Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the peace process in Nicaragua; and what assessment they have made of the role of the (1) Catholic Church, (2) Organization of American States, and (3) Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

The UK remains deeply concerned by the situation in Nicaragua.

We welcome the role the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua has played in convening the national dialogue and urge the Church to continue its efforts to resolve the current crisis.

The dialogue needs to address both the issue of justice for victims of repression and human rights abuses, and the need for electoral reform. We welcomed the agreement between the Organisation of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Nicaraguan Government to establish an international Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI, in Spanish) to investigate human rights abuses. The GIEI must be allowed to work freely to ensure all those responsible for human rights abuses and acts of repression are held to account.