Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received of allegations of state-sponsored violence in Colombia.

We remain concerned by recent reports of violence in Colombia and the reported increase in threats against human rights defenders there, in particular those detailed in the “Somos Defensores” report published in August. I recently held a meeting with the hon. Gentleman and other parliamentary colleagues where I received further reports of violence in the country.

During my visit to Colombia in June, I set out our concerns about the reported rise in attacks against human rights defenders in my meetings with Colombia’s Deputy Foreign Ministers and the heads of the Colombian government’s major human rights agencies. I also met representatives from Colombian and international human rights organisations, including Oxfam and Christian Aid, to discuss the issue. The former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) also raised the issue of violence against trade unionists and human rights defenders, and cases of impunity for those responsible, with the Colombian government during his visit to Bogota in February.