Jack Straw replies via Micheal Howard to constituencts 'concerns' on the safety of gay men in Saudi Arabia and also signing the EU Conv Against people trafficking.
Somehow I dont think much 'pressure' was really put on Saudi over this given 'we' don't want to upset them too much do we ?
The caveats on the Trafficking situ may be similar to Howard's concerns (replied in an earlier letter) over 'border controls'.
For what it's worth, I'll be writing back on both- What was Saudi reply and which 'provisions' are UK Gov's concerns ?
Copy has also gone to Amnesty Intl as they have campaigns on both situations..
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Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London SW1A 2AH. 07 July 2005
Dear Michael.
Thank you for your letter of 21 June, encloseing two from your constituent Mr .................. of....Folkestone, Kent.
We share Mr.... concerns regarding the recent reports that suggest that a number of homosexual men were arrested in Saudi Arabia after allegedly attending private parties, with some sentenced to prison terms and to flogging. We have raised our concerns with the Saudi government on this issue.
We discuss our concerns about a wide range of human rights issues with the Saudi authorities regularly at working, ambassadorial and ministerial level and we remain committed to encouraging Saudi Arabia to improve its human rights record. We supported a statement by the European Union at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva in March 2005, which summarised some of our on-going concerns: "Guarantees of the rights of the defence are still inadequate. There are frequent reports of torture and ill treatment of prisoners. A large number of crimes is punishable by the death penalty, The practice of public execution continues."
Mr ...... also asked why the UK has not yet signed the Council of Europe Convention on Trafficking in Human Beings. We played an active part in the negotiation of the convention and we support its multiple aims. During the negotiating process we made clear that we had concerns that some of the provisions may act as "pull" factors to the UK and may even assist the traffickers in attracting new victims. We are assessing the risk associated with these provisons and are considering how we may implement them safely before taking a final decision on signature.
Yours ever.
Jack Straw.
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