§ Mr. SoamesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria he uses to decide whether to mention particular countries, in his Department's Human Rights Annual Report 2000. [144016]
§ Mr. Hain[holding answer 8 January 2001]: The FCO Human Rights Annual Report 2000 gives an overview of the main international human rights challenges and the Government's response to those challenges from June 1999 to June 2000. The report does not aim to provide an exhaustive analysis of human rights in every country in the world. This is already available from many other sources. Rather, the report provides specific examples of action in a number of countries—from the most widely reported to less publicised but still important grassroots initiatives—to illustrate and explain our wider human rights policies. Countries or issues not covered in past reports may well be covered in future reports.