§ Angus RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what assessment his Department has made of Amnesty International's report of 19 July entitled "Darfur: Rape as a Weapon of War: sexual violence and its consequences"; and if he will make a statement; [187270]
(2) what assessment his Department has made of the charge of culpability levelled against the Government of Sudan by Amnesty International's report of 19 July entitled, "Darfur: Rape as a Weapon of War: sexual violence and its consequences"; and if he will make a statement. [187271]
§ Mr. MullinWe read with grave concern reports by Amnesty International of rape being used as an apparently deliberate tactic in the Darfur region. Medecins Sans Frontieres, the UN High Commission for Refugees and the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs have also reported cases of rape. These reports underline the urgent need to improve the security situation in the region, in order to prevent these abuses from continuing.
We have also made clear that those responsible for such atrocities must be brought to justice. UN human rights monitors, whose deployment we helped finance, are now in Darfur investigating allegations of human rights abuses, including rape. We have made clear to the Government of Sudan that they must do all they can to facilitate the work of these monitors. The Government of Sudan have established three committees on rape allegations. We will follow their investigations closely During his recent visit, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary also secured the agreement of the Sudanese Government to grant Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch visas to visit Darfur.
§ Angus RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received regarding the Sudanese Air Force's activities in Darfur; and if he will make a statement. [187272]
§ Mr. MullinMy right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary raised this issue with the Government of Sudan during his visit to Khartoum in August. He also raised it with African Union monitors in Darfur who said that they had no evidence of air strikes by the Government of Sudan air force since June. We will continue to monitor the situation and to press all sides to respect the ceasefire.