Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Helen Jones and Lord Hague of Richmond(10 years, 8 months ago)
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Helen Jones (Warrington North) (Lab)
When the Foreign Secretary visited Colombia recently, did he raise the fact that last year 78 human rights defenders, political activists and community leaders were killed—the highest number for a decade? Does that not suggest that the Government’s constant reiteration of the claim that things are getting better in Colombia is not the case and that more needs to be done to protect people engaging in perfectly legitimate political activity?
Mr Hague
Yes, in Colombia two weeks ago I raised those issues with the President and other Ministers, including the increase in the number of deaths of human rights defenders last year, which is very important. Part of the answer is a successful peace process, and the Colombian Government have been right and courageous to embark on that. If successful, it will change the entire environment in Colombia, but more needs to be done in other ways to protect human rights defenders, and that is certainly something we discussed with the Colombian Government.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Helen Jones and Lord Hague of Richmond(11 years, 7 months ago)
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Mr Hague
Of course, the goal of international policy is to bring about the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, which is something the South Korean Government support, but I believe that it is very important for a country, such as ours, which has a nuclear deterrent that adds enormously to the credibility of the western alliance, to keep it.
Helen Jones (Warrington North) (Lab)
7. What recent discussions he has had on human rights in Colombia.