Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on the monitoring of human rights in Mexico; and if he will make a statement.

I would like to thank the hon. Member for his efforts to promote discussion of human rights in Mexico via the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mexico and the All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group. The promotion and protection of human rights are a key priority for this Government and I receive regular reports from my officials on the human rights situation in Mexico, including the recent tragic events in Iguala and Tlatlaya. We maintain a regular dialogue with the Mexican government on human rights as part of our strong bilateral relationship. We also work with non-government organisations (NGOs) and human rights defenders both here and in Mexico on these issues.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s human rights work in Mexico has focused on tackling impunity as a way of improving human rights across the country. These include projects to:

• support the move to adversarial trials in the state of Chiapas and in Mexico City;
• build the capacity of police to investigate crimes under this new system in the states of Aguascalientes, Baja California and San Luis Potosí;
• work with Mexican human rights NGO Centro Prodh on enforced disappearances, and protections for journalists and human rights defenders.