Dear Friends,
This month we bring you news from Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and Ecuador.
Highlights are:
- Colombia: Amnesty has released a new report which documents the reality experienced by the women who dedicate their lives to searching for the victims of enforced disappearance.
- Peru: Amnesty has published the stories of four of the survivors of the repression of the 2022/23 protests, highlighting how the authorities have failed to ensure their health and recovery.
- Venezuela: Nicolas Maduro has been sworn in to the Presidency, prompting outrage amongst non-governmental organisations and in other countries.
- Chile: Amnesty has issued a new Urgent Action, calling on the Senate to reject draft legislation that poses a grave threat to the rights of migrants.
- Argentina: Amnesty Argentina have published a report on the human rights situation during 2024. This explores how the economic policies and reforms have negatively impacted the lives of millions of people, especially the most vulnerable.
- Ecuador: Amnesty has published an article on how communities in the city of Guayaquil and along the country’s coast have stepped up their activism in the face of the hostile environment created by the authorities.
COLOMBIA
Amnesty has released a new report Transforming pain into rights: Risks, threats and attack on women searchers in Colombia. The report documents the reality experienced by the women who dedicate their lives to searching for the victims of enforced disappearance in Colombia, and the need for society to recognize these women and for the authorities to guarantee their rights, given the serious obstacles they face in demanding truth and justice. The report has been prepared as part of Amnesty International’s #SearchingWithoutFear campaign, which calls for the recognition and protection of women searchers across the Americas. [click to continue…]
This month we bring you news from Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Brazil, Paraguay and Ecuador.
- As foreshadowed in our November newsletter, two Peruvian Human Rights Defenders visited the UK from 10-13 November to raise international pressure in the search for justice for those who were killed or seriously injured during the repression of protests in Peru in 2022-2023.
- Colombia – The Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya, who was gang raped and tortured by paramilitaries in 2000 and received her latest death threat just days ago, explains why she opposes the government’s ‘total peace’ plan for the reintegration of rapists and violence against female reporters.
- Argentina – Buenos Aires dedicated a week to celebrating diversity, ending with thousands attending a Pride March on November 2nd.
- Chile – The trial against former Carabineros lieutenant colonel Claudio Crespo has now begun; its expected to last up to a year.
- Amnesty International has launched a petition for Brazil to put in place an effective national policy of protection of Human Rights Defenders, Communicators and Environmentalists.
- Amnesty International has published a new Urgent Action calling on the Venezuelan authorities to stop their attacks in the media and through the judicial system on the non-governmental organisation Provea.
COLOMBIA
Jineth Bedoya, Colombian journalist
The Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya, who was gang raped and tortured by paramilitaries in 2000 and received her latest death threat just days ago, explains why she opposes the government’s ‘total peace’ plan for the reintegration of rapists and violence against female reporters. “I do not understand how you can sit in front of a rapist and give him guarantees in the framework of a social peace, knowing that it is one of the worst crimes.” Bedoya has just launched her documentary on sexual exploitation in Cartagena, titled It’s Not Time to Remain Silent.
The US NGO WOLA reports that the Afro-Colombian Afrorenacer del Micay Community Council in Cauca is losing its rights over its territories, which will be destroyed by a huge dam it did not agree to. ‘Since March 2020, dissident FARC-EP factions have murdered community leaders and internally displaced residents.’ Once the rightful owners of the land were taken out, farmers and community boards not connected to the Afrorenacer del Micay Community Council took over. While the rightful owners have won a court judgement, it has not been enforced by the Colombian authorities.
Colombia Reports that Ivan Marquez, the leader of the FARC dissident group Segunda Marquetalia (SM), has denounced their lead negotiator and deputy leader of the SM who is in peace talks with the government. The SM continues fighting in the south west of Colombia. ‘In a response, President Gustavo Petro said that the “division in the violent groups is a step ahead for peace.”’
The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances will visit Colombia from 21 November to 5 December 2024 to strengthen accountability and protections against enforced disappearances. The experts will attend exhumations and other proceedings to search for disappeared people, as conducted by the authorities. In addition, the delegation will visit places of deprivation of liberty, such as prisons and detention centres, to examine how they operate their registration system, which is a critical safeguard to prevent enforced disappearances. It will present its report in March. [click to continue…]
