Anti-LGBTI hate crimes and intolerance in Colombia

7.7.2017

Question for written answer E-004612-17
to the Commission
Rule 130
Martina Anderson (GUE/NGL)

In November 2016, the Colombian Government and the FARC-EP guerrilla movement signed a definitive peace agreement, which was later endorsed by the Colombian Congress. On 2 October 2016, an earlier version of the agreement had been rejected in a referendum, thanks inter alia to a massive disinformation campaign raising the false threat of a ‘gender ideology’ allegedly contained in the agreement.

This expression was used by political extremists and religious fundamentalists to encourage hate against the Colombian LGBTI community, deny its members the enjoyment of their rights, and exclude them from the implementation of an agreement aimed at building a new, peaceful and tolerant society in Colombia.

Recently, representatives of the Colombian LGBTI organisations Colombia Diversa, Caribe Afirmativo and Santamaría Fundación visited Brussels with the aim of raising awareness regarding this agenda of hate and intolerance and the violence that accompanies it.

Is the Commission aware of this worsening threat to equality and tolerance in Colombia?

Other than the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), what political or financial means is the EU using to protect LGBTI rights in Colombia and maintain the principles and values which the Union claims to promote inside and outside its borders?

What is the EU doing to ensure that the European Union Trust Fund for Colombia is used to promote human rights and tolerance in the Colombian peace process?