Written question asked by Stephen Twigg (Labour) on Wednesday, 12 July 2000, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 20 July 2000. It was answered by Lord Hain (Labour) on Thursday, 20 July 2000 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Iranian authorities concerning (a) equality of access to education for all religions, (b) freedom of the press and (c) the death sentence for apostasy.

Answer: Mr. Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Iranian authorities concerning (a) equality of access to education for all religions, (b) freedom of the press and (c) the death sentence for apostasy. [130791] Mr. Hain: (a) and (c) are most relevant in the context of Iranian treatment of the Baha'i community. We and our EU partners regularly raise our concerns about Iranian treatment of the Baha'is. We do so bilaterally through our Embassy in Tehran, and the Iranian Ambassador to London. We also do so multilaterally through the twice yearly UN resolutions on Human Rights in Iran, which we sponsor in conjunction with our EU partners, the most recent of which was adopted in April. We also raise our concerns through the EU/Iran dialogue. On (b), at the last meeting in Tehran in June, the EU presidency, on behalf of all EU partners, pressed the Iranian authorities over our concern about the recent suppression of freedom of the press in Iran.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 354 c269W; 130791
Session: 1999-00
Subjects: Baha'i faith Equality Education Human rights Foreign relations Press freedom Religious freedom Iran EU external relations
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk