§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Prime Minister why the United Kingdom abstained on resolutions at the United Nations General Assembly criticising the human rights situation in Chile in 1982 and 1983; and if she will place copies of those resolutions in the Library.
§ The Prime MinisterIn 1982 we voted in the third committee in favour of the Chile resolution. We later abstained in the plenary because we believed the resolution to have been unbalanced by a subsequent amendment. We stressed in our explanation of vote that this abstention did not reflect any lessening in our concerns over the human rights situation in Chile. In 1983 we again abstained because we judged the Chile resolution lacked balance but in our explanation of vote repeated our concern over human rights. The resolutions and our explanation of vote are already in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Prime Minister why the United Kingdom abstained on the 1981 resolution at the Commission of Human Rights criticising human rights in Chile; and if she will place a copy of the resolution in the Library.
§ The Prime MinisterWe abstained because we judged the resolution unbalanced. In a separate paragraph vote we294W supported the renewal of the mandate of the special rapporteur for Chile. Both the resolution and our explanation of vote are already in the Library of the House.