Joint Committee looks at genocide and torture

• Video and Audio: Genocide and Torture evidence session
• Joint Committee on Human Rights

Giving evidence to the Committee at 1.45pm will be:

• Sir Ken MacDonald;
• Daniel Machover, Hickman and Rose solicitors; and
• Nick Donovan, Head of Campaigns, Policy and Research, Aegis Trust.

Giving evidence at 2.30pm will be:

• Kevin Laue, Legal Advisor, Redress, an internationally focused non-profit legal/human rights organisation that seeks to help torture survivors.

The Committee's inquiry is seeking information and views on:

• the number of prosecutions under the Genocide Act 1969, the Geneva Conventions Act 1957 and the International Criminal Court Act 2001 for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity offences committed abroad, and their outcomes;
• the number of suspected perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity present in the UK who cannot be prosecuted because of the date the crimes occurred or because they are not resident in the UK;
• the rationale for the differences in the legal regimes applying to the offences of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed abroad; and
• whether the law should be changed to ensure it is more consistent and what the practical consequences of change may be, for example in terms of police resources required to investigate such crimes.