Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether they are satisfied with the administrative arrangements in the European Commission for covering political relations as well as aid, development, trade and economic relations with Africa.
Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government: What is the latest assessment of humanitarian need in Angola; and what bilateral and multilateral action they are taking to help meet it.
Lord Judd: My Lords, I am sure that we are all grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Carrington, for giving us the opportunity for this debate. Whatever our political position within the House, many of us have constantly admired his statesmanship and humanity. From these Benches I want to say how good it has been to hear the maiden speech of the noble Lord, Lord Fellowes. He brings to our deliberations a...
Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government: What is their position in the United Nations Security Council on adherence to the provisions of the Operational Directives on the Implementation of the Appeals Process in the preparations being made to register those eligible to vote in the planned referendum on the independence of Western Sahara.
Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government: What action they are taking to ensure that those Yugoslavs who refused to enlist in the forces of President Milosevic during the Kosovo war, and who left their home country, receive the recognition they deserve and the necessary security and support to rebuild their lives.
Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government: What action they are taking to ensure that the peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone is fully resourced and funded.
Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government: How many anti-personnel mines or devices which could be used as such are stocked by other governments or their armed forces, or on behalf of other governments and their armed forces, in the United Kingdom.
Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government: How many suicides by prisoners there have been in British prisons and penal institutions in each of the last three calendar years.
Lord Judd: My Lords, does my noble friend agree that, while the Government obviously inherited a difficult situation in that context, those figures are extremely disturbing? Does he further agree that in a penal system geared to be effective, of which ultimately the greatest test of all is its success in rehabilitation, it is almost unthinkable that there should be any suicides in prison at all? One...
Lord Judd: My Lords, my intervention will be brief. I want to thank the noble Lord, Lord Skidelsky, for raising this issue. Taken together with his interesting contribution to the recent foreign affairs debate, it is clear that he is posing the kind of fundamentally significant questions which are altogether appropriate for a second Chamber worth having. I also believe that we should put on record our...
Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government: What is their policy towards the Geneva negotiations for a verification protocol to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention; and what is their assessment of the risks should such a protocol fail to be agreed.
Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether they endorse the agreements recently negotiated in Geneva designed to help end the use of child soldiers in armed conflict; and what is now their position on ratification of the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child, which requires governments to take "all feasible measures" to end the deployment of under 18s in...
Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government: How many meetings of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe there have been in the year to 31 January 2000; and how many were attended by British Ministers.
Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether the priority they accord to relations with Russia and other former communist countries is reflected in the attendance record of British Ministers at the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
Lord Judd: My Lords, first, I should like to thank my noble friend Lord Longford for once again giving us the opportunity to discuss this issue. I am one of those who believe that we shall be assessed by historians on the conditions of our prisons. It is said that prison conditions say a great deal about the underlying values of the society in which we live. At the outset, I should like to underline...
Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether they agree with the recommendation by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that the right of asylum should be incorporated into the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
Lord Judd: My Lords, will my noble friend accept that that reply is inevitably a little disappointing and that there will be a great deal of hope in the Council of Europe that the Government will be able to look seriously at the recommendations that have been made there? Will he further accept that, at a time when there has been a great deal of debate about the abuse of asylum and about the treatment of...
Lord Judd: My Lords, does the Minister agree that the greatest test--my noble friend Lord Tomlinson and others referred to it--will be the renewed commitment to the reconstruction of Mozambique after this terrible disaster? When there is much talk about the restructuring of military forces on a European basis so that they can move more effectively to military situations where there is demand, does my...
Lord Judd: My Lords, does the Minister agree that one of the most disturbing experiences for those defending human rights is the degree to which they can be subjected to torture--torture which can have lifelong psychological and physical consequences? What are the Government doing in that respect?
Lord Judd: My Lords, like others, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Elton, for the opportunity to debate this important subject today. I know that the whole House will want to congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Joffe, on his moving, challenging, honest and yet characteristically modest maiden speech. I have known the noble Lord for many years as he was my long-suffering chair during my time as director of...
