We have good news this month from Venezuela, Colombia and Argentina. We report on the creation of a UN fact-finding commission on human rights in Venezuela, continued forced displacements, confinement of communities and death threats to journalists and others in Colombia, Amnesty’s response to the Brazilian President’s speech at the UN, the organisations human rights concerns in Brazil, Ecuador and Argentina and the environmental damage caused by fires in the Amazonia regions of Bolivia and Brazil. You can still sign a petition on behalf of Ecuadorian Amazonian Women.

VENEZUELA

Good news. On 27 September, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution creating a Fact-Finding Mission to investigate the grave human rights violations and crimes under international law that are still taking place in Venezuela.  Amnesty welcomed the decision, which it said would send a strong message to victims and perpetrators alike that impunity would not be allowed to prevail. The UK supported the resolution and published an explanation of its vote. The list of those who opposed it makes interesting reading: Cameroon, China, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, Philippines and Saudi Arabia.

Prior to the passing of the resolution, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Government of Venezuela signed a Memorandum of Understanding, establishing a framework for future discussion and cooperation, and providing for the continued presence in the country of a team of two UN human rights officers.

These developments followed an update by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, during the opening session of the Council, when she raised concerns over the continued deterioration of the human rights crisis and the lack of accountability for even the gravest human rights violations. Amnesty’s Secretary General then wrote to Council Member States calling on them to seize the opportunity to support the victims of the unprecedented human rights crisis in Venezuela and create a Commission of Inquiry that offers truth and justice to its victims. Many thanks to all who signed Amnesty’s petition calling for the Council to act. 

The UK has announced a significant increase in its support for vulnerable Venezuelans suffering from the country’s economic crisis.

EU Member States have imposed sanctions on seven more individuals for their involvement in human rights violations in Venezuela. [Read more…]

This month, we report on continuing extreme violence in Colombia, including murders, against Indigenous people and Human Rights Defenders as the peace agreement shows further signs of unravelling.  In Brazil, the wildfires in the Amazon illustrate the risks from the Bolsonaro government’s weakening of environmental protections and Indigenous peoples’ territorial rights, while there is also concern that new public security measures will increase violence against those most at risk.  The Human Rights Council will vote this month on a proposal for a Commission of Inquiry on Venezuela, while there is concern that new US sanctions will exacerbate the impact of the economic crisis and lead to increased human rights violations.  Argentina is in the midst of a serious economic crisis and President Macri is facing likely defeat at the Presidential elections next month.  We briefed officials at the UK’s Department for International Trade who are negotiating trade agreements with countries in the region. There is an Urgent Action and a petition on Colombia and you can still sign the petition on Venezuela.

REGIONAL

On 20 August, David and Graham were invited to the Department for International Trade to brief officials about human rights issues in Latin America.  This was an excellent opportunity to ensure that government officials are aware of the human rights issues that need to be considered when negotiating trade agreements with the countries of the region.

COLOMBIA

Iván Márquez, the second highest ranking member of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrilla group, has announced in a video his return to armed opposition to the Colombian state. Márquez, whose whereabouts have been a mystery since July 2018, was the leading negotiator of the Peace Accord with the administration of President Santos. The precarious state in which former FARC guerrillas live is described in this recent article in The Nation.

The UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Colombia has called on the Colombian authorities to protect the Nasa indigenous people and guarantee their physical and cultural survival. Since the beginning of the year, 36 Nasa people have been killed and 53 have received death threats. Six of those killed were members of the human rights NGO the Cxhab Wala Kiwe Association of Indigenous Councils of north Cauca department.

This coincides with Colombia’s Congress summoning the government of President Iván Duque to explain what it has done to curb extreme levels of violence against the country’s indigenous peoples in south western Cauca.

Native Colombians have seen extreme violence following the demobilization of the FARC guerrilla group in 2017. According to ONIC (the National Organisation of Indigenous Colombians), 37,000 indigenous Colombians have suffered aggression since the signing of the Peace Accord in 2016, half of them since President Duque was inaugurated in August 2018. 31,000 of the aggressions took place against indigenous inhabitants of Chocó.

You can sign Amnesty’s petition urging President Duque to protect thousands at risk of death or displacement in the Chocó by clicking here.

[Read more…]

This month, amongst other issues, we report on continuing concerns regarding the rights of indigenous peoples in Paraguay, Ecuador and Brazil. The killings of human rights defenders and community leaders and women’s rights   in Colombia, threats to a journalist and prison violence in   Brazil are also included.  There is an urgent action relating to Paraguay and   petitions regarding a case in Brazil and Amazonian women in Ecuador. There is also some welcome news relating to a report on Venezuela and positive news regarding Paraguay and Uruguay.

BRAZIL

An IACHR press release dated 1 July  reports that, on June 9, The Intercept Brasil started publishing a series of leaks denouncing alleged irregularities in the so-called “Anti-Corruption Operation, Car Wash.” Immediately after the disclosure, journalist Glenn Greenwald became the target of offensive remarks, defamation, and death threats. The Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression and the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression  express their concern over the threats, offensive remarks made by authorities and the intimidation against the journalist  and his family, after the dissemination of information and press reports of public interest.

Survival International   reported on 1 July that up to 10,000 gold miners have invaded Yanomami lands in northern Brazil, spreading malaria in the region and polluting many of the rivers with mercury.

Although most Yanomami are in contact with non-indigenous society, one uncontacted group is known to live in the area being invaded, and authorities are investigating signs of up to six other uncontacted communities living there.

The massive influx has been blamed by local indigenous leaders for the deaths of four children already. They say the miners are building settlements and airstrips, emboldened by President Bolsonaro’s support for land invaders, and constant attacks on indigenous people.

One of the many illegal gold mining sites in the Yanomami territory

Some mining camps are just a few miles from uncontacted Yanomami. The Yanomami association Hutukara estimates the number of miners at up to 10,000. They also report devastation to the fish and game they rely on for their livelihood.

According to the  Global Witness Report, Enemies of the State?  How governments and business silence land and environmental defenders; published in July, there were at least twenty environmental activists murdered in Brazil in 2018, therefore Brazil has the fourth highest number of such crimes in the world.

Marielle Franco paid the ultimate price for defending human rights. On March 12, 2019, two people were arrested and accused of having participated in the killing of this human rights defender and city councillor, murdered on March 14, 2018. However, the intellectual authors, other potential facilitators, and the motivation for the crime have still not been identified.

There is an online petition targeting the Governor of Rio de Janeiro and the Prosecutor, both in charge of the investigations opened on the case. You can access it in English  here.  A further     petition demanding  a full, independent investigation into her murder addressed to the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro  can be accessed here.

The New York Times reported on 29 July that a fight between rival gangs in a prison in northern Brazil  left at least 57 inmates dead, including at least 16 who were decapitated, according to prison officials. The clash in Pará State was the latest deadly outbreak of violence in Brazil’s overcrowded and riot-prone prisons, which have seen an increase in population in recent years without investment to match. [Read more…]