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Adjournment debate on Thursday, 18 December 2008, in the House of Commons, led by Mike Gapes. The answering member was Baroness Merron.

Human Rights

Westminster Hall debate on a motion for the adjournment on human rights (Relevant documents: Foreign Affairs Select Committee ninth report of session 2007-08, HC 533, and the Government response, Cm. 7463.)

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
485 c141-82WH 
Session
2008-09
Department
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Chamber / Committee
Westminster Hall
Related items
Proceeding contributions
Mike Gapes | 485 c181-2WH (Link to this contribution) I just want to respond briefly to two things mentioned during the debate. First, I assure the Minist...
Speaker | 485 c181WH (Link to this contribution) By leave of the Chamber, I call Mr. Mike Gapes.
Show all contributions (44)
Speaker | 485 c182WH (Link to this contribution) May I wish you, one and all, a very happy Christmas.
Baroness Merron | 485 c180-1WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is well aware of the current difficulties in the Security Council. Our priority, ...
Ed Davey | 485 c180WH (Link to this contribution) Have the Government tried to secure such a resolution?
Baroness Merron | 485 c178-80WH (Link to this contribution) I can certainly assure my hon. Friend that we will make a statement as soon as possible afterwards. ...
Baroness Merron | 485 c178WH (Link to this contribution) I think that it would probably be appropriate to say that the use of torture and what is defined as ...
Andrew Dismore | 485 c178WH (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the Minister's assurances. May we take it that soon after the review meeting in Ja...
Baroness Merron | 485 c175-7WH (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Key. This has been an important and welcome debate. I am happy to take part in it no ...
Mike Gapes | 485 c178WH (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for making it clear that we have a different view from the United Stat...
David Lidington | 485 c171-5WH (Link to this contribution) First, I want to compliment the Foreign Affairs Committee, in particular its Chairman, the hon. Memb...
Speaker | 485 c175WH (Link to this contribution) Before I call the Minister, I gently remind her of the tradition that, if the Committee Chairman so ...
Ed Davey | 485 c168-71WH (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the Committee on its examination of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office report, and I...
Mike Gapes | 485 c149-51WH (Link to this contribution) I accept that our Committee did not cover the Congo. We tend to comment on the FCO's report. We look...
Jeremy Corbyn | 485 c149WH (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend's Committee be able to deal in some depth with the situation in the Congo in nex...
Andrew Dismore | 485 c152WH (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman said that when he spoke about the matter last year, the case against Mugabe...
John Stanley | 485 c151-2WH (Link to this contribution) I warmly endorse the final point made by the Chairman of the Committee, the hon. Member for Ilford, ...
Jeremy Corbyn | 485 c156WH (Link to this contribution) I understand what the right hon. Gentleman is saying, and I agree with him. Is he not concerned also...
John Stanley | 485 c152-6WH (Link to this contribution) I am not aware of any age cut-off for criminal proceedings by the International Criminal Court. As ...
Andrew Dismore | 485 c156-60WH (Link to this contribution) It is a bit of a busman's holiday for me to speak in this debate, as I am Chairman of the Joint Comm...
John Stanley | 485 c156WH (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for mentioning that. Yes, it is a deplorable feature of what is ...
Speaker | 485 c160WH (Link to this contribution) Order. No, the hon. Gentleman will not venture there. I am being very generous already. We are consi...
Jeremy Corbyn | 485 c160WH (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend say anything about Cypriot missing persons since the invasion in 1974 who were a...
Andrew Dismore | 485 c160WH (Link to this contribution) I do not wish to criticise your ruling, Mr. Key, but I refer you to paragraph 80 of the human rights...
Mike Gapes | 485 c148-9WH (Link to this contribution) No, I am not. Perhaps the Minister could respond to that question when she winds up. I have mention...
Ed Davey | 485 c147WH (Link to this contribution) On that point, is the hon. Gentleman aware of any concessions that the British Government have secur...
Ed Davey | 485 c166WH (Link to this contribution) Why is Britain not a signatory to the international convention on the protection of the rights of al...
Jeremy Corbyn | 485 c164-6WH (Link to this contribution) I bow to that wisdom, and I am happy to take part in the debate, as I am sure all other hon. Members...
Mike Gapes | 485 c164WH (Link to this contribution) May I help my hon. Friend? I do not think that it is anybody's fault. There were two slots for a deb...
Jeremy Corbyn | 485 c164WH (Link to this contribution) I am very pleased to be taking part in the debate, although I am slightly surprised at the timing—it...
Andrew Dismore | 485 c162-4WH (Link to this contribution) I was not aware of that, but the hon. Gentleman has made a very important and valid point. Let me t...
Ed Davey | 485 c162WH (Link to this contribution) I agree with many of the hon. Gentleman's remarks on the situation in Sri Lanka. Is he aware of the ...
Andrew Dismore | 485 c160-2WH (Link to this contribution) The Committee's report refers to the Government's report, which has been endorsed. In that context, ...
Speaker | 485 c160WH (Link to this contribution) But we are not debating that report this afternoon.
Jeremy Corbyn | 485 c166-8WH (Link to this contribution) I agree absolutely. Last year, I was a rapporteur of a joint conference of the International Labour ...
Jeremy Corbyn | 485 c143-4WH (Link to this contribution) Surely it is not Europe's responsibility to close down Guantanamo Bay, but solely a decision that th...
Mike Gapes | 485 c143WH (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that support. Our Committee has shown a close interest in those matters, and, in a...
Ed Davey | 485 c143WH (Link to this contribution) On that point, the hon. Gentleman may not be aware of this, but one of my constituents was detained ...
Ed Davey | 485 c146WH (Link to this contribution) May I add to the hon. Gentleman's powerful point by saying that the UK taxpayer has spent nearly £25...
Mike Gapes | 485 c144-6WH (Link to this contribution) I accept that various Ministers have said that water-boarding is torture, and the logical corollary ...
Andrew Dismore | 485 c144WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend might like also to pray in aid the evidence that the then Policing Minister, now the ...
Mike Gapes | 485 c144WH (Link to this contribution) I said that we need to give assistance—to help. In fact, paragraph 77 of the Committee's report stat...
Mike Gapes | 485 c146-7WH (Link to this contribution) That is true; there is a public interest in that. There is also a Government commitment, through the...
Mike Gapes | 485 c141-3WH (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to be here before you today, Mr. Key, and I wish you and all the staff of the House a...
Subjects
China Human rights Terrorism United Nations Religious freedom USA Russia Israel Foreign and Commonwealth Office Tibet Iran Middle East Guantanamo Bay Bangladesh
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