Uganda (Hansard, 12 December 1984)

§ 2. Mr. Fisher
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have made in the current year to the Ugandan Government on human rights.

§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Malcolm Rifkind)
We attach great importance to this. My right hon. and learned Friend met the Ugandan Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in New York on 28 September and discussed a number of issues in our bilateral relations, including human rights. The situation has also been raised with the Ugandans on a number of other occasions.

§ Mr. Fisher
I appreciate the Minister's concern, but how does that concern square with the fact that the Government are giving support for the training of the Ugandan police and army? What assurances can the Minister give that that training will be solely for the benefit of increased discipline in the army and will not result in human rights being endangered further?

§ Mr. Rifkind
It squares very well. As the hon. Gentleman correctly said, the purpose of the military training that we are giving the Ugandan army is to ensure that there is a proper level of discipline in the armed services. At least part of the problem of human rights in Uganda has been caused by a lack of discipline and a lack of control. That is one element in regard to which we can make a positive contribution.

§ Sir John Farr
Are representations being made about the pitiful circumstances of the many tens of thousands of Ugandan Asians who fled that country and arrived in 1037 Britain penniless, many of whom are now in Leicester? What actions have the Government taken to get some justice for them?

§ Mr. Rifkind
Earlier this year the Ugandan Government introduced a scheme to examine compensation claims and to try to respond to the proper anxieties to which my hon. Friend has referred. I understand that some of the cases have been completed and that property has been returned to Ugandan Asians from whom it was expropriated. We hope for rapid progress in this matter. There has been progress, but it has not been sufficiently rapid.