On 18th November the Bishop of St Albans received a written answer to a question on recognition of the Armenian genocide.
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review their position on the recognition of the Armenian genocide. [HL10012] Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks Government if it will recognise Armenian Genocide”
On Monday 2nd November 2020 Baroness Cox asked the Government, “further to the genocide emergency alert issued by Genocide Watch about the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, what assessment they have made of their obligations as a signatory to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.” The Bishop of St Albans asked a further question:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans [V]: Will the Minister comment on whether Her Majesty’s Government believe that the criteria used to recognise Kosovo and the principle of internal self-determination which protects minority rights equally applies to the Armenians and Nagorno-Karabakh and on whether recognition might, as in Kosovo, prevent the possible ethnic cleansing of Armenians, which has historically characterised territorial border conflicts in that part of the Caucasus? Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks whether sef-determination for Nagorno-Karabakh will protect Armenians from ethnic cleansing”
On 27th October 2020 the Bishop of Coventry received written answers to two questions, on atrocity prevention training to UK embassy and diplomatic staff in fragile states, and on identity-based violence and the appointment of a Minister to act as a Special Envoy on Genocide:
Diplomatic Service: Training
The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to provide atrocity prevention training to UK embassy and diplomatic personnel based in fragile states. [HL9121] Continue reading “Bishop of Coventry asks about UK response capabilities to overseas violence and atrocities”
On 5th October 2020 the Bishop of St Albans received a written answer to a question on Myanmar:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the UN Human Rights Council Report of the independent international fact-finding mission on Myanmar, published in September 2018, and in particular the recommendation that senior generals of the Myanmar military be investigated and prosecuted for genocide; and what support they plan to provide to the case brought by the government of The Gambia against the government of Myanmar currently before the International Court of Justice. [HL8425] Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about prosecutions for genocide against Myanmar generals”
On Monday 21st September Baroness Cox asked the Government about its response to a recent report on potential genocide taking place in Nigeria. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Revd Justin Welby, asked a follow up question:
The Archbishop of Canterbury [V]: My Lords, like the Minister, I am grateful to the noble Baroness for raising this issue; she is tireless and fearless in standing up for the weakest and most vulnerable. While the issues of genocide are often ones of legal terminology, the situation in Nigeria is one of large-scale killing in many areas across all communities and for a wide variety of reasons, not all of which are religious. Would the Minister say how the very large numbers of UK passport holders in Nigeria—most with dual citizenship and families here—are protected and informed of the situation? Would he also say what priority the establishment of reconciliation will get in the allocation of overseas aid in the new department? Continue reading “Archbishop of Canterbury asks Government about killings in Nigeria”
On 21st March the House of Lords considered the Government’s Immigration Bill at Report Stage. Lord Alton tabled an amendment seeking to secure automatic asylum rights for members of groups subject to genocide and which gave power to the UK Supreme Court to determine whether a genocide had occured. The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, spoke in support of the amendment, and Lord Keen of Elie responded on behalf of the Government. In a subsequent vote the amendment was not passed, by 111 votes to 148. .
