HC Deb 01 February 2002 vol 379 cc595-6W
Harry Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether guidance on the handling of prisoners in Afghanistan is issued by each coalition member for its own armed forces; and what standardisation has taken place. [31636]

Mr. Hoon

Guidance on the handling of prisoners is properly a matter for the individual detaining power. There has therefore been no standardisation of guidance within the coalition.

Ann Clwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what guidance has been given to HM forces on the status to be given to any persons they capture and detain in Afghanistan. [32295]

Mr. Hoon

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer that I gave on 17 January 2002,Official Report, column 392, to my hon. Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Harry Cohen).

Harry Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the guidance on the handling of prisoners in Afghanistan issued by his Department takes into account the 1977 Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. [31635]

Mr. Hoon

Yes.

Harry Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether members of Her Majesty's armed forces are operating in areas of Afghanistan subject to recent attacks with cluster bombs; and what guidance has been issued to personnel on safety in relation to unexploded submunitions. [31632]

Mr. Ingram

Years of conflict have left a wide variety of unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan. Before deployment, members of the armed forces are routinely given advice about the types of munitions they may encounter.

Harry Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether guidance on the handling of prisoners in Afghanistan was updated after the uprising at Qala-I-Jhangi fort. [31634]

Mr. Hoon

No.

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