HL Deb 23 July 1998 vol 592 c124WA
Lord Avebury

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have received a report from the Iraqi Communist Party alleging that the Fayli Kurds who were detained in the early 1980s because of their alleged Iranian origin were held in the Abu Ghraib prison, and that some of them were used as guinea pigs in experiments to develop internationally prohibited weapons; and whether they will call for an international investigation of these allegations by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. [HL2603]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean

We have received a copy of the Iraqi Communist Party report about the testing of chemical weapons upon the Fayli Kurds and others held in Abu Ghuraib prison. We understand that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has passed the report to the UN Special Rapporteur on Iraq, who reports annually to the Commission on Human Rights with an interim report to the General Assembly.