§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on conditions in the Kurdish areas within the current Iraqi borders.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggWe regularly receive information from a number of sources about conditions in the Kurdish areas of Iraq.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has concerning abuses of human rights of Kurds living within the borders of Iraq.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggWe receive many reports of human rights abuses in Iraq and against the Kurdish population, including, for example, those of Amnesty International and Middle East Watch.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the numbers of Kurdish people who have disappeared in Iraq under the Government of Saddam Hussein.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggWe are aware of reports of such disappearances. No precise figures are available.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will establish communication with the leaders of the Kurdish resistance to Iraq.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggOfficials in this Department already have contacts with the leadership of Kurdish opposition groups from Iraq.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if it is his policy to ensure that those responsible for the use of chemical weapons against the Kurdish people will be brought before suitable international courts.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggIraq has not accepted the jurisdiction of any international court in this matter. We have, however, ensured on numerous occasions that the subject has received proper attention at the United Nations. We were active in securing the adoption of Security Council resolutions 612 and 620 condemning chemical weapon attacks during the Iran-Iraq war and drew attention at the Paris conference on chemical weapons in January 1989 to the compelling evidence that Iraq had used chemical weapons against its Kurdish people after the ceasefire.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from Amnesty International on the situation of the Kurds living in Iraq.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggWe have spoken to Amnesty International on a number of occasions about our common concern about the human rights situation in Iraq, including abuses against the Kurdish people.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with allied coalition partners concerning the present state and the future of the Kurdish people.
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§ Mr. Douglas HoggWe are in close contact with our coalition partners over all aspects of the future of the Gulf region after the resolution of the present crisis.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to Iraq concerning the oppression of Kurds.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggWe have repeatedly made clear to the Iraqi authorities our concern at Iraqi human rights violations against the Kurdish population, both in bilateral contacts and with our EC partners.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to pursue the creation of a Kurdish homeland within the borders of Iraq in discussions on a post-war middle eastern regional settlement.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggAs my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made clear on 24 January, at column287, there can be no question of our seeking support for the establishment of a separate Kurdish state within the boundaries of present-day Iran, Iraq and Turkey.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his Department's policy towards the Kurdish people.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggWe follow the Kurdish issue closely. We have monitored reports of human rights abuses against the Kurds in Iraq and made repeated protests about these to the Iraqi authorities, both in Baghdad and in London.
Presidency of the Security Council 1981–1990 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 January China USSR Togo Nicaragua France February France United Kingdom USSR Pakistan India March German DR United States United Kingdom Peru Madagascar April Ireland Zaire United States Ukrainian SSR Peru May Japan China Zaire USSR Thailand June Mexico France Zimbabwe United Kingdom Trinidad and Tobago July Niger Guyana China United States Ukrainian SSR August Panama Ireland France Upper Volta1 USSR September Philippines Japan Guyana Zimbabwe United Kingdom October Spain Jordan Jordan Burkina Faso1 United States November Tunisia Panama Malta China Australia December Uganda Poland Netherlands Egypt Burkina Faso 84W
1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 January China Venezuela United Kingdom Malaysia Cote d'Ivoire February Congo Zambia United States Nepal Cuba March Denmark Argentina Yugoslavia Senegal Democratic Yemen2 April France Bulgaria Zambia USSR Ethiopia May Ghana China Algeria United Kingdom Finland June Madagascar Congo Argentina United States France July Thailand France Brazil Yugoslavia Malaysia August Trinidad and Tobago German FR China Algeria Romania September USSR Ghana France Brazil USSR October United Arab Emirates Italy German FR Canada United Kingdom November United Kingdom Japan Italy China United States December United States USSR Japan Colombia Yemen2 1 On 6 August 1984 Upper Volta became Burkina Faso and therefore changed its position in the Council's alphabetical rotation. 2 On 22 May 1990 Democratic Yemen merged with the Yemen Arab Republic to become Yemen. It therefore changed its position in the Council's rotation. We believe that the Kurdish people should enjoy adequate representation and the same rights of cultural and ethnic self-expression as other citizens in all the countries in which they live.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the status of the treaty of Sevres and the joint declaration of 1922 between Britain and Iraq and their effect on the Kurdish people.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggOur records show that the treaty of Sevres was never ratified and, consequently, never came into force. It was overtaken by the treaty of Lausanne of 1923 which established the present-day frontiers of the region bounded by Iran, Iraq and Turkey.