§ Mr. Dicksasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 11 June, Official Report, column 309, what criteria Her Majesty's Government use in deciding whether they have any locus standi to intervene on behalf of the citizens of a sovereign independent country; and if he will explain the application of those criteria (a) to South Africa and (b) Nepal.
§ Mr. EggarViolations of international standards for the protection of human rights are a legitimate matter of international concern, wherever they occur. We make our views know in all appropriate ways. We apply the same criteria to South Africa and Nepal.
Intervention in the sense of exercising diplomatic or consular protection has to be confined to British nationals in accordance with the rules of international law.