COLOMBIA AGRARIAN STRIKE

That this House notes that campesino, indiginous and Afro-descendent sectors throughout Colombia have resumed a nationwide strike, because of the failure of the Colombian government to adhere to the commitments made following the agrarian strike in 2013; further notes that their demands include an end to the extractive model that concentrates land ownership, an end to legislation which makes the use of genetically modified seeds compulsory and guarantees which protect against the criminalisation and persecution of peaceful protests; is appalled that, during the first agrarian strike, reportedly 19 people were killed, 600 injured and dozens detained and imprisoned throughout the country, following indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks by the armed forces, police and riot squads; therefore urges the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to monitor the situation in Colombia closely to prevent a repeat of such human rights violations from occurring; and further urges the Government actively to consider every possible mechanism for the Colombian government to be held accountable for such violations, including reviewing the Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and the EU.