§ 9. Mr. Paul Goggins (Wythenshawe and Sale, East)What recent representations he has made on behalf of kidnap victims in Colombia. [129548]
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. John Battle)The British ambassador in Bogota delivered a clear message to the guerrillas that they must end their involvement in kidnappings, forced disappearances and extortion, prior to an international meeting in Colombia on 29–30 June. A statement subsequently issued by all 23 countries and organisations 211 represented—including our EU partners—also called for an end to extortion, kidnappings and other serious violations of human rights.
§ Mr. GogginsAs my hon. Friend is aware, kidnapping for political and financial advantage is an all too common occurrence in Colombia. I draw my hon. Friend's attention to the five remaining hostages of the Avianca hijacking in April last, one of whom is Juan Manuel Corzo, a member of the Colombian Parliament. Will the Minister use every means at his disposal to urge all armed groups in Colombia, including the FARC and the ELN to grant an early release to all hostages as a genuine and sincere indication of their desire for peace?
§ Mr. BattleYes. We regularly discuss human rights with the Colombian authorities. Those discussions include the subject of kidnapping and hostage taking. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister raised our concerns over the continuing violence in Colombia when he met President Pastrana during the President's visit to London on 13 April. We also stress the need for further progress on human rights. When my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office visited Colombia, she also urged the Government to tackle the problem of the paramilitaries.
Of course, the best way to end kidnapping is to help the Colombian Government to advance the peace process. More encouragingly, on 10 July President Pastrana signed legislation making forced disappearances a criminal act under Colombian law. What we now want the Colombian Government to do is to introduce the instruments to enforce that legislation.
§ Mr. John Wilkinson (Ruislip-Northwood)I associate myself from the Conservative Benches with the remarks of the hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale, East (Mr. Goggins). Is not the fact that President Pastrana has sent his former high commissioner for peace to this country as ambassador a sign of the importance that the Colombian Government attach to the United Kingdom in advancing reconciliation and the restoration of security within that country? Can Her Majesty's Government now make resources available to Plan Colombia to reconstruct the country, and not necessarily wait for the European Union to do it?
§ Mr. BattleIn relation to Plan Colombia, we are playing a full part in the international and EU discussions. We convened a conference in London to engage the non-governmental organisations in that process. The recent conference in Madrid took the process further. I believe that no country is discussing contributions at this stage, because we want the structure of our contributions to the plan to be right, which includes improving the human rights situation in Colombia. Our aim is to work constructively to ensure that the peace process is properly supported and that the horrific accounts by Amnesty International of some 24,000 murders that it has catalogued become a thing of the past.
§ Dr. Jenny Tonge (Richmond Park)I understand that the Minister for the Cabinet Office has recently had meetings about Plan Colombia in Colombia and in the 212 United States. Can the Minister tell us something about those meetings and whether the British Government are mindful of the need to modify the military aspect of Plan Colombia, which would do so much damage to the people there? Will the Minister also comment on the fumigation of crops that is proposed by the United States Government?
§ Mr. BattleThe fact that my right hon. Friend was engaged in the process both during her visit and at the meeting in Madrid was a clear indication that we certainly attach importance to supporting the peace process. That not only means including alternative crops rather than spraying, but involves a wider social and economic agenda than has been suggested by others: it means tackling illegal drug production and trafficking, and we insist on an emphasis on human rights. Our intention has been to broaden and deepen the agenda so that it is not a single instrument; that would be in no one's interests. We want to ensure that in the long term Colombia has a peaceful way of ensuring the development of the people and not a dependency on drug cultivation.
§ Mr. Tony Lloyd (Manchester, Central)My hon. Friend is right to say that the best long-term guarantee against kidnapping is to move on the peace process. But will he also make sure that the message from our Government is clear: we expect the Colombian Government to prioritise the problem of hostages and hostage taking and make sure that that is a part of their own peace dialogue; and that there is also an expectation that the ELN and the FARC will make sure that hostage taking becomes a thing of the past, as a measure of their sincerity in moving towards the process of peace?
§ Mr. BattleI can only re-emphasise that in all our meetings at every level we tackle that agenda and keep insisting on it. The British embassy maintains a regular dialogue with human rights bodies and other NGOs in Colombia and has facilitated meetings between NGOs and representatives of the Colombian armed forces in order to encourage confidence building. In addition, the ambassador and officials often visit trouble spots, both at the invitation of interested parties and on their own initiative, to try to bring people together around the peace process, which is the way forward.