§ Mr. Simon ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the reports on Colombia presented to the Human Rights Commission by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Human Rights Defenders and the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women. [42675]
§ Mr. MacShaneWe welcome and support the presentation to the UN Commission on Human Rights of the reports on Colombia by Hina Jilani and Radhika Cooramaswamy, and will be looking at them closely. These reports and others will be taken carefully into account in the preparation of an EU chairman's statement on the situation in Colombia at the forthcoming 58th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.
§ Mr. Simon ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to monitor the actions of the self-defence forces in Colombia against human rights organisations; and if he will make a statement. [42676]
§ Mr. MacShaneThe British embassy in Bogota continues to monitor the situation in Colombia closely, and has regular meetings with human rights NGOs to discuss their concerns about the activities of paramilitary self-defence forces.
1173WAs the EU make clear in its statement of 22 February following the termination of the demilitarised zone, we reject and condemn the practice of kidnapping, extortion and other crimes committed by armed groups in Colombia.
There can be no tolerance of the campaigns of violence and intimidation by any of the illegally armed groups in Colombia. Their murder and kidnap of elected politicians, trade union leaders, human rights defenders, aid workers and others is unacceptable. They must give up violence and the impunity of those who are involved in supporting their activities must be ended.
I stressed these points when I spoke to Gustavo Bell, Colombian Vice-President and Minister for Defence, on 7 March.