ARREST OF COLOMBIAN TRADE UNIONIST

That this House notes with extreme concern the arrest on 27th October 2007 by the Colombian authorities of opposition candidate Moises Delgado and trade union leader Eliberto Poveda in the region of Sumapaz; notes that the detention of Mr Delgado occurred only a day before he was due to be a candidate in Colombia's regional elections and that he was one of a number of opposition candidates to be incarcerated in the run up to the election in what appears to be an attempt to subvert the democratic process; further notes that numerous trade unionists have been detained in Colombia and held for months and sometimes years without being convicted of any crime; and calls upon the UK Government to make urgent representations to the Colombian government on the fate of these two men and to consider an immediate freeze in UK military assistance to Colombia until such time as the Colombian authorities begin respecting the human rights and legitimate political activity of the Colombian people.