Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of reports that at least 44 environmental defenders, including 21 indigenous activists, were killed in Colombia from 20 July 2020 to 30 April 2021.

The UK Government remains concerned about the persistent level of violence towards human rights defenders and social leaders in Colombia. Through our Conflict, Stability, and Security Fund (CSSF) programme, which has provided £63 million in support of peace agreement implementation, security, and stability in Colombia since 2015, we will continue to prioritise funding interventions to protect human rights defenders, including environmental activists, and social leaders.

UK ministers and senior officials regularly raise human rights issues, as well as specific cases of concern, with the Colombian Government, and in multilateral fora. The UK's Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita French, raised our concerns around the killings of human rights defenders, including environmental activists and indigenous community leaders, on a virtual visit to Colombia in February. Colombia is a UK 'Human Rights Priority Country,' and we will continue to raise our concerns with the relevant state actors in Colombia.