§ Annette BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on recent fighting in Darfur, Sudan. [88267]
§ Mr. RammellThere are 13 tribes living in the border area between Chad and Darfur, Sudan. The Embassy in Khartoum raised reports of clashes between camel herders from the north and the Fur in Jebel Marra with the Government of Sudan on 19 December. Tribal reconciliation conferences took place for the Fur in Jebel Marra on 16–22 August and for the Arabs in Kas on 1–13 September.
§ Annette BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department has made concerning recent reports of arrests and torture of student activists in Khartoum by the Government of Sudan. [88268]
§ Mr. RammellTorture and arbitrary arrest were raised as part of the EU/Sudan dialogue discussions on 9–10 December 2002. We regularly urge the Government of Sudan to ratify the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment and make representations to the Government of Sudan about individual cases.
266WS
§ Annette BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the timetable for the resumption of EU development aid to Sudan and the pre-conditions for resumption. [88269]
§ Mr. RammellWhen a peace agreement is reached between the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army, the EU will respond quickly to underpin it through the initiation of a normalisation process and the release of development funds. The EU is also engaged in a political dialogue with the GoS involving benchmarks on democracy, the rule of law, human rights and the peace process. This dialogue is reviewed on an annual basis, most recently by an EU Troika mission to Khartoum on 9–10 December 2002.