Written question asked by John Bercow (Conservative) on Tuesday, 10 October 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 12 October 2006. It was answered by Geoffrey Hoon (Labour) on Wednesday, 18 October 2006 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Iraq

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of reports that fundamentalist militias are operating in Iraq and are persecuting gay Iraqis.

Answer: We are aware of reports that various groups of Iraqi society are being persecuted including by militia members, for example women, ethnic and religious minorities and homosexual men. We are often not able to confirm details, but we do raise serious human rights allegations with the Iraqi Government whenever possible.The Iraqi Government are fully committed to tackling illegal militias and to providing stability and security for all Iraqis. Multi-national forces in Iraq are assisting, including by strengthening capacity within the Iraqi security forces. In addition, the United Kingdom is working with Iraqi authorities and international partners to train police, including in human rights, to provide the skills, professionalism and operating systems to help protect all Iraq's diverse society.

Secondary information