Live Urgent Question on Hamed Bin Haydara House of Commons

kind of area at the honourable lady

alludes to and if she would like to

write to me with further details of

exactly the aspects she is

interested in I would certainly be

very happy to consider them.

Urgent

question, Bob Blackman.

To ask the

Secretary of State if he will make a

statement on the death sentence

verdict made against a Yemeni on the

2nd of January this year.

Mr Speaker

we are very concerned that they are

being persecuted for their religious

beliefs in Yemen are particularly in

areas controlled by forces aligned

to the late former president. We

strongly condemn this mistreatment

and we continue to work closely with

our partners including the EU to

raise the issue directly with the de

facto authorities. We are aware of

the death sentence and have sought

to raise the profile of the

situation through public diplomacy.

The immediate release of in Yemen

imprisoned for those religious

beliefs was a key demand in the

September United Nations human

rights Council resolution which we

supported. We will work closely with

all partners to ensure its full

implementation.

I thank my

honourable friend for his answer and

to you Mr Speaker for granting this

urgent question. Members across the

house have concerns about the denial

of freedom of religion and belief of

people of all faiths and none. The

threat to execute constitutes a

grave risk to the lives of an

innocent man, the father of three

and would accelerate the climate of

persecution against the wider

community in Yemen as a whole. He

was arrested in December 2013 and

has been subjected to torture,

beating, electrocution and forced to

sign confessions under duress. 40

court hearings have been held on his

case which were cancelled raising

serious questions about any due

process. He has been denied

treatment for medical conditions

which came as a direct result of the

torture inflicted on him. He was not

even permitted to be present at the

court hearing when he was sentenced

to death. I have a series of

questions I would ask my right

honourable friend to answer if you

can. Can he say if the UK Government

has any further lines of

communication to make

representations to the authorities

who hold the power in that area? I

am advised that my right honourable

friend the Minister for the middle

east is actually taking up the case

and is in Geneva today, can he say

what pressure he will be able to

apply at the UN to persuade them to

release this innocent man? How much

is known about the situation of

others imprisoned?

Other men have been detained

recently and are under threat. Can

he also say what measures can be

taken that senior figures within the

national Security office and

prosecutors offers are receiving

instructions from Iran to persecute

this community and the UN special

rapporteur on the freedom of

religious belief has observed the

position pattern of persecution of

this community. If you could answer

those questions I think the whole

house would be deeply grateful.

May

I first express gratitude to my

honourable friend for raising the

subject, I think it's always a

proper moment for this house to

remains matters of individual

justice of this sort and opposing

the persecution of religious

minorities is a very high priority

for the Foreign Office and our

diplomatic efforts as we enter this

year. Indeed the faith has been

persecuted for the best part of one

and half centuries. This sadly is a

further example of that phenomenon.

Although this gentleman is not a

British national nor an employee of

any organisation related to Her

Majesty 's government it is not in

any way diminish our indignation at

what is happening and our wish to

try and defend his interests and see

him released. We are to that end

also in close contact with the

community in London regarding this

case and also the wider situation in

Yemen. My honourable friend asked a

number of questions. These are

difficult to answer in the context

which is essentially a failing

state. This gentleman is held not by

the official government but by those

deemed to be the insurgent force in

Yemen. But of course they are

essential to any successful

political outcome the likes of which

we are trying to pursue. Further

lines on a particular case like this

is extremely difficult. It is

difficult of course to try to engage

them even for the main thrust of the

political solution we would like to

see in Yemen. But to that end as my

honourable friend says my right

honourable friend the Minister for

the Middle East is in Geneva today

helping to corral the collective

effort which we hope can increase

and optimise the influence we can

have on this case and on the future

of Yemen itself.

We estimate there are about 2000

Baha'is in Yemen and to try to

identify the fate of any individual

person within that large number is

very difficult. We do not have

direct diplomatic representation in

Sana'a, or if you like the sort of

detailed arrangement with the

Houthis that would be necessary to

address issues of this detail. In

terms of Iranian influence, it is

inevitably I think undeniable,

undeniable to say that their

influence has been drawn into Yemen

more than was the case five years

ago when we had the initiative to

seek a replacement for the then

president, but the current president

I'm afraid has very little influence

in cases such as this and I hope the

Iranians will use their effort to go

for justice rather than persecution.

Thank you for granting this urgent

question and I congratulate the

member for Harrow East in securing

it. He has explained the facts in

the case and they argue. He was

arrested in southern Yemen in 2013

and describes the torture he has

retrieved and his family and lawyers

have not been allowed to see him

during that process. He was forced

to sign a 19 page confession while

wearing a blindfold and on the basis

of that conversion was charged of

spreading the Baha'i faith in Yemen.

This all took place under not the

Houthi revels Billy Knott rebels who

took power, but the president --

Houthi rebels who took power in

2015. The responsibility in this

case lies clearly with the Houthis

and the supporters of them in the

Iranians regime are well known, the

terrible history of the persecution

of the Baha'is in Tehran. As well as

Mr Hadara the five other Baha'is are

awaiting trial for no other crime

other than their religion. We all

agree in this House that they must

be freed and that Mr Hadara's

sentence must be quashed. The

question to the Minister, firstly,

will he use his influence with the

Iranians because they are the ones

who have the influence at this

moment in time in order to deal with

the Houthis, and he needs to

pressure as much as he can because

this is something that may happen

very quickly, and therefore Iranians

are the key players in this and will

he be able to raise this when it

becomes possible on the political

talks in Yemen, and will he request

assurances from the Saudi Government

that if the president is restored in

Yemen he will seek to protect the

Baha'i faith.

I think these are

perfectly fair questions from the

honourable honourable gentleman and

the illustrated the complexities of

Yemen at the moment. Unfortunately

we cannot deal with the government

in the way we might do with other

countries. It is a failing state

with the legitimate president

wielding far less power than one

would wish, and the Houthis wielding

far more power than one would wish,

salt relations on the consular case,

if I can describe it as such, I very

difficult, and our ability to have

the influence we would like is far

less than we would like -- are very

difficult. The Houthis are not

classic Iranians Shi'ite, so they

have an affinity with Iran but I

think it would be wrong to say they

take all their orders from them and

straightforward puppets. The

situation of Yemen suggests the

position of the Houthis is rather

more complex, but there is an

undoubted affinity and one that has

grown over the last two or three

years and because of that we will of

course choose all our diplomatic

efforts with the Iranians to put

pressure on them to understand there

is deep concern in this House and

more widely across the world about

the way Mr Hadara and others are

being treated, so I can absolutely

assure the House my right honourable

friend the Foreign Secretary, in his

dealings with the Iranians, which

have increased over the last couple

of months, will not fail to raise

this issue and the broader issue of

religious freedom on every occasion.

Can I thank the Minister for making

his comments today and speaking very

generally unwise on a matter that

has actually been very complex but I

also pay tribute to Her Majesty's

ambassador to Yemen who is of course

not in Sana'a, who has done an awful

lot of work on this, the Yemen

problem, and get through no fault of

the zone appears to be getting not

very much further, and carry also

paid tribute to the Minister for the

Middle East who likewise is doing a

lot? I would like to associate with

the words that member for Birmingham

has just mentioned about the

influence of Iran in this region.

Does he agree with me that the rise

of religiosity amongst the Houthis

is an extremely worrying sign and

something that has risen only in the

last few years although there has

been many tribal issues in Yemen,

this is actually thing for Yemeni

history.

I totally agree with my

honourable friend, and from his

position as chair of the Foreign

Affairs Committee he and his

committee will be investigating this

very deeply. I think he is right.

One of the really distressing

elements of what has unfolded in

Yemen over the last five years, is

that what was really tribal conflict

has converted into more sectarian

conflict, and it contains the danger

of escalating further into a deeper

proxy conflict, and this is exactly

the kind of rising tension and

complex structure we want through

our diplomatic efforts to reduce and

de-escalates so we can get to the

point where that can be proper

political discussions, realistic

ones in that tribal country, to

bring stability and crucially to

overcome the massive famine and

disease and rising infant mortality

that is probably the worst aspect

and most deeply hidden aspect of

what is going on in Yemen at the

moment.

Firstly, I would like to pay

tribute to the member for bringing

this issue to the House and the

Baha'i community in the UK for

raising it with me this week as

well. The Baha'i amenity in Yemen is

small, as mentioned, but they face

disproportionate persecution by the

Houthis, by a run. Harbours to

harassment, detention, citing all

the centres across the portion of

Yemen they controlled -- by Iran,

facing harassment. The detention of

Hadara is extremely worrying because

he has been in detention since the

2013 and is also in detention I

would imagine are extremely

distressed given the developments.

Noting the context and wider

discussions around the dire

situation in Yemen, what discussions

had he been able to have with

counterparts in Iran, who it is

alleged are driving this religious

persecution? And the Baha'i

community allege this follows a very

similar pattern of persecution to

Baha'is in Iran which has already

gone on. In the wider context of

countries choosing to continue to

use the death penalty, what is the

FCO doing to update its strategy for

abolition, and what potential

communications could he have with

the president in exile but, you

know, who is still there in a

position of some influence? Can he

update us on that?

May I start by

ushering the honourable lady that

the abolition of the death penalty

is embedded in all of our diplomatic

and DFID policies whenever we go in

any country. That is our policy and

we do our best to argue for it will

ever we possibly can. I have been

going to Yemen for over 30 years, I

have met the president probably on

about ten occasions, and this is a

very very complex country with a

very vicious history full of

conflict and tribal division. My

right honourable friend the Minister

for the Middle East who as I said

earlier is in Geneva has been

absolutely brilliant in trying to

gather the maximum diplomatic

pressure not only for this case but

also for a broader settlement in for

customer right honourable friend the

Foreign Secretary, and I can tell

from conversations I have been

having with him on this, really very

ambitious personally to try to do

his utmost to use British influence

and British influence in Yemen is

perhaps greater than many of us in

this has might realise. The voice of

the UK still does matter. And we

want, as a priority at the Foreign

Office and indeed in Number Ten, to

do everything we can't use that

historic influence to try to bring

an end to this disastrous period of

conflict, and famine.

I follow my

honourable friend and indeed my

friend in condemning the persecution

of the Baha'i. Can he said at the

role he believes the Government of

the Sultanate of man can play in

this case but also more broadly in

successfully the situation in Yemen?

-- Sultanate of Oman.

I congratulate

him on this question and say he is

fast establishing himself on one of

the great experts in this House,

particularly on Oman and Yemen and

the Middle East more widely. The

Sultanate of Oman, great allies to

the UK, are of enormous importance

in the dynamics in any negotiations

that may come forward to resolve the

Yemen problem. Their history with

Yemen matters to them of course, but

they are next door to Iran, and

their enlightenment in trying to be

an honest and constructive broker

with the Houthis is much appreciated

in this country, and the Sultanate

of Oman is a country to which we

tribute enormous value and

affection, and we look forward to

working with them further as an

important element in trying to find

a solution to this conflict.

He is clearly a very wise man

indeed. He would perhaps

because the

grey beard, if he had one!

LAUGHTER

I thank the Minister -- perhaps be

called the greybeard. The judgment

has called for the confiscation of

his goods, Mr Hadara, motivated by

the desire to repress the peaceful

religious minority. I think the

information coming through was that

Iran has an influence there. What

representations as he had apart from

the representations this morning

upon this case? What action can

vacate to urge the authorities to

turn this down and what about the

prisoners in jail who need medical

attention as well?

We have very

little direct contact with the

Houthis because of the complicated

nature of this Yemeni conflict. But

through all available channels,

public, UN pressure, the UN Human

Rights Council, collective comments

within the Middle East through

ambassadors and other fora, we have

made every conceivable

representation and I can ensure the

honourable gentleman we will

continue to do so and perhaps after

this urgent question even more

noisily and robust Layvin before.

--

robustly than before. What is he

doing to support the UN political

process?

We have been a full part of

the UN process ever since the Arabs

Spring of 2011, and the initiative

which saw the

replacement of presidents Saleh by

Preston Hadi. As I mentioned, the

Human Rights Council of last year,

an important for part of that same

process -- replacement of President

Saleh by President Hadi.

Would use

this opportunity to restate the

Government was my opposition to

torture in any circumstances? And

can he see whether there are any new

concrete initiatives he is picked to

come from the international

community to try to stop the

conflict in Yemen because of course

it is that which has enabled this

atrocious decision to be taken?

It

is very nice to have an opportunity

to fully agree with the honourable

gentleman. And certainly on the

issue of torture, we are absolutely

resolute in our opposition to

torture and degrading treatment in

all its forms. I have also mentioned

earlier that we really want to start

this year doing everything we

possibly can to get people talking.

We have done so through gathering

together the Saudis technoratis, the

UN, and we will continue to work

with them and crucially in trying to

find direct contact with people in

Yemen -- the Saudis, the Emiratis,

the UN. I think following the death

of Abdullah Saleh in December last

year people have been moving to find

this out.

What is the Government

doing to address the humanitarian

crisis in Iran? Jung I am familiar

with is indeed from the days when I

was a DFID Minister --

yes, I am

slow with this. -- familiar with

this. We are concerned by nearly

half a million keys of cholera,

rising infant mortality, by the fact

that almost all their food,

virtually all their rights, is

imported, and it has been important

to open the port of the data --

Hodeida, but this remains a

difficult and complex problem in

such a lawless and disintegrating

society.

May I thank you and your honourable

friend for your dedication to

religious freedom and human rights,

may my honourable friend agree with

me that human rights and religious

freedom are an integral part of our

work in humanitarian and evolvement

aid across the world?

Yes, if human

rights and the rule of law are not

upheld then the efficacy of

development is severely reduced.

Therefore I agree and it's written

as a principle to all the ways in

which differed goes about its

business.

In my experience the

people of this faith, you could not

find a more gentle and engaging

people and maybe other persecution

with great for parents. Can the

Minister tell us what communication

he has had with representatives of

the faith in this country?

We are in

contact with the community in the

UK, and as I said earlier, they are

gentle, if you like sect of Islam

who fully deserved to be defended

whenever there is in -- inexplicable

persecution which has been going on

since they were founded as it where

in the middle of the 19th century

and to be persecuted from the start

and have it persistently thrust upon

them for over one and a half

centuries is a miserable aspect of

our relatively recent history.

I

welcome my right honourable friend's

assurances of opposition to this

terrible death penalty. Could I

asked what assessment the government

has made of the effect that the debt

has made on the horrific crisis in

Yemen? And the chances of positive

resolution?

What I am going to say

it is my own thoughts as someone who

has taken an interest in Yemen for

so long rather than perhaps the

official assessment of Her Majesty

's government because this is a

fairly recent phenomenon and what

happened was Saleh was working with

them and then he turned against them

and there was a serious battle

between the two in which he did so

what will now happen to the

influence he wielded through the GPC

and his own forces I think is

difficult to assess at this early

stage. I suppose at its simplest one

could say it's probably reinforced

the power of the bug I hope from

that position of strength they might

now be prepared to negotiate

directly with Saudi Arabia and with

others interested so we can reach

the political

solution

which is crucial for axis

of humanitarian aid for some 7

million Yemenis on the brink of

famine.

While support remains closed

essentially an entire country was

under siege and at risk of

starvation. The UK Government has

played a significant part in working

with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to

try to open up the port, I hope now

supplies are flowing as the master

and that they can increasingly flow

in order to bring much