§ Mr. WinnickTo ask the Prime Minister (1) what action Her Majesty's Government plan to take to publicise throughout Europe the war crimes committed in Kosovo; [87308]
(2) if he will consult with the other allied political leaders on the preparation of a joint White Paper to be issued on the war crimes in Kosovo and placing of such a paper to be placed before the parliaments of all the countries that took part in the allied campaign. [87311]
§ The Prime Minister[holding answer 17 June 1999]We are appalled at the evidence which has emerged and continues to emerge day by day of the atrocities committed in Kosovo. We always warned at what we would find inside Kosovo. Now cameras can enter Kosovo, the full horror of Milosevic's ethnic cleansing is clear to everyone.
We are doing all we can to support the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia with their investigations into the atrocities. We are doing all we can to support the work of the Tribunal, in particular we are seconding a police team to investigate scenes of crimes. The first priority must be for the Tribunal to gather the information which would be needed to sustain any prosecutions.
§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Prime Minister what steps(a) the United Kingdom and (b) other NATO Governments are taking to assist gypsies (i) suspected of having been informers for the Yugoslav authorities and (ii) who have moved out of Kosovo into other parts of Yugoslavia. [88078]
§ The Prime Minister[holding answer 24 June 1999]KFOR is tasked to provide robust and even-handed protection for all the people of Kosovo, regardless of their ethnic, religious or cultural background. It is the responsibility of the host Governments to provide security for those who have fled Kosovo. UNHCR is trying to help with security arrangements in refugee camps and we support those efforts.
Under UN Security Council Resolution 1244, a main responsibility of the UN civilian mission in Kosovo is to protect and promote the human rights of all the inhabitants of Kosovo.
§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral statement of 21 June 1999, on Kosovo, with reference to the question from the hon. Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn),Official Report, column 772, if he will list the claims of environmental damage in Yugoslavia which had been exaggerated. [88077]
§ The Prime Minister[holding answer 24 June 1999]Mr. Klaus Toepfer, the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said, when he met my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development on 15 June, that the claims about the extent of the pollution of the Danube and the impact of the use of depleted uranium weaponry had been exaggerated.
We believe that objective information is needed to combat rumours about the environmental impact of the conflict. We welcome the joint task force set up by UNEP 482W and the UN Commission on Human Settlements to assess the environmental and health effects of the conflict. We remain, as ever, ready to co-operate with the task force.
Separately, the EU commissioned a report from the Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe. The Centre's preliminary assessment was that there was no evidence of a large-scale ecological catastrophe in the region, although some local environmental damage may have occurred.
§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of the agreement on the demilitarisation of the KLA made between its leadership and Lieutenant General Sir Michael Jackson. [88421]
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 23 June 1999,Official Report, column 396, to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow).