To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his Department's policy is on the establishment of a human rights monitoring mechanism in the Western Sahara. (290401)

The UK supports the call by the UN Secretary General, in his latest report on the UN Mission for Referendum in the Western Sahara (MINURSO), for the parties to remain engaged in a continuous and constructive dialogue with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and to make progress on the human dimension of the conflict.

The Government believe that greater openness and transparency on human rights by all the parties in the Western Sahara could create a significantly better environment for political dialogue between the parties.