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Yemen

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Foreign and Commonwealth Office – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 24 June 2008.

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Photo of Ann Clwyd Ann Clwyd Special Envoy to PM on Human Rights in Iraq 2:30, 24 June 2008

As my hon. Friend knows, the Yemeni constitution guarantees freedom of expression, but in reality that is not the case. Will he take up the case of Yemeni journalist Abdul Karim al-Khaiwani, who was sentenced to six years of imprisonment on 9 June? Amnesty International considers him to be a prisoner of conscience, as he has been convicted and sentenced solely because of something he wrote. Last week, he received an Amnesty award, among its annual awards, for his work, and I ask the Minister to take up his case and ask for his release.

Minister

Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.