§ Lord Blakerasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 12 June (WA 188), whether they will list, by name, the countries whose human rights performance they consider to be unsatisfactory and against which the United Kingdom is currently implementing sanctions, whether under a United Nations, European Union or national regime. [HL3198]
§ Baroness Scotland of AsthalThe UK currently implements mandatory UN sanctions in relation to Iraq, Angola (UNITA), Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan (the Taliban), Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. UN sanctions against Libya have been suspended.
In addition, we implement EU sanctions in relation to Afghanistan, Bosnia, Burma, China, Croatia, the DRC, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Libya and Sudan.
The UK also implements the OSCE arms embargo on Azerbaijan and Armenia, and national arms embargoes on Iran and Zimbabwe.
The sanctions are imposed on various grounds, for example as a response to a conflict which constitutes a threat to international peace and security.
We have some concerns about the human rights situation in most of these countries.
§ Lord Blakerasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 12 June (WA 188), whether they will list, by name, the countries whose performance in regard to human rights causes them concern and with which they pursue a policy of political dialogue in an attempt to improve that performance. [HL3197]
§ Baroness Scotland of AsthalWherever developments give rise to human rights concerns, we take every realistic, responsible step to pursue those concerns. This means we discuss human rights issues with the majority of countries in the world as the need arises. We do not keep a fixed list of countries that we engage with in order to promote human rights. We follow closely the full range of human rights issues in each country and raise human rights with other governments in response to developments. Nor do we adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to responding to human rights concerns. We take the approach most 53WA likely to help the people whose rights have been abused, and engage with other governments whenever and wherever that can contribute to improvements on the ground.