Asked by Baroness Berridge To ask Her Majesty’s Government
what are their human rights priorities for the communiqué of the
Commonwealth Summit in April 2018. Baroness Berridge (Con) My
Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the
Order Paper. In doing so, I draw attention to my interests as
outlined in the register....Request free
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Asked by
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their human rights
priorities for the communiqué of the Commonwealth Summit in
April 2018.
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(Con)
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my
name on the Order Paper. In doing so, I draw attention to
my interests as outlined in the register.
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The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon) (Con)
My Lords, Commonwealth member states are meeting, as I
speak, in London to negotiate the communiqué. While it
would be inappropriate to comment on those negotiations or
speculate on specific outcomes, the UK believes that the
promotion and protection of human rights should be of
central importance. Encouraging member states to uphold the
values enshrined in the Commonwealth charter, which include
democracy, freedom of expression, the rule of law, and
opposition to all forms of discrimination, will be an
important part of April’s summit.
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My Lords, on 28 February of last year the Prime Minister
stated:
“We must reaffirm our determination to stand up for the
freedom of people of all religions to practice their
beliefs in peace and safety. And I hope to take further
measures as a government to support this”.
That commitment, of course, is also outlined in the
Commonwealth charter. While I am grateful for the
Minister’s Answer, could he please provide details on how
the Prime Minister’s commitment will be manifested in
practical terms during the UK’s period of chair-in-office
of the Commonwealth?
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First, I acknowledge the formidable work my noble friend
does, along with other noble Lords across this House, in
the area of freedom of religion and belief. It remains a
key priority for Her Majesty’s Government to focus on
freedom of religion and belief in the context of the
Commonwealth summit. During the summit week, various fora
will be held, including the Commonwealth People’s Forum,
where civil society groups will have an opportunity to
directly raise issues, including freedom of religion and
belief, and there will be an opportunity for Foreign
Ministers and leaders to hear about the outcomes of those
fora. The UK will be chair-in-office for two years. I
assure my noble friend that we have received various bids
and we will certainly be focusing on all elements of human
rights, including—
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(LD)
My Lords—
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(Lab)
My Lords—
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(CB)
My Lords—
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If I may finish, including freedom of religion and belief.
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I want to ask the Minister about two groups of people whose
human rights are sadly violated. The first is LGBT people
in many African countries, who are treated most shamefully,
and the second is the Dalits and Adivasi or tribal peoples
in India and other south Asian
countries, who by every indicator are discriminated against
most cruelly.
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On the latter group, I totally agree with the noble and
right reverend Lord. We continue to raise these issues in
the context of the Commonwealth but also bilaterally where
those groups are discriminated against. On LGBT rights, I
assure noble Lords that the Prime Minister herself has
committed to raising issues around LGBT rights during
Commonwealth Week. As I have also made clear on a number of
occasions, we continue to raise these issues, particularly
with those nations across the Commonwealth which still
criminalise homosexuality. We continue to raise this both
in the context of the Commonwealth and bilaterally.
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Does the Minister agree that the Commonwealth has been
strong on declaration —Harare and the charter—but less
strong in practice? For example, of the 58 countries in the
world where capital punishment is legal, 36 are in the
Commonwealth. The recent report of Open Doors shows that,
of those 50 countries in the world where it is difficult to
be a Christian, seven are in the Commonwealth. Is this a
priority of the Government?
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I assure the noble Lord that, on all issues of human rights
and opposing the death penalty, the Government remain very
clear and firm, including in the context of Commonwealth
visits. For example, most recently I visited the Gambia and
raised LGBT rights and the death penalty directly with the
appropriate Ministers. We will continue to do so. I agree
with the noble Lord that declarations from the Commonwealth
are always strong but the actions have perhaps not
delivered on those declarations. Together, working with the
Secretary-General, it is our aim to revitalise and
re-energise the Commonwealth.
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My Lords, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative’s latest
report will be launched in London by the Secretary-General of
the Commonwealth a week before the Commonwealth summit. The
ambition is to make human rights, including modern slavery, a
core concern of the summit by leading the international
efforts to try to achieve this. I note the Minister has
already pointed out that he cannot comment on the outcomes of
the Committee of the Whole, currently meeting in London, but
can he tell us whether he supports the work of the Human
Rights Initiative and whether he will raise this issue with
the Committee of the Whole to make sure that it does go
forward into CHOGM?
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On the first point, yes I am committed to that. On the
Committee of the Whole, the UK’s position, including on the
broad spectrum of human rights, will be raised during the
discussions, which, as I said, are taking place right now.
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(Lab)
I welcome what the Minister said in relation to the fora, and
the voices in the fora actually being heard by the leaders.
But can we do more to ensure that voices on human rights are
not simply the British Government’s but that we work with
other allies, particularly in Africa? For example, we will
have the new President of South Africa—and I have raised this
point with the Minister before—who wrote the constitution of
South Africa, ensuring that LGBT rights were guaranteed in
the constitution. Can we not do more to ensure that other
voices are heard?
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The noble Lord is of course quite right to remind me that he
has raised this with me before. We have followed up on this,
and I assure him that, although there is always more to do,
we will continue to do so on LGBT rights, and more broadly
across the human rights spectrum.
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(Con)
My Lords, my noble friend Lady Berridge is quite right to
focus on the promotion of human rights, as are the noble and
right reverend Lord, Lord Harries, and the noble Lord,
. But can we make sure
that promotion is done more by example than by lecturing—let
alone by hectoring—which does not achieve the results we want
at all? My noble friend has played a leading part in this
forthcoming summit, which is full of opportunities. Would he
not agree that prosperity and security are the best gifts we
can contribute to the gigantic Commonwealth system across the
world? In return, they can contribute to our welfare and our
finding a role in the world.
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The noble Lord speaks from vast experience in this respect,
and I agree with him. I would add that we can learn from the
valuable experience of all 53 nations. The approach of Her
Majesty’s Government, and indeed mine as a Minister on human
rights, has never been one of pointing fingers. It is about
learning from experience. Our own journey on gender equality,
on LGBT rights and the broader spectrum of human rights has
been one where we have learned from example and through
sharing experiences, whether we do it with other countries or
countries do it with us. That is the value of the
Commonwealth network.
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