Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of the recent murders of former FARC combatants, Vilmar Asprilla and Ansel de Jesus Montoya Ibarra, and the UN condemnation of those murders on the peace process in Colombia; and if he will make a statement.

The UK condemns attacks against former members of the FARC and their families. This includes the killing of Vilmar Asprilla and Ansel de Jesús Montoya Ibarra who were election campaigning in Antioquia on 16 January.

We are concerned about increasing number of attacks against human rights defenders and local community leaders in Colombia. The UN Office for Human Rights has reported that at least 78 human rights defenders were killed in 2017. Tragic incidents such as these undermine the peace process. Through our advocacy and project work we support efforts by the Government of Colombia to strengthen the protection of vulnerable groups and individuals.