I
am grateful to my constituents who contacted me over the past few days
regarding the issue of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) who are facing repression
and abuse as a result of their work to challenge human rights abuses across the
world.
I
am appalled at reports that in 2017 more than 300 HRDs were killed carrying out
their work of defending the fundamental rights of all humans.
The
UK Government has recently updated its Guidelines on Working with HRDs to help
British diplomats to better support them, and progress is being made to protect
human rights defenders in other countries.
More
must be done to ensure that the safety and rights of HRDs around the world, and
I have now tabled a Written Parliamentary Question to the Foreign Secretary
seeking his assurance that the protection of HRDs would be a priority for him
and his departmental officials.
