To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why no reference to the use of cluster munitions in the Lebanon-Israel conflict was included in her Department's Human Rights Annual Report 2006; and if she will make a statement. (100933)

The 2006 Annual Report on Human Rights covers the period from July 2005 to late August 2006. At the time of writing, many of the details surrounding the Israel-Lebanon conflict were still unclear. A decision was made not to cover the conflict as a whole. However, we were able to insert a section about the UK's efforts to bring about a ceasefire and our plans to help with reconstruction. Additionally, two paragraphs were added to the section on Syria remarking on its unhelpful role in supporting Hezbollah. We had concerns about Israeli actions during the conflict, which we made public at the time. And there is a large section in the human rights report covering our other concerns about Israel. We intend to cover the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in greater detail in our next report.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment her Department's human rights monitors have made of the use of cluster munitions in the Lebanon-Israel conflict. (100934)

Cluster munitions are legitimate weapons when used in accordance with international humanitarian law. We have called on Israel to make a public statement about their use of cluster munitions and have discussed the issue with the Government of Israel, the Government of Lebanon and human rights organisations.