Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make further representations to the Colombian government on the security of (a) Senator Ivan Cepeda, (b) members of the organisation CPDH and (c) David Florez.

We are concerned about recent threats made on 9-10 March against Congressman Ivan Cepeda, David Florez, members of the CPDH, and other prominent journalists, civil servants, human rights leaders and politicians, allegedly by the criminal group Las Aguilas Negras. Our Embassy in Bogota is following the developments in these cases closely. Colombian Minister of Interior Juan Fernando Cristo issued a public statement on 10 March ordering a police investigation, building on the investigation opened by the Attorney-General Office in January.

Following similar threats in January, our officials in Bogota met with Presidential Office for Human Rights to urge the Colombian government to take measures to prevent threats against human rights defenders, trade unionists, civil society and politicians. Officials also met the Ministry of the Interior on 19 February 2015 and raised the issue of threats to human rights defenders.