Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Nicaragua on the (a) human rights situation and (b) political violence in that country.

I was clear with the Nicaraguan Government, in a meeting of 3 July, that for stability to return the Government must take responsibility for ending the violence, and that inclusive dialogue promised by the authorities should proceed under peaceful conditions.

I have expressed deep concern about the excessive use of force by the Government, including the use of live ammunition, and the human rights abuses reported by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) and the UN. I welcome the Government's invitations to the IACHR, the UN, and the EU to support a resolution of the crisis and urge the authorities to allow them to carry out their work fully without hindrance.