Qatar and Syria

House of Lords written question – answered at on 19 March 2014.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Lord Hylton Lord Hylton Crossbench

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Qatar and other mediators in Syria about arranging further exchanges of prisoners between the various conflicting parties.

Photo of Baroness Warsi Baroness Warsi Senior Minister of State (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) (Jointly with the Department for Communities and Local Government), Senior Minister of State (Department for Communities and Local Government) (Faith and Communities) (also in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office)

Since the early days of the conflict we have consistently called on both sides to release prisoners. The international community made it clear in the Geneva I communiqué of June 2012 that they called for the release of arbitrarily detained persons. The latest UN Commission of Inquiry report of 5 March highlights the scale of the issue. We continue to press our concerns over detainees, including in the “London 11” core group of Friends of Syria, to which Qatar also belongs. This group most recently discussed the issue of detainees at the meeting of senior officials in Geneva on 31 January. The London 11 group has called for the release of detainees in its various communiqués.

Does this answer the above question?

Yes0 people think so

No0 people think not

Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.