Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will arrange for President Trump to meet representatives of the Muslim and ethnic minority communities during his forthcoming official visit to the UK.
Answered by Alan Duncan
A State Visit invitation has been offered and accepted. The precise dates and programme have yet to be confirmed. Once the dates are agreed, Government officials will begin work on the programme.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what benefits he anticipates will accrue to the British public from President Trump's forthcoming official visit to the UK.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The United States is one of our closest allies and a Presidential visit is an opportunity to further advance that important relationship. It remains in the UK's public interest to work closely with the US on a range of foreign, security and trade policy issues.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which countries that are allies of the UK are not governed through some form of parliamentary democracy.
Answered by Mark Field
Allies, in a strict legal sense, are those states with whom the UK has a Treaty-based commitment to militarily assist each other in the event of an armed attack. As such I can confirm that all of the UK’s allies are governed by forms of parliamentary or other representative democracy.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many and what proportion of serving HM Ambassadors and High Commissioners are not career diplomats.
Answered by Alan Duncan
As at 21 March 2017, 12 of the UK's 157 serving HM Ambassadors and High Commissioners were recruited to these roles from another UK Government Department or from outside the UK Civil Service. This represents 8 per cent of the total.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterpart in the US on the access of British media organisations to official press conference held by the US President.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The White House's engagement with the media is a matter for the White House.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make arrangements for an early state or official visit to the UK by the recently elected President of Germany.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Germany is one of our most important partners in the world; in trade, foreign policy and in Europe. We are working to strengthen the bilateral relationship further following the UK’s decision to leave the EU, including through high level visits, however there are no plans for President-elect Steinmeier to visit the UK in the immediate future.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Colombian counterpart on the murder of (a) Aldemar Parra García on 7 January 2017, (b) Olmeido Pito Garcia in Cauca on 6 January 2017 and (c) Yanetin Alejandra Calvache in Balboa in Cauca on 30 December 2016; and what reports he has received on the circumstances of those murders.
Answered by Alan Duncan
We are concerned by the increasing number of reported killings of civil society figures and activists in Colombia. Since the beginning of 2017, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received reports of at least ten murders where the victims appear to have been targeted for their role as human rights defenders, or because they are members of unions or political groups such as Marcha Patriotica, including Hernan Agames, Yanetin Calvache, Olmeido Pito Garcia, Aldemar Parra Garcia, Emilsen Manyoma, Joe Javier Rodallega and Juan de la Cruz Mosquera.
The Prime Minister raised the issue of the levels of violence against human rights defenders with President Santos during the State Visit in November. Respect for human rights was also included in their joint declaration. I and Ministerial colleagues will continue to raise our human rights concerns with our Colombian counterparts.
Working together to improve respect for human rights is a key part of our relationship with the Colombian Government and civil society. At a practical level, our Ambassador to Colombia is a member of the group "Ambassadors with Defenders" which promotes the work of human rights defenders and raises concerns about specific cases with the Colombian Government. The group will meet the Colombian Attorney-General to discuss the continued murders against human rights defenders, including those killed in recent weeks. On 19 January, British Embassy staff in Bogota met Colombian NGO Somos Defensores to discuss the recent murders. They also took part in a visit to South Bolivar, where local community leaders have voiced concerns about their security. As a result of this visit, the Office of the Presidential Advisor on Human rights committed to request the Colombian Ministry of Defence to provide additional security measures for community leaders.
The Colombian Government recognises the threats faced by human rights defenders and acknowledges the challenges it faces in implementing the peace agreement with the FARC. In December, the Office of the Presidential Advisor for Human Rights (OHCHR) made a statement which linked an increase in incidents to areas vacated by the FARC. President Santos also gave a speech on 22 November in which he said he would work with Governors of affected areas and the Attorney General to accelerate investigations into murders of human rights defenders to find those responsible.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 July 2016 to Question 42328, for what reasons his Department did not provide the schedule of documents requested in that Question relating to the disappearance of Rebecca Coriam.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Further to your meeting with consular officials in August, a schedule of documents has been provided to you.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 July 2016, to Question 42328, if he will provide (a) a schedule of the consular documents and (b) a copy of the investigation report referred to in that Answer.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The consular documents referred to in my Answer of 19 July, to Question 42328, contain numerous pieces of correspondence between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the many interested parties in the case, including the Governments of the Bahamas and Mexico. However, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold a copy of the police report, which was passed to Cheshire Police. Officials will meet you and the Coriam family to discuss the case, and our engagement with the Governments of the Bahamas and Mexico.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will provide a schedule of documents held by his Department that relate to the disappearance of Rebecca Coriam from the Disney Wonder cruise ship in March 2011 and the investigation into that disappearance.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Consular documents show that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office provided assistance to the Coriam family at the time of their daughter’s disappearance in 2011, and provided updates on the progress of the Bahamian investigation through the Family Liaison Officer assigned by Cheshire Police. We also facilitated the handover of a copy of the Bahamian investigation report to Cheshire Police.