Written question asked by Hilary Benn (Labour) on Monday, 25 April 2016, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 28 April 2016 (named day). A holding answer was provided on Thursday, 28 April 2016. A substantive answer was provided by Lord Hammond of Runnymede (Conservative) on Friday, 29 April 2016 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Middle East: Crimes against Humanity

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 20 April 2016, Official Report, column 995, what steps the Government is taking to support the (a) gathering and (b) preservation of evidence of crimes that could in future be used in a court to hold Daesh to account.

Answer: Evidence is being gathered and preserved by a range of state and non state actors for potential prosecutions. The UK is supporting a number of these efforts. In Syria, the UK is funding the work of NGOs who are gathering evidence of Human Rights violations committed across Syria, including by Daesh and the Asad regime. This is being done to the standards required for criminal prosecution against high level perpetrators in a domestic or international court. In Iraq, we are considering how the UK might best complement similar efforts already underway. Working with international partners, we are doing everything we can to assist in the gathering and preservation of evidence that could in future be used by judicial bodies to make a judgement on this matter. It is vital that this is done now, before evidence is lost or destroyed.

Secondary information