Browse content similar to 01/02/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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My lords had big leads to ask the question standing in my namd on the | :00:13. | :00:18. | |
order paper. The British Government is firmly opposed to the de`th | :00:19. | :00:22. | |
penalty in all circumstances and in every country. We have exprdss these | :00:23. | :00:26. | |
concerns to the Saudi authorities, most recently during my visht on the | :00:27. | :00:37. | |
25th of January last week. ,-. It does not shy away from raishng human | :00:38. | :00:42. | |
rights concern and we believe it will be more successful in | :00:43. | :00:45. | |
discussing cases privately with Saudi Arabia than criticising them | :00:46. | :00:52. | |
publicly. It is widely reported that in the first year of office 201 , | :00:53. | :00:59. | |
Saudi Arabia executed more people than in any of the previous 20 | :01:00. | :01:04. | |
years. Any of those people were executed for political dissdnt. The | :01:05. | :01:09. | |
last time we discussed this on the 13th of January, the Noble Lady | :01:10. | :01:13. | |
asked all five of this housd to asked all five of this housd to | :01:14. | :01:15. | |
express these concerns to the Saudi government. She told us that they | :01:16. | :01:19. | |
have done so, could she tell the House what the Saudi governlent s | :01:20. | :01:23. | |
response was and indeed if they are point to distinguish between | :01:24. | :01:27. | |
political dissent and other crimes. My lords, during his visit, he had | :01:28. | :01:33. | |
meetings with members of thd national Society for human rights in | :01:34. | :01:36. | |
Saudi Arabia Minister of foreign affairs, and members of the Council, | :01:37. | :01:43. | |
he also met with advisers, ly lords he did cover a wide variety of | :01:44. | :01:47. | |
people with whom he could h`ve this conversation naturally. As H just | :01:48. | :01:49. | |
explained in my first answer, we would prefer to make our pohnts in a | :01:50. | :01:54. | |
private environment. What I will say is that the Saudi Arabian government | :01:55. | :02:00. | |
and offices of Saudi Arabia are clear that we will not stop coming | :02:01. | :02:05. | |
forward in our view is on e`ch and every case. Where somebody has been | :02:06. | :02:09. | |
arrested and may face of cotrse the death penalty. My lords, thd Noble | :02:10. | :02:18. | |
Baroness has said that we ddplore executions for political re`sons in | :02:19. | :02:24. | |
all countries, may I ask her whether her representations have bedn | :02:25. | :02:29. | |
equally private and equally powerful in the country of Iran? My lords, of | :02:30. | :02:35. | |
course I would a dramatic relationship with Iran has only | :02:36. | :02:41. | |
recently resumed and it is hmportant that we are able to nurture that. My | :02:42. | :02:47. | |
lords, I believe that Iran would be under no misunderstanding about the | :02:48. | :02:51. | |
strength of opinion of the British Government of all British Government | :02:52. | :02:54. | |
in recent decades over the fact that the death penalty is wrong hn | :02:55. | :02:58. | |
principle and practice and ht undermines a successful sochety My | :02:59. | :03:08. | |
lords, the, I cannot understand why we make on the private | :03:09. | :03:15. | |
representations to Saudi Ar`bia is it a public condemnation th`t much | :03:16. | :03:21. | |
more effective? Our expense has been that certain countries that is in | :03:22. | :03:25. | |
fact not the case, it can bd counterproductive. We are always | :03:26. | :03:28. | |
careful to ensure that we m`ke best use of our diplomatic voice in | :03:29. | :03:34. | |
private. My Lord, Saudi Arabia has any country does respond better to | :03:35. | :03:37. | |
that exchange, it does not stop me being as public as I am tod`y. Both | :03:38. | :03:46. | |
Iran and Saudi are both extremely volatile and if we are not careful, | :03:47. | :03:50. | |
what is happening in Saudis wheels over as we know into Yemen `nd will | :03:51. | :03:53. | |
spill over into Bahrain if we are not careful. I would therefore ask | :03:54. | :03:58. | |
the ministers to exercise as much pressure as they can on the Saudi | :03:59. | :04:02. | |
government to understand th`t it is almost impossible to defend given | :04:03. | :04:08. | |
the behaviour of the regime. My lords, the point that lies behind | :04:09. | :04:15. | |
his words, is certainly right. That is that all countries have to have | :04:16. | :04:19. | |
regard to the fact that thehr actions may lead to regional | :04:20. | :04:25. | |
instability, it is important in the Middle East in general that all | :04:26. | :04:29. | |
countries recognise what impact their actions can have. Is the Noble | :04:30. | :04:37. | |
Lady able to comment on reports of the execution of a young man under | :04:38. | :04:43. | |
the age of 18 was in it a breach of the Shari and law? My lords, I am | :04:44. | :04:49. | |
aware there is a newspaper reports in effect that one person who was | :04:50. | :04:53. | |
expected to be an adult at the time of execution may not have bden, but | :04:54. | :04:57. | |
there is not get proof of that matter, certainly with regard to the | :04:58. | :05:02. | |
juveniles who are being held at the moment on their penalty which does | :05:03. | :05:08. | |
include that sentence, we h`ve been given assurances including lost | :05:09. | :05:13. | |
recently by the Saudi foreign affairs minister that the sdntences | :05:14. | :05:16. | |
will not be carried out. My lords, the fact is of course that however | :05:17. | :05:22. | |
we think about sharia law wd might have different views on that, it is | :05:23. | :05:26. | |
a case that some countries do have the death penalty and we nedd to | :05:27. | :05:29. | |
work to make sure it is removed | :05:30. | :05:31. |