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South America Newsletter May 2018
SUMMARY
We have a lot to report this month including new Amnesty reports on the rise in attacks on Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) in Colombia and on the tactics used by the authorities in Peru and Paraguay against land and environmental activists. Amnesty Brazil have a petition to demand a thorough investigation into the murder of Marielle Franco and her driver in Rio. We also report on the visit to Argentina by Amnesty’s Secretary General and draw attention to two new Urgent Actions for Chile and Venezuela. There is some good news from Peru and Ecuador and we report concerns about the use of conscientious objection to obstruct access to abortions in Chile.
COLOMBIA
Amnesty has released a new report on the rise in attacks on HRDs. It notes “This disheartening situation is largely the result of the power vacuums left following the demobilization of the FARC guerrilla movement and the lack of action by the state to increase its presence in historically neglected territories which were weakened by the armed conflict.”
The report pinpoints the failures of the State to provide accurate information, while denying that the increase in killings is related to the leadership positions of HRDs. The Ombudsman reports 148 killings of HRDs between January 2017 and February 2018, a big increase on the previous period. The National Protection Unit offers little or no effective help to many of the HRDs who are targeted and does not recognise the risk borne by entire communities.
Amnesty notes that there is no special provision for women HRDs and they have lost custody of their children due to the extraordinary risks they face, which extend to their families. In these cases, the authorities only consider the option of removing children from the nuclear family, which is a violation of their human rights and further proof of the state’s lack of interest in providing a comprehensive, differentiated response.
There is a further concern about areas of the country, such as Chocó, where the dynamic of paramilitaries forcibly dispossessing local communities of their land for economic reasons has returned.
In a setback to the peace process, one of the leaders of the FARC negotiating team (known as Jesús Santrich) was arrested at the request of the USA. The US claims that he and others are responsible for trafficking 10 tons of cocaine to the US last year after the signing of the Peace Accord, thereby negating the impunity he was offered. According to Colombia Peace Monitoring, more than 10% of the FARC guerrillas have returned to their former activities. FARC dissidents continue to operate on the border with Ecuador, where they have taken 4 people captive.
In a victory for local communities, AngloGold Ashanti has accepted the result of a referendum in Tolima, Cajamarca, whose people voted overwhelmingly against the extraction of gold in their territory. AngloGold has withdrawn from the territory. This follows 10 years of protests by local inhabitants.
After the assassination of one of the witnesses to the trial of former President, Alvaro Uribe, Human Rights Watch has called for greater protection for the remaining witnesses in this case. The Supreme Court is investigating the possible manipulation of witnesses in a case alleging Uribe’s connection to paramilitary leaders. [Read more…]
Spring Quiz 2018
We held another competitive quiz night at the Brunswick Hotel last Friday. Eight teams were given a thorough testing bu David & Rosemary Brown – in the end the winning teams had to be seperated on a tiebreak! We raised £240, so thanks to everyone who came along and joined in.
Special thanks to David & Rosemary. After 20 years of running quiz nights for our group they have called time and this will be their last. For quite a while they were doing two quizzes a year, so a conservative estimate is they have raised over £5000 for Amnesty International. We will miss them.
Thanks again to Lucy Freeman for running the raffle, plus the Brunswick, who once again let us use their excellent function room for no charge.
Group Newsletter April 2018
Welcome to the latest newsletter.
Its a bit later than usual as your editor attended the AIUK AGM in Swansea. Our next meeting is on Thursday 12th April 2018, 7.30pm at Moordown Community Centre. On the agenda
1) Photography exhibition, 3rd – 28th April – see below
2) Spring Quiz 20th April – see below
3) Feedback from AIUK AGM
4) Data protection act changes/membership
5) Letter writing
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Photographic Exhibition at the Library is Open
Its live! After months of preparation the Mayor of Bournemouth, Councillor Lawrence Williams, and the Mayoress opened our photography exhibition at the library. They are standing by the tapestry created by Amnesty groups in the South, depicting the 30 articles of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. This also forms a major part of the exhibition.
But the main focus of the exhibition is the historic plight of refugees and features 30 photographs taken by photographers from the Magnum agency over the past 70 years. The photographs document some of the issues surrounding refugees from the mass upheaval and displacement of the post-war years to the present-day crisis in Syria, Afghanistan and South Sudan. There is also a compilation of videos, 25 minutes long in total, continuously on display highlighting Amnesty’s work and the plight of refugees. The exhibition is on till the 28th of April – do get to see it if you can.
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