Topic Archives: Crime, civil law, justice and rights

Can we end female genital cutting in a generation?

Baroness Valentine 30/05/2013 – 5:47 pm

Back in wintry February, I hosted an event for a charity I support - Orchid Project - to mark the International Day against female genital cutting (FGC, also known as female circumcision). At the event, Senegalese hip-hop artist and activist Sister Fa stood alongside two Government Ministers and spoke about her belief that FGC can end within a generation. Sister Fa has seen progress in her home […]

Photos and flames. Horror and hope.

Lord McConnell 28/05/2013 – 12:05 am

One of the saddest places on earth is the Kigali Genocide Memorial managed by the Aegis Trust. Here, 250,000 or so victims of the Rwanda genocide in 1994 are buried together, alongside an exhibition and permanent memorial to their memory. A flame is lit each year by President Kagame to burn at the entrance as a sign of life and hope. Smaller memorials exist in towns and villages across this coun […]

Great Lakes APPG to study Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Lord McConnell 24/05/2013 – 2:57 pm

It is Thursday 22 May, first day of the Whitsun Recess. I am travelling to Kigali: first stop of the delegation from the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Great Lakes Region of Africa. We will study and report upon the current peace process, the stabilisation efforts of the UN and others including the UK, and our UK development assistance to Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Wit […]

Marriage (Same-sex Couples) Bill

Lord Norton 22/05/2013 – 10:41 pm

The Marriage (Same-sex Couples) Bill has completed its passage through the Commons.  It was given a Third Reading by 366 votes to 161.  It has now arrived in the Lords, having been given its formal First Reading at the end of proceedings yesterday.  It is scheduled for Second Reading on the first day the House resumes after the Whit recess, that is, Monday 3 June.  It looks like being a long d […]

Prisoner voting rights

Lord Norton 18/05/2013 – 11:00 am

A number of Bills each year are now published in draft and subject to pre-legislative scrutiny.  The scrutiny is usually undertaken by the relevant Departmental Select Committees in the Commons, but some are sent to a Joint Committee of both Houses.  I have previously served on two such committees.  This week I was appointed to a third. The issue of prisoner voting rights has proved highly c […]