Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to work with the Mexican Government and international community to reduce the murders of land and environmental rights defenders in Mexico.

In June this year, the FCDO's Media Freedom Coordinator participated in a consultation panel organised by UNESCO and the Mexican Government to establish a new National Prevention and Protection System for human rights defenders, which includes land and environmental defenders and journalists. We continue to engage regularly with Mexican authorities at ministerial, official, and state level to discuss a range of human rights issues in Mexico, including the murders of land and environmental rights defenders. A bilateral UK-Mexico human rights dialogue has also been agreed which will be used to discuss these and other issues.