Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to make representations to his counterpart in Colombia on approving the statutory law that will give the Special Jurisdiction for Peace in that country the provisions it needs to guarantee truth, justice, reparation and non-repetition in accordance with the 2016 peace agreement between the Government of Colombia and the revolutionary armed forces of Colombia - people's army; and if he will make a statement.

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace continues to function under currently existing legal provisions despite the recent objections of President Duque to certain articles of the law. However, we remain concerned that a delay in finalising the legal underpinning of the transitional justice system risks undermining its authority and reducing cooperation of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Our Ambassador in Bogota informed President Duque of Colombia of the UK position on the Special Jurisdiction for Peace on 11 March during a briefing for the international community. He emphasised the importance of finalising the legal underpinning for the transitional justice system as quickly as possible to mitigate the risk of undermining its authority and reducing cooperation with the FARC. The UK permanent representative to the UN met Colombian Foreign Minister Holmes Trujillo on 15 March to reiterate the importance of a speedy process the positive signal that accelerating the implementation of the Peace Agreement would send.