Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

I am grateful to the Minister for his reply. I recently visited Colombia with Deputies Kitt and Breen and Senator Daly and put to the vice president a number of the points raised in my question. We also had an opportunity to follow up on these points at a meeting today with the Colombian Republic's ambassador to Great Britain and Northern Ireland, who is on a visit to Dublin.

I put it to the Minister that the transition from the Uribe Government to the Santos Government represents an opportunity for the advancement of human rights. Would the Minister agree that this must be delivered? In other words, in terms of the number of people being charged with crime, there must be substantial progress in relation to impunity. There must be protection for people who have been displaced from their land, some 4 million hectares in total.

I referred specifically in my question to the position of trade unionists. The vice president of the CUT was assassinated during President Uribe's time. During the first 75 days in office of the Santos Government, a number of trade unionists have been killed. The Minister referred in his reply to the International Labour Organisation, ILO. The ILO standards in regard to either consultation or conditions at work are not being observed by the extractive industries in the areas which our delegation visited. I have raised all of these issues with the Colombian ambassador. The Minister states that there is an enforceable human rights clause in the Colombia-EU agreement. Perhaps he will say if it is a stronger clause than was contained in the EU-Israel agreement, which has not been enforceable. What is the substantial difference between the two agreements and how will the Colombia-EU agreement ensure transparency and enforceability in relation to human rights?

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