Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-10-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Amnesty International report on the use of chemical weapons in Darfur; whether they intend to ask the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to open an investigation; and what representations they have made, or plan to make, to the Sudanese Ambassador to London in the light of that report.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We are concerned by the allegations of the use of chemical weapons in Sudan and we are aware that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is looking into these. The use of chemical weapons under any circumstances is contrary to international law and we wholly condemned it. We were also concerned to read the other allegations made in the Amnesty International report, which highlight the need for access to conflict-affected areas. We see ensuring access for the UN/AU Peacekeeping Mission throughout Darfur as the most important next step and have raised this in the context of the report with the Sudanese in London, Khartoum and New York.
