PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Arnobis Zapata (8 November 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make representations to her Colombian counterpart on the reported armed attack on the house of Colombian social activist Arnobis Zapata in which his 14-year-old son was injured.

Asked by:
Navendu Mishra (Labour)

UK ministers and senior officials regularly raise human rights issues, as well as specific cases of concern, with the Colombian Government. Most recently, the UK's Minister for the Environment, Lord Goldsmith, raised our concerns around violence and threats toward human rights and environmental defenders on a visit to Colombia from 5-8 October.

Colombia is a UK 'Human Rights Priority Country,' and we consistently raise our concerns regarding violence against human rights' defenders and social leaders at the UN Security Council, as we did at meetings in July, and on 14 October. We look to the Colombian Government to further integrate its presence in conflict-affected areas, and strengthen the institutions that can investigate and prosecute the criminal actors responsible. We will continue to raise our concerns with the relevant state actors in Colombia.

Answered by:
Wendy Morton (Conservative)
15 November 2021