Caroline Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2014-06-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the issue of rape and sexual violence by the Burmese Army was raised with the Burmese colonel who received training in the UK from 10 March to April 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire

The Managing Defence in a Wider Security Context course, delivered in the UK by the Defence Academy, was attended by participants from over 20 countries; one of these was a colonel from the Burmese military. The course is designed for countries making the difficult transition to democracy in a variety of contexts. Specific issues of concern relating to individual countries are therefore not raised during the course.

I, however, raised the issue of rape and sexual violence with the Burmese Army’s Commander-in-Chief and northern Commander during my visit to Burma in January.

I welcome Burma’s endorsement of the Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict on 5 June; we stand ready to provide any support necessary to assist implementation of the declaration.