§ Lord McNairasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have any figures on the carrying out of hudud punishments in the Sudan in the 10 years prior to 1989 compared with the past nine years. [HL174]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanWe do not keep records of such punishments.
§ Lord McNairasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 18 November (WA 169), what role the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has in negotiations with the Government of the Sudan on technical assistance for improving the teaching and observance of human rights in Sudan. [HL175]
134WA
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is concerned only with the care and maintenance of refugees. It does not provide wider technical assistance.
§ Lord McNairasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have offered or provided bilateral technical assistance to the Government of the Sudan for improving the teaching and observance of human rights and in the development of the Government of Sudan's human rights education committees. [HL176]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanWe have offered funding to raise human rights awareness in Sudan to an NGO working with the Sudanese Ministry of Justice. The NGO has not yet taken up our offer.
§ Lord McNairasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have offered or provided bilateral funding to assist the Government of Sudan in their investigation of allegations of slavery and human rights violations. [HL177]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanWe have maintained a dialogue with the Government of Sudan on various aspects of human rights. We have not been asked for funding assistance.
§ Lord McNairasked Her Majesty's Government:
What information they have received about the alleged massacre of thirty-four traders near the town of Renk in the Upper Nile state in Sudan in early November 1998; and whether they will ask the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Sudan to report on this in his next report. [HL178]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanWe have received sketchy reports of this incident. We understand that it was an internal tribal dispute which has since ended. We are in contact with the Sudanese Embassy to seek further information.
§ Lord McNairasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have asked to be provided with the findings of the United Nations internal investigations into the killing, in the summer of this year, of the members of the Operations Lifeline Sudan assessment mission in the Nuba Mountains; and whether they will make their findings public. [HL206]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanWe have discussed with the United Nations the killings of WFP and Sudanese Red Crescent personnel last June. The victims were part of a convoy delivering relief food in South Kordofan, close to the Nuba Mountains, and were not members of an Operation Lifeline Sudan assessment mission. Such a mission to the Nuba Mountains has yet to take place owing to the continued refusal by the Sudanese authorities to agree to it. The UN has not made public, nor have we asked for a copy of, the findings of what was an internal investigation into the killings.