Colombia: Human Rights

(asked on 23rd May 2018) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made, or are planning to make, to the government of Colombia regarding the recent killings of two environmental human rights defenders from the Rios Vivos non-governmental organisation.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 5th June 2018

We condemn the killings of Luis Alberto Torres Montoya and his brother Duvián Andrés Correa Sánchez on 8 May. Both were active members of the Antioquia Ríos Vivos organisation which champions the rights of local communities.

Through our advocacy and project work the UK has supported the work of human rights defenders in Colombia. The British Ambassador in Bogota raised our concern about levels of violence against human rights defenders most recently with the Colombian Defence Minister on 11 May. We also raised these concerns during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Colombia's human rights on 10 May in Geneva. During the review, Colombia also accepted UK recommendations to improve protective measures for human rights defenders.

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