Written question asked by David Drew (Labour) on Tuesday, 23 March 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 19 April 2004. It was answered by Bill Rammell (Labour) on Monday, 19 April 2004 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 assessment he has made of levels of (a) discrimination against, (b) rape of and (c) torture of Mandaeans in Iraq.

Answer: Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of levels of (a) discrimination against, (b) rape of and (c) torture of Mandaeans in Iraq. [164028] Mr. Rammell: A small community of around 500 Mandaeans live in Basra, in the UK area of responsibility. They are represented by Sheikh Raad Gubashi, a Mandaean member of the Interim Council. The CPA office in Basra has not received evidence of discrimination or ill-treatment against them. If any information could be provided we would be willing to investigate. Discrimination against any Iraqi citizen is forbidden by Article 12 of the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), which was agreed by the Iraqi Governing Council on 8 March. A copy of the TAL has been placed in the Library of the House. The Coalition is working hard with the Iraqis to strengthen the Iraqi security and judiciary sectors, in order to provide security to all Iraqi citizens and safeguard the rights laid out in the TAL.

Secondary information