Five members of the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI), Cristian Dan Preda (EPP, RO), Joachim ZELLER (EPP, DE), Ana GOMES (S&D, PT), Francisco ASSIS (S&D, PT) and Ignazio CORRAO (EFDD, IT) visited Bolivia on 18-20 April. As the EP delegation yesterday concluded its visit to Bolivia, the chair of the delegation, Cristian Dan Preda, has stated:

"The purpose of our visit was to gather information, to learn about the achievements of the Bolivian government and to encourage the government to further improve the human rights situation in Bolivia. Discussions with our interlocutors focused notably on the rights of indigenous people, children and women (especially violence against women), prison conditions, freedom of association, the situation of civil society, reparations to victims of the military dictatorship, and the independence of the judicial system.

We had meetings with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, representatives of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly including the President of the Senate José Alberto Gonzales and the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Gabriela Montano. We also met with representatives of the OAS and UNICEF, of political parties, of NGOs, of women's associations and of Bolivia's trade union for working children.

Our delegation visited two prisons, which receive support from the EU, including San Pedro prison in La Paz, together with the Human Rights Ombudsman David Tezanos, to learn about prison conditions. Last but not least we embarked on a field trip with a visit to an EU-funded project on sustainable water management.

Our delegation appreciated the hospitality of our Bolivian counterparts. We acknowledged the significant progress made in certain areas such as economic and social rights, representation of indigenous people in Parliament, as well as access to education, health care and drinking water".

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