§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what recent assessment his Department has made of(a) the freedom of speech, (b) the freedom of the press, (c) the freedom of association and(d) the freedom of religion in Libya; [101793]
(2) what recent assessment his Department has made of human rights violations by (a) the Libyan Government and (b) the Libyan security forces; [101791]
286W(3) what recent assessment his Department has made of levels of political violence and repression by the Libyan Government; [101795]
(4) what recent assessment his Department has made of the use of forced labour by the Libyan Government; [101794]
(5) what recent assessment his Department has made of discrimination against tribal groups in Libya; [101792]
(6) what action his Department is taking to raise the issue of Libya's record on human rights at the United Nations. [101796]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienDiplomatic links with Libya were re-established in July 1999, and since then, our embassy has been active in developing links with various human rights organisations in the country. However, access for international human rights NGOs to visit has been rare, and it is difficult to obtain detailed information on the various human rights issues raised by the hon. Member. There have been some positive signs: in September 2002, the Libyan Government announced the release of all political prisoners other than those it has linked to alQaeda; in January 2003, they commuted the death sentence on three Ghanaians and one Nigerian; and earlier this year, the Qadhafi Foundation for Charitable Associations launched an anti-torture campaign. We are also encouraged by Colonel Qadhafi's reference, in a speech on 31 August 2002, to the need to discuss abolition of the political "People's" courts. However, we remain concerned about the overall human rights situation in Libya and encourage the Libyans to show they are committed to improving their record during their high-profile chairmanship of the forthcoming Commission on Human Rights (CHR). In the meantime, we are discussing with EU partners whether to make reference to Libya at this year's CHR.