§ 2.44 p.m.
§ Baroness Rawlingsasked Her Majesty's Government:
What actions they are taking to protect the security of women and children in Iraq.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)My Lords, while coalition forces currently conduct more than 2,000 security patrols every day, the key to improving the security situation in Iraq lies primarily in reestablishing the Iraqi police and judicial system. This will benefit the whole population, especially women and children.
United Kingdom forces in southern Iraq have been working with local police chiefs and community leaders to improve the security situation since the earliest days of the conflict. Thousands of police are now back at work in our area of operations and local courts and prisons are beginning to function again.
§ Baroness RawlingsMy Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. In an interview with the Financial Times last week, the Secretary of State for International Development, the noble Baroness, Lady Amos, admitted that she had to cancel her trip to Baghdad because of a fear of being assassinated. This will no doubt bring home to everyone how bad the law and order situation in Iraq has become. We have heard numerous reports from charities working in Iraq of women and children being raped and abducted, possibly to be sold into slavery or prostitution. What is being done to further improve security in Iraq? More specifically, what is being done to bring those responsible for crimes against women and children to justice?
§ Lord BachMy Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness. She should not confuse what the noble Baroness, Lady Amos, said in her interview last week with the position of ordinary Iraqi women and children. The noble Baroness, Lady Amos, was very 5 disappointed to have to postpone her planned visit to Baghdad and Basra at short notice but, as far as she was concerned, the security situation did not allow for it. She would have been a prominent figure in a country with which we were at war recently. She has made exactly the right decision. She hopes, of course, to visit as soon as circumstances allow.
As to the separate question of security in Iraq and the effect on women and children, the crucial factor is that law and order is improving on the ground. It must be remembered that it was only at the end of last year that Saddam Hussein released all criminals from his prisons. That in itself has made the position of women and children much more difficult. The fact that a great deal of policing is now going on and the court system is being resurrected is, in many ways, the best protection there can be for vulnerable groups in society.
§ Baroness Gardner of ParkesMy Lords, is the Minister aware that the UK has made many firm commitments since 1991 to the specific inclusion of women in appointments for post-conflict recovery. We believe that women should be appointed to take part in this process. From the Minister's reference to the police, I imagine that it is a largely masculine force. It is considered desirable that 30 per cent of those involved in resolving conflict and restoring peace afterwards should be women. What is being done to help women to have influence directly in Iraq.
§ Lord BachMy Lords, led by the coalition, a large amount is being done in Iraq. The UK is committed to including women in all phases and at all levels in the reconstruction. Indeed, the Prime Minister's special representative and his team, working closely with the Americans, have been discussing the issue of engaging Iraqi women in the reconstruction process. A consultative meeting took place between the coalition provisional authority and 40 Iraqi women on 29th May to discuss the very point the noble Baroness makes about the inclusion of women in Iraq's reconstruction. A steering group has been formed to take forward this very important process. The proposal to hold a women's conference and the issue of women's participation in the political process, which is of crucial importance to the future of Iraq, are gathering strength.
§ Baroness Turner of CamdenMy Lords, does my noble friend agree that children are particularly at risk from unexploded cluster bombs? What steps are being taken to protect children in such circumstances and to ensure that they are properly cared for and receive appropriate treatment if they are injured?
§ Lord BachMy Lords, every effort is being made by the coalition to ensure that the kind of accident/ tragedy that my noble friend mentions does not occur. We are providing information to clearance organisations on munitions used, and locations, so 6 that clearance of all types of unexploded ordnance that might pose a risk to civilians can be achieved quickly and effectively. We very much hope that we are on top of the situation.
§ Baroness NorthoverMy Lords, has the Minister seen the report from the United Nations? It is very concerned that religious extremists are intimidating women and girls into wearing the veil, even if they are Christian. Obviously this is a symbolic sign of oppression rather than the kind of disastrous events we have just been talking about. But one Iraqi UN staff member, we hear, recently received a handwritten letter at home saying she would be killed unless she started covering her hair. Are the UK Government encountering similar problems in southern Iraq and how are they dealing with that human rights situation?
§ Lord BachMy Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness. No, so far as we know—and we will of course investigate and correct ourselves if we are wrong—there is not that particular problem in southern Iraq. The issue is extremely important. In reestablishing the Iraqi police and judicial system, an amendment to the criminal code effected recently means that it is illegal for a man physically to chastise his wife, and courts can enforce maintenance payments to wives. Those may be seen as small matters, but in my view, if that is to be the basis of a criminal code beginning at this stage, it is a good sign for the future. We must remember that even though a wicked tyranny operated in Iraq, women were not treated as badly there compared with what has occurred in the past in some other countries.
§ Lord Forsyth of DrumleanMy Lords, does the Minister recall his previous Answer to a Question I asked about weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of looters? Is he aware of any cases of ordinary citizens suffering from radiation sickness?
§ Lord BachMy Lords, I recall the noble Lord's Question, but I do not have an answer for him today. I have no brief to suggest that radiation sickness is being caused. I shall of course look into the matter and write to the noble Lord if I am wrong.
§ Lord Phillips of SudburyMy Lords, will the Minister tell the House whether any children have so far been killed or injured by exploding cluster bombs, and how many such bombs were dropped by the allied forces?
§ Lord BachMy Lords, I cannot give the noble Lord the figures he seeks. He will know that cluster bombs are lawful weapons that provide a unique capability against certain legitimate military targets and that it was necessary to use them during the war. Some 2,000 artillery-delivered L20 bomblet munitions, called extended range bomblet shells, were used, mainly on targets around Basra. These have secondary fuses that ensure far fewer unexploded bomblets are left behind than with older-generation bombs.