§ 10. Mr. Woodallasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the United Kingdom delegation to the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe Helsinki review meeting in Vienna will raise individual human rights cases in discussions with the delegation from the Soviet Union.
§ Mr. RentonOur CSCE delegation at Vienna have already raised a number of individual Soviet human rights cases. We will continue to press the Soviet authorities to honour all the obligations they have freely undertaken as signatories of the Helsinki Final Act.
§ 22. Mr. Phillip Oppenheimasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information is available to him on human rights in Kampuchea.
§ Mr. RentonThe information available to us is limited. But we are seriously concerned by reports that abuses of human rights are occurring in Cambodia under the Heng Samrin regime and the occupying Vietnamese forces.
§ 23. Mr. Merchantasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on human rights violations in Afghanistan.
§ Mr. EggarLarge-scale violations of human rights continue. These are documented in the recent report of the United Nations special rapporteur. A report by Amnesty International includes accounts of the complicity of Soviet personnel in the torture of prisoners. We are deeply concerned at these allegations, and have made that concern clear to the Soviet Government.
§ 30. Mr. Boyesasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which human rights organisations in Chile have been visited by United Kingdom diplomatic staff in the past year; and on what dates.
§ Mr. EggarHer Majesty's diplomatic staff have had frequent and continuous contact with the main Chilean human rights organisations, in particular the Chile Commission for Human Rights and the Catholic Church's Vicaria de la Solidaridad.
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§ 43. Mr. Heathcoat-Amoryasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy towards the Soviet proposal for a conference on human rights to be held in Moscow within the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe.
§ Mr. RentonThe Soviet authorities have undertaken to provide further details of their progress at the Vienna CSCE review meeting.
Any meeting of this type on human rights or humanitarian issues would have to offer a real prospect of practical improvement in implementation of CSCE commitments.
§ 50. Mr. Brandon-Bravoasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether there has been any recent improvement in the Soviet record of human rights.
§ Mr. RentonDespite the welcome release in recent months of a number of prominent campaigners for human rights, we have seen no fundamental change in Soviet attitudes. Many thousands remain in detention or continue to suffer persecution for their convictions. During my visit to the Soviet Union last week, I urged the Soviet authorities to improve their record on human rights.
§ 54. Mr. Terlezkiasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any evidence of a change in the Soviet practice of using psychiatric hospitals to incarcerate political dissidents; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RentonThe Soviet authorities continue to incarcerate some individuals in psychiatric hospitals for speaking out about human rights abuses in the Soviet Union. We deplore this pernicious practice and shall continue to press the Soviet authorities to end it.
§ 55. Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government have made any recent representations to the South Korean Government concerning human rights.
§ Mr. RentonI have nothing further to add to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member on 2 December 1986,Official Report, volume 106, column 542.
§ 66. Mr. Sumbergasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the leader of the United Kingdom delegation to the conference for security and co-operation in Vienna has had an opportunity to raise individual cases of abuse of human rights during the discussions which are currently taking place.
§ Mr. RentonYes. Both the leader of our delegation and his staff have criticised many different types of human rights abuse and referred to individual cases. Regrettably it is not possible for them to raise more than a small proportion of the many cases brought to their attention.
§ 72. Mr. Altonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further representations he has made about the abuse of human rights in Nepal.
§ Mr. EggarWe maintain close contact with the Nepalese Government, who are aware of our concern about abuses of human rights.
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§ 74. Mr. Nellistasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what were the latest representations made by Her Majesty's Government to the Government of Sri Lanka regarding human rights.
§ Mr. EggarWe ensure that the Sri Lankan Government are very much aware of the concern felt in Britain at the allegations of human rights violations in Sri Lanka. The memorandum attached to my right hon. and learned Friend's speech to the UNGA September 1986 referred to the concern of the members of the European Community.
§ 83. Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of Stale for Foreign and commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement about the negotiations at the conference on security and co-operation in Europe meeting in Vienna with special reference to human rights.
§ Mr. RentonThe first Session of the CSCE review meeting in Vienna which ended on 19 December was devoted to a thorough review of the implementation of the Helsinki Final Act. The United Kingdom delegation and its Community partners emphasised their concern at the performance of the Soviet Union and some other countries.
When the meeting resumes on 27 January it will complete the review of implementation and move on to discussion of new proposals. In considering such proposals the United Kingdom delegation will be searching for new ways of ensuring better implementation of CSCE commitments in the future.
§ 90. Mr. Chris Smithasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made any representations recently to the Government of Honduras on the subject of human rights.
§ Mr. EggarThe Government of Honduras are well aware of our concern about respect for human rights in all countries of Central America.
§ 92. Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent contact Her Majesty's Government's official representative has had with human rights organisations in El Salvador.
§ Mr. EggarAs part of their normal duties Her Majesty's diplomatic staff accredited to El Salvador maintain regular contact with human rights and other organisations including political parties, trade unions and the Roman Catholic church.