Colombia

HC Deb 28 March 2000 vol 347 cc1-22WH

Motion made, and Question proposed, That the sitting be now adjourned.—[Mr. Sutcliffe.]

10 am

Mr. Desmond Browne (Kilmarnock and Loudoun)

I am grateful for the opportunity to initiate an important debate and am pleased to see so many hon. Members in the Chamber. I appreciate their support, as I understand that a substantial voting duty kept them from their beds last night. I am sure that the Government and people of Colombia will take note of their interest in this subject.

I wish to declare an interest in this subject and draw hon. Members' attention to my entry in the Register of Members' Interests. Last February, my hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale, East (Mr. Goggins) and I were privileged to be part of a group of European parliamentarians who spent eight days in Colombia, where we met representatives of nongovernmental organisations, church leaders, politicians and Colombian Ministers. I was present as the guest of the Scottish International Aid Fund, otherwise known as SCIAF.

Human rights were the focus of our visit. I commend to the Chamber the invaluable work done on such matters, which is supported by United Kingdom NGOs. The United Kingdom enjoys high regard, affection and respect from the people of Colombia partly as a result of NGOs' significant contribution to such work. British organisations provide a high degree of protection for ordinary citizens, local people, NGOs and other organisations by accompanying them in their human rights work. They support some of the most vulnerable people in the world and do so in our name.

I described my visit as a privilege because, like all visitors, I was stunned by the great beauty and diversity of Colombia, and because I was privileged to meet many people of great courage, patriotism and dignity. Our delegation was particularly impressed by those who had been, or still are, victims of violence.

Singling anyone out would be invidious and possibly even dangerous for such people. However, I draw the Chamber's attention to a group of displaced people whom we met in the city of Quibdo in the region of Choco. We met 40 families who had been displaced from their poor rural villages by paramilitary violence and who had taken residence on the wooden terraces of a crumbling concrete basketball stadium. As I recollect, some families occupied only 8 or 9 sq ft of that stadium. They had been abandoned there for two years with no access to work, no hope of integration in the local community and dependent on a European Union charity for the most basic needs of life. Some children in that stadium knew no other life.

We promised that we would not forget those people and that we would bring their plight to the attention of the international community. My hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale, East has already introduced an Adjournment debate on the subject and I am sure that none of us present that day will ever forget those people and I dedicate to them my contribution to our debate.

Our debate is timely for at least four reasons. First, by fortuitous coincidence, London is honoured by the presence of Mr. Victor Ricardo, the Colombian Government's high commissioner for peace and their chief negotiator in negotiations currently taking place between them and the Colombian revolutionary armed forces or FARC. We are especially fortunate that Mr. Ricardo has chosen this time to come to the United Kingdom to deliver a progress report on the peace process.

On 28 January, the Colombian Government and FARC representatives reached agreement on the common agenda for change for the new Colombia. It was also agreed that the issues on the agenda should be divided into three main categories: social and economic structures; human rights, international law and international relations; and democratic processes and political structures of the state. It is important, appropriate and timely that, at this stage of the peace process, awareness of what is happening in Colombia is raised within the international community—and it is especially welcome in the United Kingdom.

Secondly, and perhaps not coincidentally with the visit of Mr. Victor Ricardo, EU member states were asked by the Colombian Government to contribute substantial aid to the funding of Plan Colombia. Plan Colombia—described as a global plan for peace, prosperity and a strengthening of the state—was developed by the Administration of President Pastrana to provide $7.5 billion of support for development and the peace process. The Colombian Government hope to secure $3.5 billion from EU member states and other international donors. Spain will bring together the European donor nations, Japan and Canada to a donor meeting in July, which will be held in Madrid.

Thirdly, it is timely to debate these issues as we approach the 56th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights at which, once again, Colombia's human rights record will be examined and reported. At the previous session, a strongly worded and critical statement on Colombia's record was issued. The British Government have strongly supported previous commission statements and, over the past two years, the high commissioner's office in Colombia. The time has come for the Government to reiterate their support for both. I am sure that hon. Members will want to debate those and related matters.

Fourthly, the debate is timely because my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Central (Mr. Lloyd) and the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Dr. Tonge) are to visit Colombia shortly. The hon. Member for Richmond Park—the Liberal Democrat's spokesperson on development issues, who discharges her responsibilities admirably—has not previously visited Colombia and she looks on the debate as a welcome briefing. That cannot be said for my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Central who, when a Minister in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, established an enviable reputation, here and in Colombia, for his knowledge and understanding of the country. My hon.

Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale, East and I were indebted to him for a comprehensive briefing prior to our visit in 1999.

Colombia enjoys the unenviable reputation of being one of the most violent countries in the world. Quite why it has acquired such a reputation is less well known or understood. It is a popular misconception—sometimes reinforced for political reasons by others—that the violence in Colombia is all connected with drugs. It is true that in the 1990s, prior to the election of President Pastrana in 1998, Colombia was subjected to a great political crisis as a result of the use of drugs money in political campaigns, but drugs were not the cause of the political crisis in the country, which has persisted in civil unrest and violence almost continuously since around 1948.

Behind the political crisis of the 1990s lurked a more persistent crisis—a structural crisis of the Colombian political regime and society. Behind the drugs war, another war was being waged against peasant and labour leaders, teachers, journalists, priests, nuns, lawyers, women's rights leaders, human rights workers and ordinary citizens. That war is estimated to have claimed between 3,000 and 4,000 victims every year during the 1990s. Over half the trade union leaders murdered in the world in 1997 were murdered in Colombia—a country in which less than 10 per cent. of the work force is in trade unions. The number of internal refugees or displaced people is reckoned by some to amount to 1.5 million—vastly greater than the number of pre-NATO bombing refugees in Kosovo.

It serves the political purposes of others to portray the Colombian Government as a helpless hostage to drug barons and leftist guerrillas. Although drug barons and guerrillas are responsible for 20 per cent. of the country's violence and regularly violate the human rights of others, Amnesty International and other NGOs estimate that 75 per cent. of the politically motivated murders in Colombia are perpetrated by right-wing paramilitary forces who have proven links with the Colombian regular army. In February 2000, Human Rights Watch published a report entitled "The Ties that Bind: Colombian Military and Paramilitary Links". That report, which was based on investigations by Colombian authorities, presents a persuasive case that army support for paramilitary groups continues.

To compound that complex and depressing picture, the violation of human rights largely goes unpunished because Colombia has an impunity rate of about 97 per cent. Only 3 per cent. of those who commit violence are answerable for their actions in Colombian courts. Most human rights violations in Colombia are carried out with total impunity. Despite the efforts of the public prosecutors office, security forces routinely evade and pervert the course of justice. Military courts that have jurisdiction over investigations into human rights violations by armed forces personnel systematically fail to bring those responsible to justice.

Despite repeated recommendations for improvement, no significant progress has been made in dismantling paramilitary groups or ending their activities, in ridding the armed forces and police of those shown to be actively or passively supporting paramilitary groups, in the reformation of the military penal code to make military personnel amenable to civilian courts or in the basic protection of human rights defenders.

Mr. Richard Allan (Sheffield, Hallam)

Although I sympathise with the hon. Gentleman's point about the links between certain elements of the armed forces and paramilitary groups, the anti-narcotics police, under General Serrano, whom I met the year before last, have a good reputation for cleaning up their act. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is important, where we see the roots of recovery, to support those Colombian state organisations that have a good human rights record and to encourage that model to be put in place rather than the old model of unpleasant links between some state organisations and those who are involved in violence?

Mr. Browne

That is an important point. I am sure that the Minister will confirm that the support provided by the United Kingdom has largely been used to train the forces that the hon. Gentleman mentions, which is to the credit of the United Kingdom. From my limited experience of the country, I know that people in Colombia recognise that our support for the military and the police has tended to be used to train what have become the more respectable forces, which contrasts with the aid that other countries tend to give. I have not met General Serrano, so the hon. Gentleman adds to our collective experience of Colombia, and I am grateful to him for that intervention.

The armed conflict in Colombia, which has dominated the 20th century, has its roots in the social, economic and political exclusion of large sections of its population. That is my essential theme. Those outside the two traditional parties—the liberals and the conservatives—are effectively excluded from Colombia's political structures. In the late 1980s, the Patriotic Union—a legal political party formed by disarmed guerrillas, members of M19 and the Communist party—enjoyed significant electoral success, so much so that it became a threat to Colombia's political elite. In 1989, there was a real possibility that its candidate would be elected in the 1990 presidential election, but he, and all the other presidential candidates, except one, was killed. There followed a political genocide of the UP party. The US State Department estimated that 3,500 members of that party were killed.

Clearly, that is a lesson of history for those guerrillas who have entered the current peace negotiations. Clearly, FARC will not make the same mistake as M19. Even if a negotiated settlement between FARC and the Government were reached, is FARC ever likely to disarm in the absence of pluralistic politics? There can be no peace in Colombia until the political structures generate real political opportunities for everyone.

Disputes about the ownership and control of land have been largely responsible for much of the violent conflict. Even in the 1960s when agricultural reform was in fashion, there was no agricultural redistribution in Colombia. There can be no peace in Colombia without land reform. FARC and the ELN, which began in the 1960s as organisations of about 30 or 40 farmers, are now properly trained armies with estimated forces of about 20,000. Their growth has been deeply related to problems of exclusion. Those who were forbidden to participate politically or were denied access to the ownership of land turned to arms as an answer to their political exclusion.

However, narcotics and drug trafficking have had a role to play. Showing a Colombian passport in any airport in the world will almost guarantee a strip search. To some degree it suits developed societies to demonise Colombia as the cause of all their drug problems, but as anyone who visits Colombia will be told repeatedly, the drugs will not be produced unless there is a market for them. The pressing problem of drug abuse in the developed world cannot be resolved simply by seeking to control illegal cultivation in Colombia, particularly illegal cultivation by very poor people who cannot grow anything else. Everything else that they have ever grown, we no longer want to buy and if we did, there is no infrastructure to get it to the market.

Dealing with demand is our responsibility. While the drugs industry continues in Colombia the problems that it brings to that country will continue. As long as big drug barons can earn $500 million a year from the manufacture and traffic of drugs, they will continue to do so. However, the war in Colombia is about more than drugs and Colombia's problems do not lend themselves to simplistic solutions. The complex circumstances that have brought it to its present position were not created by the government of President Pastrana. On the contrary, his leadership has been crucial in the development of the peace process.

We must support President Pastrana in the promotion of the dialogue among the different parties to the conflict. We must acknowledge and respect the commitment and bravery of those state officials who have taken risks in the pursuit of peace and justice for their country. They are brave people who are sometimes the victims of violence, kidnap and murder. Although we support them and recognise the factors that limit their ability to achieve their goals, we cannot do so uncritically. Peace is not simply a matter of negotiations, nor, as we have learned closer to home, is it simply about ceasefires and negotiations. Peace is about human rights and justice for all. It is about the creation of an inclusive political process.

There has long been a demand in Colombia for greater participation in the peace process by the wider Colombian society. Now that initial progress in the peace process has been achieved, it is time for the involvement of civil society in the debate over substantive social, political, economic and civil changes, as set out in the agreed agenda. There is a significant feeling among civil society in Colombia that they have been excluded from the peace process to date. The irony is that they believe that Pastrana's response was motivated largely by civil society's energy for peace. Ordinary citizens' demand for peace led him to respond when he was president elect and to engage with the guerrillas.

The public hearings proposed for April to discuss economic and social reform are to be welcomed, but as all politicians know only too well, participation and consultation can take many forms. If the peace process is to become embedded in Colombian society, the Colombian people must have ownership of it. If it is to succeed, it must ensure respect for human rights. Those guilty of gross human rights abuses must be brought to justice, and peace must be built on reforms that are designed to construct a much stronger local and regional democracy.

Although I urge our Government to support the concept of Plan Colombia as a vision for the development of the whole of Colombian society, it should not be seen as a proposal that has been born out of democratic discussion or debate. It is the product solely of the Pastrana Administration and it has its weaknesses. Only 0.7 per cent. of its funding is dedicated to the peace process while about 64 per cent. is earmarked for national defence. As part of the funding of that plan, a $1.7 billion package of largely military assistance is currently being discussed in the United States. Colombia receives more US arms and equipment than any other country in the world except Israel and Egypt.

The policy behind those statistics has been described by Amnesty International as similar to the policy that backed death squads in El Salvador in the 1980s. Plan Colombia must not be allowed to fuel the violence and internationalise the war by bringing in the United States on a far greater scale than hitherto. In the context of the forthcoming discussions in Madrid, the United Kingdom, as a donor nation, has the opportunity to fashion a positive aid package, which should involve judicial reform, and could include funds to help the 1.5 million displaced people. It could help crop substitution programmes, which are the real key to defeating the drug barons.

The peace process and the complementary development plan require international assistance. This must come in a form that strengthens the justice process, the peace building, the democratisation of the country and respect for human rights, including the rights of children and women. The last thing that Colombia needs is further militarisation.

I urge our Government to maintain a consistently strong position on human rights in Colombia. There is evidence of a continuing deterioration in the spheres of forced displacement and human rights. In those circumstances, and in the face of new evidence of links between the armed forces and paramilitary groups, it is imperative that the Colombian office of the human rights high commissioner continues to enjoy political and financial support. It is also imperative that there should be consistent international monitoring of Colombia's human rights practices. We are rightly proud of our commitment to an ethical foreign policy: such a monitoring process in Colombia is the least that we can expect from our Government.

10.21 am

Dr. Jenny Tonge (Richmond Park)

As the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Mr. Browne) said, the debate takes the form of a briefing for me, as I hope to visit Colombia—I am reasonably sure that I will—in the near future. I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing the debate.

I have an advantage in that the researcher who is working in my office spent four months in Colombia last year and is constantly bending my ear on the subject. It is appropriate to emphasise one of the comments made by the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun. My researcher said that we must remember that the majority of Colombians are decent people. She remarked that, as we worried and sweated while she was out there in that frightfully dangerous, evil and corrupt place, she was constantly meeting lovely people who cared desperately about their country, wanted to see a future for it, and, in fact, lived relatively normal lives. Those of us who are so far away from Colombia need to remind ourselves of that as we discuss that country's problems.

There has been a catalogue of human suffering in Colombia. The war has raged for 40 years; 35,000 people have been killed in the past 10 years alone. Three hundred thousand people have fled their country, and 1.5 million people are displaced, and, as we have heard, are living in the most appalling conditions. I was interested to hear that during one of Colombia's worst recessions ever, it is currently spending less on health and education than Bolivia, which is south America's poorest country. That is a terrible fact to absorb as we consider the prospects for Colombia's future.

A few weeks ago I read an article in The Guardian entitled "Colombians braced for fight on all fronts", which summed up the position for me because, as a newcomer to the subject, I found the stories about Colombia's armed factions as bad as, if not worse than what I had read about, for example, southern Sudan—it is certainly more complicated—although there is a similar pattern. FARC rules 40 per cent. of Colombia, mainly in the south of the country; it makes huge amounts of money from drug trafficking and kidnapping, blows up pipelines, kills human rights activists and terrorises the population. It can afford very sophisticated weaponry, such as fighters, because of its drug trafficking.

The ELN, the Colombian liberation army, controls parts of the north, and also hijacks, terrorises and kidnaps. The paramilitary, commonly known as the headcutters, has strong links with the armed forces in Colombia, which is horrifying—that is what reminded me of southern Sudan. The headcutters are very right wing and have the most appalling record of abusing human rights. They even have links, through the military, with transnational companies working in Colombia. It is true that our companies have difficulties, and that development is essential to Colombia, but we should question the value of such development when those companies have to secure their operations by spurious links with Colombia's armed forces and thus with the paramilitaries.

The army in Colombia has a huge amount of aid from the United States, more than any country except those in the middle east, but nevertheless, it consists mainly of untrained and unmotivated young men, and has a persistent record of human rights abuses.

Having considered the matter in the past few days, I believe that the drugs trade is the single biggest contributor to the misery and chaos in Colombia. FARC and the ELN alone earn $500 million—I am not sure of the exact figure—from cocaine and they tax and protect the coca farmers. The paramilitaries finance themselves growing the stuff and protecting the drugs cartels. The economy is destabilised by money laundering and by discouraging legitimate investment. We must consider ways of dismantling the drugs trade.

There is a huge multilateral package of $7.6 billion to reduce drug production in the next six years. The United States is contributing $1.6 billion to fight the war on drugs; there are three anti-drugs battalions and 63 helicopters are working in the jungle burning and spraying the coca fields, but we do not know whether that will do any good. The war on drugs in south America had a limited success in Peru and Bolivia, where production was reduced, but it shifted to Colombia. I am worried that success in reducing the production of cocaine in Colombia will simply shift it elsewhere, perhaps to the Caribbean. Only recently we had a debate in Westminster Hall on the banana trade in the Caribbean. If the farmers there cannot grow bananas, they will grow drugs. That will mean that drugs production and trade will be even closer to the shores of the United States. Has that been considered?

The confrontation between the US army and the guerrillas in Colombia is building up, which could result in all-out war. is that what we want? The Foreign Office has given £2.2 million to the United Nations worldwide drugs control programme, which includes the aerial fumigation of coca crops. However, that has resulted in a 20 per cent. increase in output in recent years. Is that programme worth while? Who is monitoring drug cultivation in Colombia? What damage does fumigation do to other crops and to the people of Colombia? Can we justify spending 73 per cent. of the budget of the United Nations international drug control programme on this environmental damage, when only 2 per cent. of it is spent on reducing demand?

Another factor is Colombia's appalling infrastructure. That encourages farmers to grow coca crops, which are easy to transport where roads and a proper infrastructure are lacking. Money should perhaps also be spent on the infrastructure, so that the farmers can earn a living by growing other crops.

It is simple economics, as the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun said, that demand produces the supply of drugs. Western Governments must take a long look at their policies to curb demand. When will we admit that zero tolerance is not working in the west? I am not suggesting solutions, but we should seriously examine all aspects of drug supply and demand, in this country and internationally. Whether we do that through a royal commission or in another way, we must make it a prime subject of concern. While there is demand for drugs from the west, countries such as Colombia will supply them.

Mrs. Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham)

What does the hon. Lady think of the harm reductionist lobby in this country and talk of reducing the penalties for possession and use of cannabis? What message does that send to the drug producers in Colombia?

Dr. Tonge

The hon. Lady has highlighted precisely the problem. As soon as we begin to talk openly and honestly about different ways of reducing the demand for drugs, somebody asks about the messages that we might send. I agree with her: we may send the wrong messages, but the matter must be discussed and explored. We must find out the results. We cannot go on as we are.

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. John Battle)

As my hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudon (Mr. Browne) said, we must not reduce a debate about Colombia to simply a discussion on drugs.

The hon. Member for Richmond Park (Dr. Tonge) raises a much larger question about the international drug trade. She may know that the Government's work under Keith Hellawell is focusing on drugs supply and demand and on getting to grips with analysing the economics of the drug market internationally. That is a massive problem, which takes in drug laundering and everything else. I reassure the hon. Lady that that wider analysis of the drugs trade is firmly on the agenda.

Dr. Tonge

That is excellent news. I thank the Minister for saying that. It is the first time that I have heard a Minister say that all those aspects are being addressed, not simply zero tolerance, with the use of the word "tsar", which inflames my passions, especially as it comes from what should be a socialist Government. I hate all these tsars that have been set up. I thought that you had abolished them long ago.

Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr Nicholas Winterton)

Order. I have not abolished anything, much as I would wish to do so.

Dr. Tonge

I apologise, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I will not prolong the debate on what you might wish to abolish, as I would be here all day.

To move away from drugs, the Government rightly wish to build respect for human rights in Colombia, and that goes to the nub of the problem. Aid is being directed towards good governance, human rights monitoring and, in particular, training the Army to respect human rights. The judiciary in Colombia must be strengthened: impunity for human rights violation is nearly 100 per cent. and a military justice system prevails. That is clearly no good if there is to be any sort of peace brokering. Indeed, peace brokering is useless while there is disrespect for human rights. Any peace would break down in the face of continuing drug trafficking, human rights violations and the lack of a proper civilian judiciary.

Given the problems that Colombia faces, it is interesting that our Government claim to have a foreign policy with an ethical dimension. Britain has recently issued 24 export licences for heavy machine guns and rifles. We know that those licences are for weapons that will go to the Army, which has links with the paramilitaries. I question whether that is a good or ethical policy, and I hope that the Minister can address that.

The Colombian Government have had difficulties complying with the UN commissioner's demands for attention to human rights, although they—and President Pastrana—are to be congratulated, to some extent, on their efforts in trying to address Colombia's problems. At the heart of those problems lies a lack of respect for human rights. The west should support calls for a UN resolution to enforce reforms, and back that with a determined effort to reform the ways in which we tackle the demand for drugs.

10.36 am

Mr. Paul Goggins (Wythenshawe and Sale, East)

I apologise for my voice this morning, Mr. Deputy Speaker, but I am afraid that it is beyond my powers to project myself more forcefully.

I pay generous tribute to the way in which my hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Mr. Browne) introduced the debate. His reputation for making copious notes wherever he goes, which included our visit to Colombia, has borne fruit in his analysis of the problems faced by that country.

As the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Dr. Tonge) is treating the debate as her first briefing on Colombia, I should like to tell her about my first such briefing. It was given by someone who has many years' experience in dealings with Colombia, who told me that anyone who claims to understand the country and to know the answers to its problems must be lying. The complexity of the problems is such that nobody can fully understand either their causes or their solutions.

Where does one start? It could be with the beauty of the landscape, which is there for all to see; the economy, which is experiencing the worst recession for 70 years; the marked gap betwen rich and poor; the drugs; the guerrillas, paramilitaries and armed services or the weakness of the state and the levels of impunity.

I start, as did my hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, in a dilapidated basketball stadium in the town of Quibdo, where, on a clammy, hot, sunny Sunday morning, we met a group of about 300 men, women and children who had lived there for more than two years because they had been forced by violence to flee their homes. The Consultancy on Human Rights and Displacement estimates that, in the first nine months of last year, 225,000 people in Colombia were forcibly displaced from their homes—a total of 1.7 million people since the mid-1980s. That has a massive impact on family life, community life and people's livelihoods and sense of security.

The number of killings and kidnappings is chilling. An informative publication from the Colombian Vice-President's office reports that 24,081 people were murdered in Colombia in 1999. It also states that the number of victims of massacres—where three or more people are killed in a single episode—has increased from 1,366 to 1,863, and that kidnappings are increasing.

We must never forget that those statistics represent the real lives, or deaths, of ordinary people in Colombia. Last summer, with my hon. Friend the Minister of State, I met two visitors from Colombia who had been forced to flee the country. One was the elected mayor of a small Colombian town and the other was a partner of the Catholic Fund for Overseas Development. We had an interesting meeting, to which my hon. Friend the Minister might refer in his remarks. The comments that they made as they left the meeting stand out in my mind. They thanked me, and asked me to thank the Government for allowing them to come to this country in an emergency. Within a week of their arrival here, two of their colleagues—another mayor from a neighbouring town, and another of CAFOD's partners—had been murdered. Such life and death situations face the many people struggling for human rights and peace in Colombia.

My hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun said that this debate is timely. I agree with the reasons that he gave, although I might give them in a slightly different order. The 56th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights began last week. The report being presented to the commission is very grave. It states that there are grave and prolonged occurrences of serious and massive violations of human rights and International Humanitarian Law. The report details the numbers of internally displaced people, the levels of impunity and the attacks that take place on human rights workers.

We must acknowledge the steps that have been taken—especially during the past couple of years—to strive to improve the justice system in Colombia. I have twice had the privilege of meeting Senor Gomez Mendez, the state prosecutor. When he is in Colombia, he has to be accompanied wherever he goes by about 25 armed guards. His life is constantly under threat because he represents the justice system. His staff face violence on a daily basis, and many have had to flee the country. However, those who work to defend human rights face the gravest threat, and the report of the Colombian NGOs to the United Nations Commission shows that, during the past four years, 36 human rights defenders have been murdered, 100 have had their lives threatened, and 30 more have had to leave. Those are ordinary people defending ordinary human rights who have been murdered or forced to flee their country.

Human rights are not just the end product of the peace process, but an integral part of it. There can be no peace unless we obtain human rights protection for the ordinary citizens of Colombia. Human rights will not just happen automatically at the end of the process; they have to be bound in to the pursuit of peace.

Mrs. Gillan

I have been in receipt of letters from his excellency the Colombian ambassador, which have been helpful in updating me on the action taken by his Government in cases of human rights violation. Has the hon. Gentleman had an opportunity to see those letters? If so, does he agree that they are extremely helpful and represents signs of great optimism for the future in Colombia?

Mr. Goggins

I freely acknowledge and pay tribute to those in the state agencies in Colombia who do so much, at great personal risk, to try to reduce the levels of impunity. Senor Gomez Mendez has made great progress in that area. I willingly reiterate my earlier remarks on the advances that have been made. None the less, human rights abuses still take place in Colombia. I urge my hon. Friend the Minister to ensure full and active support for the office of the High Commission in Bogota. It is essential that we use it as a window through which we can monitor the progress being made in relation to human rights.

A second reason to agree that this is a timely debate is the publication of the Human Rights Watch report in February, which gave graphic accounts of the continuing relationship between paramilitary organisations and the state armed services. It gave specific details of the 3rd, 4th and 14th brigades that operate in the main Colombian cities and throughout the country. There have been signs of progress. Some leading military figures have been stood down from their official positions, showing that the state is prepared to tackle the relationship. However, there is also concern that as abuse in the armed services is reducing, activity in the paramilitary organisations is increasing. The tie-up between state services and paramilitaries is worrying. It is not enough for abuse in the armed services to fall; abuse by paramilitaries must also fall.

My hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun and I spent a lot of time with Monsignor Hector Fabia Henao, director of Caritas Colombia, who is a priest, during our eight days in Colombia. He said: In late February in El Salado, in the archdiocese of Cartagena, paramilitaries cut the throats of more than 40 people, including one in a church. Investigators said a 200-man death squad murdered the villagers during a four-day raid in the community in Bolivar province, a region fiercely contested by guerrillas and paramilitaries. He later said that El Salado is not very far from army bases and that it was a problem for him to understand how the army did not know. He argued that it was impossible for such atrocities to continue for four days so close to the army without the army knowing and intervening. I acknowledge that there has been progress, but there is worrying evidence of links between paramilitaries and the armed forces.

The third reason for this being a timely debate is the development of Plan Colombia. It is a $7.5 billion programme with $4 billion to be raised in Colombia and the remainder to be raised by the international community. Let us refresh our memories about Plan Colombia. Its purpose is advancement of the peace process first and foremost, improvement of the economy, combating narcotics, reforming the judicial system and promoting human rights and supporting democratisation and social development in Colombia. The United States Congress is considering a $1.7 billion package, most of it in the form of military aid. The proposal is to train and equip two special counter-narcotic battalions, including 60 or more helicopters.

It is difficult to be sure of the reasons for the United States strong interest in Colombia. It may have a strategic interest following its recent withdrawal from Panama. Again, Colombia has the only remaining Marxist guerrilla force in the world and that may be of interest to the USA. There is also the problem of drugs, the cost of which to the United States is dramatic in terms of human lives—52,000 Amercian citizens die each year because of drug misuse at a cost of £110 billion to the health service and the economy. It cannot be denied that Colombia is the largest producer of cocaine in the world and a major producer of heroin. We understand the concerns, but to view Colombia simply as a drugs problem is to miss the point.

I want to press my hon. Friend the Minister on two points. First, can he tell us about the position of the US Congress on the $1.7 billion package? Everyone assumed that it would go through Congress, but it seems to have become stuck in a Republican debate on tax and spend in an election year and whether it can be afforded. Can my hon. Friend shed some light on that? Secondly. the Americans want a 50:50 split on Plan Colombia under which they will provide half the cash in the form of military aid and other countries, particularly European Union countries, will provide the other half in social and economic development. Plan Colombia should be shared equitably throughout the world. The package is an international responsibility and it is not right for it to be split in that way. Moreover, I am not convinced that that approach represents the correct balance. Earlier, I described the five major headings of Plan Colombia. It is not right to spend half the money on only one of the five objectives, namely, narcotics. I hope that we shall participate in this summer's Madrid summit, which is being organised by Jan Egeland, and that the Government will argue that it is important to get the right balance between the narcotics programme and other aspects of Plan Colombia.

My hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun discussed the importance of consulting civil society in Colombia about the development of Plan Colombia. Unless that plan involves bottom-up development, it will not succeed—it should provide economic livelihoods for its citizens and help local economies to develop.

I conclude my rather hoarse remarks on a positive note—I want to pay tribute to various people who are Colombia's hope for the future. I pay tribute to President Pastrana, who has done much in a short time in difficult conditions, in particular for engaging with FARC. Many counselled against such engagement, but it is extremely important to maintain dialogue, and he has done so. I reiterate my support for the state officials who tried to bring justice to that country with reduced levels of impunity, and in particular for Mr. Gomez Mendez, the state prosecutor. I pay tribute to the human rights workers and community leaders in Colombia who, day in, day out, risk their lives in pursuit of peace.

I also pay tribute to the Churches and bishops, and in particular to Monsignor Hector Fabio Henao, whom I mentioned earlier, who is the director of Caritas Colombia. The churches have borne witness to the need for peace in that country. Before President Pastrana came to office, there was a huge political vacuum in Colombia that was filled largely by the churches, which sought to promote peace in that country. I pay tribute to AB Colombia, which is supported by CAFOD, Christian Aid, Oxfam and other organisations, for its sterling work—it monitors developments daily in Colombia and it brings this country's attention to Colombia's problems. I also pay tribute to the peace brigades, many of which contain volunteers who take great risks in an attempt to realise a more peaceful society in Colombia, for which we all yearn.

There are many signs of hope, not least the fact that a couple of years ago 10 million people turned out to vote for peace in a referendum. However, the greatest sign of hope is the dignity and strength of the displaced people of Quibdo, whose faces I still see. They will be the inspiration—one day—for peace to come to Colombia.

10.53 am

Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow)

Those who have never been to a country should be succinct in their public utterances about it. I was invited to speak by my hon. Friends the Members for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Mr. Browne) and for Wythenshawe and Sale, East (Mr. Goggins); they are friends in a real sense. As chairman of the all-party group on Latin America, which is my locus of interest in this context, I am delighted that they have taken such a serious and deep interest in this matter, and I pay tribute to them for doing so.

I first became interested in Colombia when two stars of English football, Wilfred Manning and Ned Franklin, decided to go to Bogota. That memory dates me somewhat—[Interruption]—nonetheless, my hon. Friend the Minister had better be discreet.

I became seriously interested in this subject when I attended a lecture at the museum of anthropology and ethnology given by Dr. Martin Hildebrandt, then presidential adviser on conservation policy. I remember his description of the keeper of the jaguar, without whose permission people cannot slaughter jaguars or damage their habitat. In the world of ecology, Colombia has a deservedly high reputation for conservation and for its system of managing an extremely valuable ecosystem. As chairman of the all-party group on Latin America, I pay tribute to the Colombian ambassador, Humberto de la Calle—not just because he happens to be present, but because he has been an excellent colleague in London.

I have two questions, of which I have given notice. Yesterday, at a meeting of the British and Colombian chamber of commerce, a case was presented by Sir Keith Morris, Alexander Kennedy, the chairman, and Robert Bedloe, the chief executive. My question for the Minister is how much money is Britian giving to the Plan Colombia?

In September, I led a parliamentary debate to Lima in Peru. We visited the upper Amazon, where the mayor of Iquitos said, "Look, you see our grey ships with their guns on the river. We are not going to fight our neighbours—this is all about drugs. At every airport, you see dogs sniffing every bit of luggage. We are doing everything possible against drugs." That message was reinforced strongly by the expert drugs administration in Lima, and emphasised by President Fujimore. However, they also said that Colombia could not do anything effective unless we did something about anonymous numbered bank accounts in Great Cayman, the Virgin Islands, Belize, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Zurich, and even perhaps London.

I have raised that issue with my hon. Friend the Minister who is present today, with the Minister of State, Home Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, South (Mr. Clarke), who is taking a departmental lead, and with my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury. I have even spoken to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, in the most friendly way, about the matter. What progress is being made on the issue of anonymous numbered bank accounts, which affects Colombia as much as Peru?

10.58 am

Mrs. Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham)

The Opposition share the concerns that have been expressed about Colombia and its peace process. Unlike the hon. Members for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Mr. Browne) and for Wythenshawe and Sale, East (Mr. Goggins), I have not had the advantage of visiting Colombia; and, unlike the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Dr. Tonge), I have no current plans to visit the country. I will therefore be brief, which will please the hon.

Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell). I, too, commend the good offices of the Colombian ambassador, who has helpfully kept me informed as an Opposition Front-Bench spokesman.

I shall approach the subject of the peace process from a slightly different perspective. I want to probe the Minister on the relationship between the United Kingdom and Colombia. I asked the Library to produce some figures for me. Our imports from Colombia amount to £200 million, compared with exports to Colombia of £107 million, resulting in a UK crude trade deficit of £93 million. To put it in context, imports from Colombia represent 0.1 per cent. of total UK imports, whereas UK exports to Colombia account for 0.06 per cent. of all UK exports. Colombia is outside the list of the UK's top 50 export markets, or sources of imports. Will the Minister tell us what prospects there are for increased trade with Colombia, and whether an export promoter at the DTI is examining those prospects?

Will the Minister tell us about Colombia's position as regards Export Credits Guarantee Department cover? The ECGD moved the country off cover following a review last October, when its credit rating was downgraded owing to a significant deterioration in its economic conditions. That cover is due to be reviewed next October, but is there any chance of a review taking place earlier than that? If not, what can be done to help Colombia's return to ECGD cover?

As I am sure we are all aware, the economic situation in Colombia has been difficult. The country's statistical department says that industrial production fell last year by 16.5 per cent. The only branch of industry to register increased output was oil refining, which went up by 11.5 per cent. on the 1998 figures. The worst performer was the auto industry. However, the country is making great efforts on the industrial front, for example, by establishing four new tax-free export-processing zones. Has the Minister had any discussions with the Colombians about those zones? Does he see any opportunities for British businesses?

There is no doubt that a large number of people are involved in the peace process in Colombia, and I am delighted that business leaders there have expressed support for that process. Nicarnor Restrepo, who is head of the Suramericana Group—a top company—said that business leaders were determined to break the cycle of violence that was blocking economic growth. He described the talks with guerrilla leaders as positive, and hoped that those talks would contribute to national reconciliation. It is a good sign that business leaders are engaged in the peace process; they are to be welcomed as warmly as any other participants in the process.

However, it is sad to read of continuing violence, particularly when it is directed towards the country's infrastructure, for that in turn damages economic health and well-being. Large areas of central and north-east Colombia, including Bogota, had to try to get back to normal after severe disruption from power failures caused by bombing that took out about 300 pylons. That meant that electricity had to be rationed in parts of the country. If the peace process is to succeed, that sort of economic guerrilla warfare must stop, as must the killings.

Two of the speakers highlighted the problem of drugs. I hope that the hon. Members for Wythenshawe and Sale, East and for Richmond Park did not intend to understate the drugs problem emanating from Colombia. British interests and UK citizens are affected by that problem, as are future prospects for business. Not to examine the problems fully is to put our head in the sand. I agree with the Minister that zero tolerance should not be regarded as the only option, but we must reflect on the message sent to drug producers when we subscribe to harm reduction measures and propose either the legalisation of the use of certain drugs, or the lessening of the status of the criminal offence of possessing or trafficking in them.

On previous occasions, I have urged the Minister to consider crop substitution. I asked him a question about it a while ago, but he did not reply. I hope that he has done some research in the intervening period and can now tell me about the prospects for replacing the poppy crop with pyrethrum chrysanthemum; it is much in demand as a natural pesticide and there has been a world shortage of the crop. I hope that the Minister has done some work on the potential for crop substitution and can answer my question.

Mr. Battle

Will the hon. Lady give me more details about the company in her constituency?

Mrs. Gillan

Yes. I have already provided information about it to Ministers in the Department of Trade and Industry and, indeed, to the Minister himself. The company is called Agropharm. My inquiry is genuine and I hope that the Minister can give us chapter and verse in his response. Thus far, his responses have not been full.

Mr. Battle

Give me a chance.

Mrs. Gillan

Well, the Minister knows that I raised the issue on a previous occasion.

Let me return to my theme of the involvement of business men. There is no doubt that armed conflict in Colombia will not end while drug trafficking persists.

Those are the words of Nicarnor Restrepo during chamber of commerce discussions, and I believe that he is right. What plans does the Minister have to boost operations providing counter-drugs assistance and supporting the UN international drugs programme? The UK has contributed £2.2 million, which is only a small sum. I do not know whether the Minister has scrutinised the budgets and examined the possibility of increasing our contribution. Under what review process is he examining expenditure and resources with a view to increasing the UK contribution?

The hon. Member for Linlithgow mentioned drug money laundering. I share his great concern about unnumbered anonymous bank accounts, but, when I was in the Cayman islands last year, I discovered that using a blunt instrument is not the answer. The OECD report into tax havens has created problems for Caribbean islands. We are quick to criticise Caribbean tax havens, but not to praise them. In an international context, the Caymans were asked to discuss with other financial centres their successful schemes to trace the proceeds of drug money laundering and combating financial crime. The Cayman islands are in the forefront of that fight, so I hope that the Minister will acknowledge that and not allow such financial centres to be attacked in a gratuitous and willy-nilly fashion. That is not the answer to stopping the drugs trade.

We all know about the difficulty of peace processes—after all, we are engaged in our own peace process. We should never underestimate the challenges faced by the Colombian Government. The message from today's debate is that we offer as much help, counsel and support as we can provide, but that we will not interfere. We must remember that the peace process belongs to the Colombians. We hope that the peace process will work. We all subscribe to the idea of a new Colombia, in which peace, democracy, freedom and social justice prevail.

11.9 am

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. John Battle)

I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Mr. Browne) for introducing this debate. By raising this subject in Westminster Hall he attracts British attention to such matters. It is time that the international community had a greater focus on Colombia, so I am grateful to my hon. Friend for securing this debate and to hon. Members who have participated in it.

My hon. Friend spoke from the experience of his visit and gave a detailed account of his impressions. Indeed, he conveyed a deep and passionate commitment to the courage of the Colombian people whom he met on his visit. His impression of that courage remains with him and he has brought it before us in our deliberations. My hon. Friend mentioned Colombia's beauty and diversity, but made special reference to its people, and we are grateful for that perspective. He gave a detailed analysis of the causes of conflict and provided a good introduction to Colombia for those who may know nothing about it. He told us about the history and present status of the plan for peace and spoke about a future vision.

The hon. Member for Richmond Park (Dr. Tonge) therefore has a good template for her visit, although I acknowledge that she displayed more knowledge of Colombia than most people. The Foreign Office is happy to give information, back-up or support to the hon Lady or any hon. Member who is visiting overseas. Hon. Members have only to ask for such back-up and are entitled to a private meeting in the Foreign Office and a detailed briefing. They can get as much information as they need to undertake such visits. Visiting different places and keeping discussion alive is a good use of Members' time: indeed, we have witnessed that this morning.

As the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs. Gillan) suggested, Colombia's economic potential bears comparison with Brazil and Argentina. The tragedy is that that potential has not been fulfilled. The current problems of violence, drugs, social disruption and great personal tragedies undermine Colombia's potential to become a diverse, prosperous state for all its people and a beacon in Latin America.

We have followed events with great concern, and we hope to consult widely on how best to help. I join my hon. Friends the Members for Kilmarnock and Loudoun and for Wythenshawe and Sale, East (Mr. Goggins) in the highly complimentary remarks that they paid to the British non-governmental organisations which have engaged in the country and worked there patiently for some years. Those NGOs establish a British presence in Colombia and their contributions and analyses are important to the Government.

Colombia is no stranger to violence. In response to the hon. Member for Richmond Park, a lack of security is a crippling deterrent to future investment and job generation. To put it crudely, few business men will be keen to visit if they do not feel safe. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, civil war known as La Violencia took place between the conservative and liberal parties dominating the country and cost 250,000 lives. The first guerrilla groups emerged in the 1960s and have been fighting the Government ever since in what is probably Latin America's longest and most brutal internal conflict.

Paramilitaries joined the conflict in the 1980s and it expanded rapidly in the 1990s. In addition to internal conflict, there are high levels of everyday criminal violence. Colombia still has one of the highest murder rates in the world.

My hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale, East mentioned the wider economic context. Colombia has recently suffered its worst recession for 70 years and has endured knock-on effects from the Asian financial crisis and last year's devaluation of the Brazilian real. It has also suffered from the problem of low commodity prices and damage caused by El Nino. In other words, the Colombian economy is under great pressure. Efforts so far to introduce legal crops and support transport networks and marketing facilities have produced disappointing results because investment is expensive. New crops are often not sustainable. It must be taken in the full economic context, which is why it is not an easy strategy in the current economic context.

Mrs. Gillan

Will the Minister undertake to write to me again when he has evaluated the sustainability of introducing pyrethrum and the support that farmers would need for that crop?

Mr. Battle

I have done some work on pyrethrum. It is an insecticide, not a weed killer. We are not involved in any direct crop eradication or spraying programmes in Colombia. In January, I announced that £350,000 was going to an international drug control programme to look at monitoring coca and replacing it with useful crops. It is not clear whether pyrethrum would be used for crop eradication in Colombia, but I will take the matter further in the light of the hon. Lady's interest in the company in her constituency.

Mrs. Gillan

The Minister is mistaken. I am talking about using pyrethrum not for crop eradication, but as part of a crop substitution programme. Pyrethrum is indeed an insecticide. It is used, for example, to protect pilgrims to Mecca against attack from various nasty things. This is not about crop eradication, but purely about crop substitution. It is used as an insecticide in other parts of the world and is greatly in demand.

Mr. Battle

I am grateful for the hon. Lady's clarification. I will certainly take that matter further for her. I will ask the Government's chief scientist to make inquiries into the properties of pyrethrum to see whether it can be used positively. I do not say that dismissively. We should look at modern science and the potential of bio-remedial methods to address the problems.

Mr. Tony Lloyd (Manchester, Central)

I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. I had to miss the earlier part of the debate and I should like to make a brief point about crop substitution. Although it is very attractive, one of the simple realities is that unless we, the consumers, are prepared to pay the price to the growers, crop substitution is totally irrelevant because it simply will not exist in those very thin soils.

Mr. Battle

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. At the risk of embarrassing him, may I say that he did a great job as Minister of State in campaigning for and raising the profile of Colombia? I am pleased that he is here for this debate. I shall do my best to follow his efforts.

Last week I met the general secretary of the Latin American Association of Human Rights, Dr. Juan de Dios Parra, and we spoke about the problem of the vulnerable indigenous communities in southern Colombia. Indigenous peoples represent 1.5 per cent. of the population—some 700,000 people. They are particularly at risk because they are neutral in Colombia's internal conflict and so are targeted from all sides. They are forcibly recruited by FARC and, dare I say it, by the military too. They are at risk from the paramilitaries, who are keen to extend the land under their control to expand and extend coca cultivation.

Four indigenous communities disappeared entirely last year and displacement is increasing. I mention that because this is about real people who suffer as a result of the violence. Only last Saturday night, Colombian TV channels showed reports of a massacre by FARC guerrillas in the towns of Vigia del Fuerte and Bellavista, which are situated on opposite sides of the Atrato river. The police station was destroyed and 21 police were murdered, some at point blank range after they had surrendered. Their bodies were then chopped up with machetes. A woman and her two infants were also reportedly murdered.

I mention that because it is important to see the scale of the violence all around. The reaction of the head of the police and the army in those circumstances was unusually strong. The head of the Colombian police, General Rosso Serrano, was obviously angered and distraught during a visit to the town. He called on all human rights NGOs to witness what was going on. It is important to witness those events, but it is important, too, to keep a clear perspective on the complexity and difficulties that people experience. My hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun paid tribute to the efforts of police forces to get a grip on an incredibly difficult situation, when their officers are at risk.

The President of Colombia and his Government face a daunting task. Plan Colombia was published at the United Nations general assembly in September 1999. It is an ambitious set of proposals to tackle disruption, destruction and displacement, a plan for peace and prosperity, to strengthen the democratic state. It includes judicial and human rights strategies, assertion of the rule of law and the promotion of impartial justice for all. The aims are admirable, and, in principle, as hon. Members have said, it is a good thing.

Colombia is the world's largest producer of coca leaf, from which cocaine is manufactured, and acres of land are devoted to the opium poppy, which is turned into heroin. The vast wealth produced by that trade finances illegal armed groups and their struggle for control, and the income that they produce in the region, undermines the search for peace. Drugs and the drugs business—I use that term deliberately—are part of the problem, but not the whole of it.

I am aware of NGOs' statements, including the excellent report from AB Colombia, that there was insufficient consultation with the civil society in drawing up Plan Colombia. That view must be taken seriously, because it is essential that civil society is involved in the search for peace.

The NGOs must ensure that the Colombian Government understand their ideas, concerns and proposals; they, too, have a role to play in designing a positive vision for the future. The Colombian Government, for their part, should take the NGOs' representations into account as the plans are crystallised. We must emphasise that there is a process—

Mr. Dalyell

Sir Keith Morris, Alexander Kennedy and Robert Bedloe asked last night if there was any figure for British involvement in Plan Colombia.

Mr. Battle

We are actively discussing with our European Union partners about the areas to which we could add value. We are not at the point of discussing our contribution in figures, because who does what, when and where is part of the plan's structure. As I shall say later, we are looking for a wider vision for the plan, which will be part of our discussions.

I was asked whether there is any real possibility of peace. The key is to engage all the parties involved. President Pastrana's high commissioner for peace, Mr. Victor Ricardo, is in London now—I believe that he and the ambassador are present in the Chamber to listen to our debate. They have played a tremendous role in furthering relations, which we welcome. I had discussions yesterday at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with Mr. Ricardo, who has been negotiating with the guerrillas, notably with FARC, on behalf of President Pastrana's Government. He and representatives of FARC, who are working towards a common end, toured European capitals last month. The violence may have continued, but bringing the parties together is a symbolic action that is greatly appreciated in Europe. We hope that there will be more talks and joint visits. We would welcome a mission to the United Kingdom if that was thought to be helpful.

We are encouraging the Colombian authorities urgently to tackle the problem of human rights abuses, which were highlighted in three recent reports, from Human Rights Watch, from the United States State Department and from the United Nations human rights office in Bogota. We positively support the initiative and the Foreign Office now contributes substantially to funding. The message in those reports is clear: there is a long way to go in tackling human rights abuses in Colombia. We take every opportunity to condemn the appalling violence perpetrated on the Colombian people by the illegal armed forces. We strongly urge the Colombian authorities to tackle the problem of collusion between the paramilitaries and the armed forces. There is general agreement that the paramilitaries are now a key part of the problem in Colombia. They have expanded at a faster rate than FARC, from several hundred members in 1990 to some 5,000 now. We realise that the police and the forces have to undertake harrowing and dangerous tasks and we do not underestimate the losses that they have suffered. However, there is a need to build mutual confidence in the rule of law for the future of Colombia.

I have written recently to the vice-president of Colombia, Dr. Gustavo Bell, to tell him of our Government's concerns, especially about alleged collusion between the armed forces and the paramilitaries. Once again, we do not underestimate the difficulties of dealing with those problems. Yesterday I spoke again to Mr. Ricardo, particularly in the context of the evidence in the report from Human Rights Watch. I know that the Colombian authorities take these criticisms extremely seriously. They have established a special committee, headed by the vice-president, to address these matters. That is encouraging but, as Mr. Ricardo acknowledged yesterday, more needs to be done.

I stress once more the important contribution that has been made by UNHRO. Once again, we solidly support it. We have given approximately £108,000 towards the cost of running its office. This year's session of UNHRO opened last week in Geneva. There is to be a debate on Colombia, with emphasis on UNHRO's report on Bogota. We are urging our EU colleagues to issue a strongly worded statement of their position on the issue. We must make use of that resolution. We have raised the issue of human rights and the safety of human rights workers especially—that was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale, East. In the past four years, there have been 36 murders of human rights defenders and I raised this with Mr. Ricardo. I pay tribute to the members of the nongovernmental organisations. They have been threatened and abused, and some have been murdered, but they continue to work courageously to defend ordinary people and call abuses to account. People have memories about all those things. They remember names, faces, dates and times. People who murder with impunity will never have immunity in the long run. History and justice will out. We shall use every opportunity to remind our interlocutors of their responsibility to defend and protect those who dedicatedly defend human rights and we pay tribute to their courage.

I will mention briefly the projects for peace that are in hand. This relates to questions asked by the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham, and is part of the commitment of the Department for International Development to reducing conflict and building peace in Colombia. In January, almost one third of a million pounds was given to a four-project programme, the components of which are a peace partnership convocation to promote and strengthen partnerships between local and regional governments, public and private sector institutions, NGOs and local communities. The precise task of these projects is to build from the base the possibility of civil society once more. Up to 10 representatives of institutions identified as leaders in local peace-building initiatives will participate in a UK study tour to look at where they can compare notes in relation to base building. That will be important work.

I acknowledge the work done by members of Fiscalia in investigating cases of abuse, as well as the work done by the vice-president's human rights team and Defensor del Pueblo. Their role is unenviable; they too are subject to attack. We support their efforts and are seeking ways of working with them and assisting them in detail.

Colombia's Nobel prize-winning novelist, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, described Colombia's conflict as a biblical holocaust that threatens to consume the country. I trust that time will prove him to have been over-pessimistic. The challenge of resolving that country's problems is intimidating. We have worked quietly but solidly to provide advice, training and development for both Government and nongovernmental projects, and we are ready to do more in collaboration with our EU partners.

I highlight in particular the work of our embassy in Bogota for the support of civil society in Colombia, especially the support that it has given to human rights NGOs and to the peace movement. It is important to continue to maintain our dialogue with Colombia at the highest level. I shall be seeing Jan Egelund, the UN special representative for Colombia, who is coming to the UK tomorrow. I am pleased to announce that the Prime Minister has invited President Pastrana to visit London on 13 April for talks at No. 10.

I have not been able to respond to all the issues that hon. Members have raised. I shall write to those whose points I have missed, especially those on money laundering, about which I shall talk to the Minister of State, Home Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, South (Mr. Clarke), then follow them through. It is important that Plan Colombia is not reduced to short-term crisis management strategies. It can be transformed into a vision, as this debate has shown. It can form a positive aid and judicial reform package. We are providing small but necessary sums to improve the administration of justice, but what Colombia really needs is a nationwide, inclusive, good governance programme that addresses the complex causes of violence that have been mentioned this morning. As Human Rights Watch states, with proper development and conditionality, the plan could improve human rights in Colombia, so let us back it and add value to it.