§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he raised(a) the issue of the search for peace in Darfur, (b) human rights abuses and the implementation of sharia law and (c) the future of Dr. al-Tarubi in discussions with the Foreign Minister of the Sudan, during his recent visit to London. [173785]
§ Mr. Mullin[holding answer 17 May 2004]: My right hon. Friends the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for International Development, and I registered strongly our concerns about the situation in Darfur during our meetings with the Sudanese Foreign Minister on 11 May. He accepted that progress was now needed. I also raised our concerns about human rights and the implementation of sharia law. We did not discuss Dr. al-Turabi.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) whether the Government have addressed the concerns of the UN Human Rights Commission following its recent session 875W on the Sudan; and what work he is undertaking with the EU to highlight human rights abuses (a) in Darfur and (b) elsewhere in the Sudan;[173786]
(2) whether the report of the United Nations Human Rights Commission following its recent session in Sudan was available to the meeting of the UN session on the human rights situation in Sudan. [173907]
§ Mr. Mullin[holding answer 17 May 2004]: We are in close contact with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) about the situation in Darfur. We are working to ensure that the Independent Expert, mandated by the 23 April UN Commission on Human Rights decision on Sudan, is appointed as soon as possible.
The advance version of the report of the recent OHCHR mission to Sudan was only issued on 10 May, so it was not available for consideration during the recent UN Commission on Human Rights.
We raise the human rights situation in Sudan on a regular basis, both bilaterally and as part of the EU-Sudan dialogue. The humanitarian and human rights situation in Darfur was discussed at the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 26 April, and in the Political and Security Council on 27, 30 April and 11 May.