Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in Colombia about reported criminalisation of environmental defenders in that country.

UK Ministers and senior officials regularly discuss human rights, security, and environmental issues with the Colombian Government. Most recently we attended the 44th Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 7 November to discuss the human rights situation in Colombia with the Colombian Government. We recommended strengthening prevention mechanisms and advancing timely, independent, and impartial criminal investigations into allegations of attacks and threats against environmental activists.