§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the statement by Mr. Tony Lloyd, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, that their "first priority is to investigate and establish the details of atrocities committed in Kosovo" (HC Deb., WA 316), whether they will investigate and establish details of all atrocities and ethnic cleansings in former Yugoslavia since the break-up of that country. [HL3607]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)We strongly support the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which was established to investigate genocide, crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and violations of the laws of war committed throughout the former Yugoslavia and to bring the perpetrators to justice. We have provided substantial voluntary assistance to the tribunal since its creation in 1993, including funding for exhumations in Bosnia, the secondment of staff and the provision of large amounts of information, including intelligence material. We have appointed a Kosovo War Crimes Co-ordinator to help the tribunal's investigations. Our support includes the provision of a Scenes of Crime Team which has been in Kosovo since 18 June.