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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made concerning the ill treatment of prisoners by the Iraq forces in Iraq; and if he will make a statement. [213570] Mr. MacShane: The Government are engaged in a continuous dialogue with the Iraqi Government about the need to respect human rights. We are offering support to the Human Rights Ministry in Baghdad and through a team of prison officers and police experts in Basra to advise and mentor their Iraqi colleagues in better prison management in the South of Iraq. We welcome the recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on Iraq and its recommendations on areas where more work needs to be done by the Iraqi authorities, by the international community and by Non- Governmental Organisations to prevent ill-treatment of prisoners in Iraqi detention facilities. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's Special Representative on Human Rights in Iraq, my hon. Friend the Member for Cynon Valley (Ann Clwyd) raised our concerns, and the issues contained in the HRW report, with the head of the Southern Iraq Office of the Ministry of Human Rights while she was in Basra on 1 February. She also raised this with the Iraqi Minister of Human Rights, Bakhtiar Amin.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

430 c1459-60W; 213570

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Abuse Detainees Armed forces Iraq Inhuman treatment Prisoners Peacekeeping operations

Link

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