Written question asked by Lord Bruce of Bennachie (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 18 February 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 25 February 2005. It was answered by Douglas Alexander (Labour) on Friday, 25 February 2005 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on what occasions over the last year UK embassy staff have visited Aceh in Indonesia to assess the risk of UK-sourced equipment being used for internal repression; and during which of those visits staff had unrestricted, unimpeded and unaccompanied access to local citizens.

Answer: Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what occasions over the last year UK embassy staff have visited Aceh in Indonesia to assess the risk of UK-sourced equipment being used for internal repression; and during which of those visits staff had unrestricted, unimpeded and unaccompanied access to local citizens. [217455] Mr. Alexander: In the last 12 months, there have been several visits by embassy staff to Aceh. Two members of the British embassy visited Aceh in February 2004. They held meetings with members of the Indonesian army, and with local NGOs. The Defence Attache« visited Aceh as part of an EU delegation in May. On both occasions, there were restrictions on movement, due to the security situation in the province. Since the tsunami disaster on 26 December and the lifting of restrictions, there have been many visits to Aceh where movement was only restricted by the physical devastation following the earthquake and tsunami.

Secondary information