I want to write to Baroness Northover
Did you mean alleged speaker:Baroness Northover?
Baroness Northover: My Lords, I was a signatory to earlier amendments and we have just heard the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, make a very cogent case for the Commons to think again about his amendments. I will be very brief, given the hour. The noble Lord built on what the noble Lord, Lord Alton, outlined just now, and his case is backed by international investigation and evidence. Thus, for example,...
Baroness Northover: ...Humanity against the Falun Gong and Uyghurs has been proved beyond reasonable doubt”. As the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, mentioned, UN human rights experts have called on China to respond to the allegations of organ harvesting and to allow independent monitoring by international human rights mechanisms. That has not happened. Sir Geoffrey Nice is now chairing the Uighur tribunal and we await...
Baroness Northover: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with international partners about action on alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sri Lanka.
Baroness Northover: ..., further to the remarks by the Minister for Asia and the Pacific on 26 March (HC Deb, col 61WH) on forced live organ extraction that they "need to properly and fully investigate such reports and allegations, and establish the facts”, what steps they have taken to investigate forced live organ extraction in China.
Baroness Northover: ..., China and others to support the ICC. In light of that, how long does the Minister think it will take, with either an international or a hybrid court, to bring to justice those who have committed alleged atrocities in this region?
Baroness Northover: ...and the Pskov branch of the Russian opposition party Yabloko were subjected to a search and seizure of documents and a computer hard disk in their office on 13 February; (2) that Lev Shlosberg has allegedly suffered beatings for his reporting of the "unknown" graves of Russian soldiers sent to East Ukraine; and (3) that the journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva was arrested and interrogated after...
Baroness Northover: ...conclusion was very brutal, as the Government sought the total defeat of the Tamils. The UN claims that during this final offensive as many as 40,000 civilians were killed. The human rights abuses allegedly committed against the Tamils included enforced disappearances, torture and arbitrary arrest, though both sides have been accused of war crimes. When President Sirisena, although a...
Baroness Northover: Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the UN Human Rights Council decision to investigate allegations of crimes by Myanmar's security forces against minority Rohingya Muslims.
Baroness Northover: ...Government what representations they have made to the government of Cameroon concerning reports of the suspension of internet and email services in the English-speaking regions of that country and alleged government repression of the Anglophone minority.
Baroness Northover: ...on prosecuting cases of child sex abuse in October 2013, setting out a new approach to dealing with the particular issues that differentiate these cases. Focusing on the credibility of the allegation rather than the credibility of the individual is a significant cultural shift which recognises and addresses the particular vulnerability of some of these potential victims. We published the...
Baroness Northover: ...all other forms of abuse. A belief system can never justify the abuse of a child. We need to ensure that children are not subjected to abuse, or left vulnerable to potential abuse, because someone alleges that the child is possessed. The Government believe that the current law is sufficient for this purpose: it provides adequate protection to children from the type of abuse that this...
Baroness Northover: ...Assessments and other due diligence requirements. DFID will not provide financial support unless it is satisfied that any risks have been identified and appropriate safeguards put in place. Any allegations of loss are rigorously investigated and recovery of proven losses pursued. Net losses are published in our annual accounts; the latest accounts published for 2012-13 showed losses of...
Baroness Northover: ...care and support needs should be protected against abuse or neglect wherever they are. As I have already set out, prison governors and directors have in place procedures to follow in response to allegations of abuse or neglect. Governors and directors will provide assurance to the National Offender Management Service and Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, through their inspection...
Baroness Northover: ...abuse of human rights in Kashmir. I hear what he has to say in this regard, and we welcome the invitation by the Indian Government to the UN special rapporteur, who is to look in detail at those allegations. We are not willing to put up with abuse of human rights, wherever it happens in the world. The noble Lord, Lord Collins, asked about funding. I will be very happy to spell this out...
Baroness Northover: ...Ugandan Parliament. We have raised our concerns regularly at the most senior levels of the Ugandan Government. The current decision to freeze aid to the Ugandan Government was over concerns about allegations of corruption in the Office of the Prime Minister. However, aid to the Government of Uganda has always been predicated on fundamental commitments and agreed principles which include...
Baroness Northover: ...and to strengthen protection for human rights defenders. We are not in a position to make an independent assessment of the accuracy of the electoral roll. We were deeply concerned with allegations that double entries in the voter register outnumbered the official tally. The UK pushed the DRC's electoral commission to ensure all parties had scrutiny of the electoral roll and to publish full...
Baroness Northover: ...was released in Oct 2009 after agreed actions were carried out. 2009-10 Tanzania PRBS Variable tranche withheld due to poor provision of results information and weak action on corruption allegations Variable tranche of £11.5 million withheld-notice given in April 2008 for 2008-09 financial year (Jun-July) 2008-09 Sierra Leone PRBS One-third of budget support was dependent on...
Baroness Northover: ...rules by making it an offence to attempt to bribe foreign officials, and it is long overdue. It ought to have prevented the outrageous decision to halt the Serious Fraud Office's investigation into allegations of corruption in BAE arms sales. Then there is the Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill about which the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, spoke and on which his campaigning has been tireless....
Baroness Northover: ...Surely the UN has a duty to protect trapped civilians in this kind of circumstance, so what more can be done to secure a ceasefire so that aid can be got in and people led to safety? Should not the alleged atrocities on both sides be subject to investigation under international humanitarian law? Unless these grievances are addressed in full, there will be no peace in Sri Lanka in the future.
Baroness Northover: My Lords, how can we ensure that any inquiry into alleged abuses of international law is independent, robust, public and able to hold any individuals indicted to account?