As I was saying, during Prime Minister Harper's visit to Colombia last year, during the meeting held with President Uribe he was very clear when he expressed that it is the wish of the Canadian government to support the efforts made by Colombia with a view to recovering its state of security and above all to guaranteeing human rights and fundamental freedoms in Colombia. Prime Minister Harper was very clear when he told the president that he understood that the problem in Colombia was very complex and there was no solution that could be implemented from one day to another, but that the Canadian people and the government looked upon the situation he just pointed out with great concern--the high figures in terms of murders, kidnappings. All of that affects the lives of Colombians. I can tell you that there are whole generations like mine who have not known one single day of peace.
In view of this, President Uribe offered to the Prime Minister, to assuage the concerns--this doesn't mean that Colombia will not take care of these problems of human rights—that he was willing to include an additional chapter that would be aimed at strengthening the commitment already undertaken by Colombia to promote fundamental freedoms. I believe that the negotiation of this parallel instrument reflects the concern of Canada in relation to human rights in Colombia, but it also acknowledges the fact that Colombia has respected human rights.
The figures you mentioned are right. The government figures are different from those of organizations that defend human rights or other organizations that deal with this issue. They vary depending on the criteria used to calculate them. But they're no doubt high figures, as a result of 40 years of violence. Don't think that the issue of human rights is a pleasant issue when we know that today there are people who would like to solve their problems, problems that go back 20 or 30 years, and they expect a satisfactory solution from the government. What the government has done is to fight against impunity in order to establish the truth in every case and to open up a space for justice to be done and reparations to be made.
In this regard we believe that the affirmation of the additional commitment of Colombia to respect human rights and to re-establish human rights wherever they have been violated will come about as a result of this instrument, which, as I said, is a parallel instrument but is an integral part of the free trade agreement.