hitler’s attack on Poland.” Russia’s future: https://t.co/Au7oXh6eEI

@tariqahmadbt says UK welcomes report by @JavaidRehman UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, underlining extent & seriousness of Iranian government’s human rights violations &“remain committed to continue holding Iranian regime to account for their actions.” Read:https://t.co/LK8r8ipPFm https://t.co/YvyU6eyok1

U.K. Statement to the UN Human Rights Council on the Situation of human rights in North Korea. Read here: https://t.co/n4wHgdnBrO

Richard Dannatt:”Vladimir Putin will soon face his Julius Caesar moment”..a victim of his own hubris,firmly believing his security services had infiltrated & undermined the Kyiv government & had forces ready to mount a quick strike to effect regime change. https://t.co/IslTq67r3Q

Vladimir Putin’s meatgrinder tactics are destroying a generation of Russian men. Telegraph: https://t.co/qRqveG16h0

WSJ: U.S. Research Scientists Are Blind to China’s Threat & enthralled by the open-science concept “can’t be trusted to manage U.S. biosecurity.”An issue of such magnitude should be in the hands of those with a much more realistic view of China & the world https://t.co/NMMeNrtDWe

Ministers reply to my Parliamentary Questions about the Afghan Citizens Relocation Scheme; about the human rights situation in Afghanistan, including attacks by the Islamic State–Khorasan Province; & minority rights in Afghanistan & Iran #FORB Read: https://t.co/ApAR7AQ9OX https://t.co/beOGRu4294

Found: The noble Lord, Lord Alton [of Liverpool (Crossbench) ], and I argue for that in relation to the issues

Found: Question that Clause 20 stand part of the Bill. 23 Illegal Migration Bill Clause 21 LORD ALTON OF LIVERPOOL