Bahrain: Prime Ministers' Meeting (Hansard, 18 January 1999)

§ Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale
My Lords, the Prime Minister and the Bahraini Prime Minister met in the Seychelles on Tuesday, 5th January. The meeting focused on recent events in Iraq and the Prime Minister took the opportunity to thank Shaikh Khalifa for Bahrain's continued support.

§ Lord Avebury
My Lords, did the Prime Minister say anything to his opposite number about the cases of Shaikh Abdul Amir Al-Jamri and Mr. Abdul Wahad Hussain, who will have been detained for three years without charge or trial this coming Wednesday? Did he also take the opportunity of suggesting to the Bahraini Prime Minister that, rather than locking these people up, he should consult them about the restoration of the 1972 constitution and the 1973 parliament in pursuance of the mission statement of the Foreign Office, under which we promised to spread the values of human rights, civil liberties and democracy that we demand for ourselves?

§ Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale
My Lords, both the Prime Minister and Shaikh Khalifa were on private holidays. The Prime Minister simply took advantage of the opportunity to thank the Bahrainis for their help and support during Operation Desert Fox. It was not an appropriate occasion to raise any individual case in the very complex and sensitive field of human rights. I assure the noble Lord that we have raised the case of Shaikh Al-Jamri and the question of human rights with the Bahraini Government. The case of Shaikh Al-Jamri was raised by Mr. John Shepherd, the Deputy Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, with the Bahraini ambassador as recently as 11th January.

§ Lord Janner of Braunstone
My Lords, is my noble friend aware—

§ Lord Wright of Richmond
My Lords, perhaps I may—

§ Lord Janner of Braunstone
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for giving way. The courtesies of this House are rather different from those of another place.
Is my noble friend aware of the political complexities in Bahrain, as I am after visiting there on behalf of the Maimonides Foundation? In particular, did the Prime Minister have any chance to discuss with the Bahraini Prime Minister the continuing Middle East peace process and the part that the Gulf states might play, not least in the light of the extraordinary meeting last week at the Peres Peace Centre which was attended not only by Gorbachev and seven Nobel peace prize winners but by representatives of Palestine, Egypt, Israel and 363 Jordan? Surely the Gulf states should be encouraged to come into this process as swiftly and effectively as possible?

§ Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale
My Lords, my noble friend makes some interesting points. However, to my knowledge, the Prime Minister did not raise the question of the Middle East peace process with the Bahraini Prime Minister when he met him during his holiday in the Seychelles.

§ Lord Wright of Richmond
My Lords, does the Minister agree that, while it is important that human rights should be preserved and protected in Bahrain, as elsewhere, it is nevertheless of considerable importance to this country that our traditional friendship with Bahrain and the Al-Khalifa family should be preserved and developed? In the present situation in Iraq it is of paramount importance that we continue to protect and preserve our political, economic and military interests in Bahrain and elsewhere in the Gulf.

§ Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale
My Lords, I wholeheartedly agree with the points made by the noble Lord. The UK's trade and defence relations with Bahrain are extremely good. There are many recent examples of co-operation, but I shall not take up the time of the House by going into them in detail. On the question of co-operation offered by Bahrain, we have two VC10s in Bahrain providing refuelling in the air for the planes which implement the no-fly zone in southern Iraq. Relations and co-operation with Bahrain are particularly good and it is important that they are maintained. However, that does not prevent us from also having strong views on the question of human rights. Wherever it is appropriate, we make that point to the Bahrainis.

§ Lord Avebury
My Lords, is it not the case that our strong friendship with the Al-Khalifa family, our indebtedness to them for the assistance they gave us during the recent crisis over Iraq and the presence of UNSCOM's headquarters in the territory and the American fifth fleet in the area inhibit us from raising human rights matters with the Bahraini Government? Would it not be a good idea if, as happens in other parts of the world, officials at the British Embassy in Bahrain were to visit the prisoners of conscience who have been detained for three years, two of whom I mentioned?

§ Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale
My Lords, there is no question but that this Government do raise human rights issues with the Bahrainis whenever that is appropriate. The case of Shaikh Al-Jamri in particular is constantly being raised. The noble Lord has asked about Shaikh Al-Jamri on a number of occasions and he has also asked whether officials at the embassy could visit Shaikh Al-Jamri in prison. As he knows, because the noble Baroness, Lady Symons, told him in a written reply in May last year, there is no legal basis for officials at the British Embassy to request to visit Shaikh Al-Jamri in prison. We were then, and still are, assured that he is being well treated and has access to 364 medical treatment whenever he needs it. But our good relations with Bahrain are a way of helping us to encourage our friends in the Bahraini Government to implement the movements, which indeed they are making—by, for example, signing in April of last year the convention on torture—towards improving human rights inside their country.