---

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) written and (b) oral briefing was provided by officials in his Department to inform (i) him and (ii) his Ministers of the contents of the International Committee of the Red Cross report and actions taken (A) as a result of officials having read the report and (B) prior to the full report being made available to him. [173575] Mr. Straw :[holding answer 19 May 2004]: Officials in Baghdad took appropriate action as soon as the report was received in February to pass it back to Permanent Joint Head Quarters for confirmation that action on all those areas concerning UK forces was already in hand. Officials in Baghdad were also assured that investigations had already been launched into allegations involving US forces. My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Rammell) was made aware of the report (though not given a copy) at a meeting in Geneva on 18 March with Dr. Kellenberger, President of the ICRC. On his return to London, Mr. Rammell discussed the concerns raised by Dr. Kellenberger with officials, and was satisfied that action was in hand to deal with the allegations concerning UK troops. I became aware of the ICRC report on the weekend of 8-9 May. My noble Friend the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, Minister of State at the FCO, was briefed in general terms on detainee issues on 27 April in advance of taking a question in the House of Lords on the Amnesty International report "Iraq: One Year On". The ICRC was not covered.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

173575; 421 c1636W

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Abuse Detainees Armed forces Iraq Prisoners Peacekeeping operations International Red Cross

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk