This month there is good news from Chile regarding the passing of a gender identity law and four former police officers being arrested regarding a fatal shooting. Moreover, in Guyana transgender activists are celebrating a ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice. There is also a reminder regarding the opportunity to continue to work on two South American Write for Rights cases at the conclusion of the campaign. A submission has also been made to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
This newsletter also includes concerns expressed by a Special Rapporteur in relation to Ecuador and another Special Rapporteur has urged the authorities in Paraguay to discontinue a particular prosecution. There are statements issued by Amnesty regarding the situation in Colombia and further reports regarding the large number of human rights defenders killed and the number of displacements in that country.
In relation to Brazil, we report on the concerns of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights after its recent visit. There is also an urgent action. The call by Amnesty to the Argentinian authorities regarding predicted demonstrations coinciding with the G20 summit and some positive news on Venezuela’s health crisis are also reported.
COLOMBIA
Amnesty issued a statement two years on from the Peace Accord with the FARC rebels, noting how little of the accord has been fulfilled for the rural communities which have suffered most from the conflict.
‘Entrenched political forces representing private interests in the Congress continue to defend the status quo and seek to shield high-ranking officers in the military from accountability for their involvement in serious human rights violations.
The deficit is clear. People defending human rights in their territories continue to be killed. At the same time, more people are becoming victims of forced displacement, as is the case of the more than 1,000 people driven from their lands in Catatumbo by fighting between the ELN and the EPL guerrilla groups and the lack of an effective state response. Paramilitary groups continue, as before, to operate with total impunity.’
In another statement, Amnesty denounced the authorities for prohibiting some 500 member of indigenous communities from entering the Plaza de Bolivar to stage their protest. ‘The Colombian authorities must fulfil their obligation to implement the Peace Agreement and guarantee the rights to life and physical integrity of Indigenous Peoples and ensure the protection of their territories. The national and Bogotá city authorities must guarantee the right to demonstrate peacefully in Plaza de Bolívar, without repression and without restrictions. It is shameful that the authorities have sought to block their own people from entering the capital, restricting their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.’
The Colombian NGO Somos Defensores (We are Defenders) reports that in the last nine years 563 human rights defenders and community leaders have been killed – but in only 48 cases have the courts condemned the perpetrators.
The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre has reported that 139,000 people were forcibly displaced in Colombia in 2017, bringing the total number of people now displaced in Colombia to 6.5 million. While recognising the importance of the Peace Accord, the Centre notes that ‘obstacles to durable solutions remain, and include victims’ compensation, land and property restitution, as well as implementation of the different points agreed upon in the peace deal related to issues such as integral agricultural reform, trust, justice, reparation and non-repetition.’ [Read more…]
