Sir Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help end violations of freedom of religion or belief in Afghanistan.  [11219]

[Due for Answer on 31 October]

ANSWER

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan (Hamish Falconer): The Government continues to call for the human rights of all Afghans to be protected, including the freedom of religion or belief, and we regularly press the Taliban on this through our Doha based UK Mission to Afghanistan. Ministers and officials also engage regularly with a range of Afghans, including religious and ethnic minorities, to ensure our policy and programming reflect the needs of the entire population. In October, we co-sponsored a Human Rights Council resolution extending the mandate of UN Special Rapporteur, Richard Bennett, to monitor and report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan for another year, including that of minority groups.