Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will respond to EDM 1494, Unrest and Violence in Nicaragua.

I was clear with the Nicaraguan Government, in a meeting of 3 July, that for stability to return the Government must take responsibility for ending the violence, and that inclusive dialogue promised by the authorities should proceed under peaceful conditions.

I have expressed deep concern about the excessive use of force by the Government, including the use of live ammunition, and the human rights abuses reported by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) and the UN. I welcome the Government's invitations to the IACHR, the UN, and the EU to support a resolution of the crisis and urge the authorities to allow them to carry out their work fully without hindrance.