Welcome to the latest newsletter. Happy new year to you all. The next meeting  is on Thursday 9th January 2020, 7.30pm  at Moordown Community Centre. On the agenda – planning for year ahead, letter writing

Write 4 Rights 2019 We held a fantastic ‪Write for Rights event at Bournemouth Library We got over 100 cards signed by passing members of the public; its Amnesty International’s annual campaign, sending greetings cards to prisoners of conscience and other human rights defenders around the world. Read more about it here. After many years of standing in the wet and cold and being ignored by passing shoppers, it was a delight to be both inside and warmly received. W4R was about sending cards of support, rather than campaigning. But in all cases their are opportunities to take further action if you wish – see the case of Sarah and Seán below. But you can also go to the AIUK site and click to send emails or add your name to petitions. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/write-for-rights

South America Newsletter The January edition of the South America Regional Newsletter is now on the blog. Our group has focused on South America since its inception, which is also reflected in our case files – see below. The 3 volunteers who run the network for AIUK – and produce the newsletter – do a huge amount of work on our behalf. One alarming statistic reported from the New York Times is that in 2018 the number of people officially killed by the police reached a five-year high rising to 6,220. That’s an average of 17 a day. Official statistics are only part of the picture. Masked illegal militias, that by their own admission draw in off-duty and retired officers, regularly commit extrajudicial killings. President Jair Bolsonaro has made his mark in 2019 with some of his comments relating to the destruction of the Amazon. But he has also declared that  criminals should “die like cockroaches”, so the figure for police killings is expected to rise. https://amnestyat50.co.uk/south-america-newsletter-january-2020

Sea Rescue Volunteers Face 25 Years in Jail Sarah and Seán were volunteering as trained rescuers for a search-and-rescue organisation in Lesvos in 2018. Their job was to help spot boats in distress at sea and help refugees. Sarah knew all too well about the dangers of sea crossings, having almost sunk in a dinghy fleeing Syria in 2015. Instead of being celebrated, Sarah and Seán ended up behind bars – charged with spying, people smuggling and belonging to a criminal organisation. Greek police locked them up for 100 days before being released on bail. Sarah and Seán could go to prison for 25 years for trying to save lives in the Mediterranean. Email Greek Minister of Citizens’ Protection demanding all charges are dropped. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/write-for-rights/action/sara-sean-greece-sea-rescue-volunteers

This month we have good news from Colombia and Brazil. However, we report on the victims of the ongoing conflict in Colombia, and the staggering violence in Brazil’s Amazon as well as police killings across that country. We focus on the challenge to Colombia and Brazil on the arrival of large numbers of refugees from Venezuela, and update the human rights situation in Venezuela and Chile.

COLOMBIA   

Good news! President Duque has publicly stated that Colombia will sign the Escazú Agreement. The Escazú Agreement is a new treaty that deepens the link between environmental protection and human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has the potential to reduce the conflicts that lead to the murders of so many environmental defenders in the region.

The Colombian NGO Somos Defensores (We are Defenders) reports on the increasing aggressions against environmental, territorial and human rights defenders (HRDs). Although the number of HRDs killed in the country fell from 109 to 85 in the first nine months of 2019, the number of aggressions – principally death threats – increased from 448 to 715. Once again community leaders were the main target including indigenous and Afro-Colombian leaders. The main perpetrators were paramilitaries, followed by FARC dissidents, the ELN guerrillas and the Armed Forces.

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre records the forcible displacement of 6,200 people in the 4 weeks ending 7 December. These include indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities who were fleeing the ongoing conflict in rural Colombia. In the first half of 2019, 39,000 people were forcibly displaced by armed groups of paramilitaries, FARC dissidents, ELN and ELP guerrillas.

President Duque, in an attempt to stop the infighting among the Army high command, has relieved General Nicasio Martinez Espinel, the Army chief, whose appointment surprised many observers. Martinez has been linked to human rights abuses, including the ‘false positives’ scandal of extrajudicial executions, and he has been accused of corruption.

Colombia Reports explains why it is so hard for the ELN (National Liberation Army) to negotiate peace with the Colombian government. The article gives the background to a situation where several ELN war fronts act independently, leaving the Central Command with little authority to negotiate peace. A map of where the ELN War Fronts operate shows that it is fighting over about one quarter of the country.

A recent Colombian government White Paper (Colombia and the Migration Influx from Venezuela) aims to systematise the reception of 1.8 million refugees from Venezuela. 400,000 are returning Colombian nationals and 1.4 million are Venezuelan citizens. 740,000 Venezuelans have been regularised, while 660,000, mainly those who entered the country via uncontrolled pathways, are in legal limbo. The paper covers the humanitarian response (healthcare, education and protection for vulnerable people), security, economic integration and the huge cost to the nation. The Colombian government commissioned a report by Oxford University’s Refugee Study Centre. This underlines the challenges faced by Colombia as well as the opportunity of incorporating Venezuelans into the local economy. The country is in desperate need of international aid. [Read more…]

We held a fantastic ‪Write for Rights event at Bournemouth Library We got over 100 cards signed by passing members of the public; its Amnesty International UK annual campaign, sending greetings cards to prisoners of conscience and other human rights defenders around the world. Thanks to Jessica, Val, Michael and all the other staff at Bournemouth Central Library for being so helpful. But many thanks to all who turned out to help and those who stopped to sign cards. For more information about W4R, and details of the cases if you want to work on them at home or do online actions, go to the AIUK site:- https://www.amnesty.org.uk/write-for-rights

 

Welcome to the latest newsletter. Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December – the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. You may like to bring this to people’s attention as you go about your day tomorrow… The next meeting  is on Thursday 12th December, 7.30pm  at Moordown Community Centre. You may have noticed there is an election that day and the room we usually meet in is being used as a polling station. Consequently we will meet in the cafe. It will be more of an informal gathering as we will just be writing cards as part of Write 4 Rights (see below). Hopefully we can engage one or two passing voters, so it should be an interesting evening. As ever, bring along any seasonal nibbles and any (non religious) spare cards.

Write 4 Rights Every year Amnesty International has encouraged and helped groups send greetings cards to prisoners of conscience around the world in December. Traditionally there were just half a dozen names selected.  In recent years Amnesty has branded this as “Write for Rights” (W4R) and produced much more informative information leaflets, covering many more prisoners of conscience. We have always made this a mainstay of our December meeting.If you have been tempted to try one of our meetings, but never quite got there, this is an ideal opportunity.  We bring along seasonal “nibbles”and basically write cards to the various prisoners of conscience who have been selected. We also try to have a public event in Bournemouth.  For a few years we’ve been at Castlepoint and last year we tried Old Christchurch Road.  Neither venue was that successful as its hard to stop shoppers from charging past you! This year we will try ground floor foyer at the Central Bournemouth Library on Saturday 21st December 2019 (12 noon till 3.00pm) For more information about W4R, and details of the cases if you want to work on them at home or do online actions, go to the AIUK site:- https://www.amnesty.org.uk/write-for-rights

[Read more…]

Another eventful month, with calls from Amnesty and others for a response to the human rights violations committed during the anti-government protests in Colombia, Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador.  In addition, Amnesty has issued a major report on illegal cattle ranching in the Brazilian Amazon.  There are three new Urgent Actions, two on Colombia and one on Venezuela, and a new petition calling for justice for the murder of Marielle Franco.

COLOMBIA

A nation-wide strike called by disparate social groups protesting social injustices, the faltering peace process, violations of human and environmental rights as well as possible austerity measures by the government of President Duque was met ‘with excessive, disproportionate and unnecessary use of force and arbitrary detentions’, according to Amnesty International. ‘Days before the National Strike, the government already began a campaign to intimidate and frighten those who were planning a peaceful march in support of their rights.’

The ongoing conflict in Chocó has resulted in 2,250 people from indigenous and Afro-descendent communities living under siege from the guerrilla ELN (National Liberation Army) and the paramilitary Gaitanistas Self-Defence Force. They are denying these communities access to food and basic healthcare services and have planted mines in areas where there’s mobile phone coverage. Please respond to Amnesty’s Urgent Action here. (With copies to Mr Antonio José Ardila, Colombian Ambassador to the UK, 3 Hans Crescent London SW1X 0LN.)

The NGO dhColombia has asked the National Protection Unit (UPN) for protection following death threats, theft of sensitive information and surveillance by unknown men outside their homes and offices. To date, the UPN has not responded to their request for protection. dhColombia provides legal support to victims of human rights violations and seeks accountability from prominent military members, public forces and multinational companies. Please respond to Amnesty’s Urgent Action here. (With copies to Mr Antonio José Ardila, Colombian Ambassador to the UK, 3 Hans Crescent London SW1X 0LN.)

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre reports that 4,450 people were forcibly displaced in 3 different rural areas by armed groups in the month of November. In Chocó 3,280 people were forcibly displaced by the paramilitary Gaitanistas Self-Defence Force, in Córdoba Department 225 people were forcibly displaced by FARC dissidents, while in Santander Department a further 945 people were displaced due to clashes between the ELN (National Liberation Army) guerrillas and EPL (Popular Liberation Army) guerrillas. [Read more…]