This month, we update you on developments in Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia.  There is a new Urgent Action on behalf of a Colombian journalist under threat.  In Venezuela, attacks continue against Human Rights Defenders.  In Brazil, mass killings of black residents continue in Rio de Janeiro and there is concern about government policies to strip indigenous communities of their autonomy.  An imminent visit by the President of Chile provides an opportunity to lobby the British Government to press for justice for those killed and injured in protests that were repressed by the authorities.   Indigenous communities in Peru are under threat from illegal land grabbers.  Ecuador has held its first National Day against Sexual Violence in Schools.  An independent investigation has found that the recent interim government in Bolivia persecuted opponents with systematic torture and summary executions by security forces.

COLOMBIA

Amnesty International has issued a new Urgent Action on behalf of the journalist Jose Alberto Tejeda. Since 28 April, Tejeda has faced more than 14 security incidents including surveillance by unidentified men and a security forces official who threatened to kill him. His work has been crucial in denouncing human rights violations and crimes under international law by the security forces during the Colombian National Strike in the city of Cali. We urge the National Protection Unit of the Ministry of Interior to provide him with appropriate protection measures with his agreement.

Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office is seeking to indict General Mario Montoya for his role in the murders of civilians who were then disguised as guerrillas killed in combat. Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace has found that at least 6,402 civilians were murdered by the army between 2002 and 2008 in these circumstances, known as ‘false positives’. The General is the highest-ranking officer to be directly implicated in the killings.

Peace Brigades International reports on anti-personnel mines located near the indigenous community of Chageradó in the department of Antioquia. ‘The territory of the municipality of Murindó, and especially its two indigenous reservations, is now deeply affected by the installation of land mines by different armed actors. The mines violate the right to life and mobility of community members, forcing them to confine themselves to the resguardos, so as not to put their own lives at risk.’ According to the Red Cross, 352 people were killed or wounded by landmines in Colombia in 2019, while Insight Crime reports that the use of landmines is increasing as land dedicated to coca cultivation increases.

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre records that 1,440 people in Chocó fled their homes and land in August to escape the fighting between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and successor paramilitaries. A further 2,600 people fled their homes and land in the south of Bolivar department to escape fighting between armed groups. 106,000 Colombians were forcibly driven off their land and homes in 2020.

VENEZUELA

Penal Forum NGO confirmed the death of political prisoner Gabriel Medina Díaz, one of the political prisoners of the Nicolás Maduro administration, who died after suffering a respiratory arrest since he did not have the medical attention he needed, according to the vice president of the organisation, Gonzalo Himiob.

Attacks against human rights defenders in Venezuela continue.  During July, the Center for Defenders and Justice registered around 140 attacks against human rights defenders. In its report, the organization has denounced that the State has hardened the criminalization of defense groups.

The Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has demanded the guarantee of the rights of human rights organisations.  The IACHR warned that forcing NGOs to disclose information about their donors and beneficiaries can promote the stigmatisation of these organisations, due to the context surrounding the imposition of the new registration measures by Nicolas Maduro’s government.

Venezuela’s Attorney General has rejected an International Criminal Court (ICC) Report Finding Evidence of Human Rights Violations.  The ICC report found that there was a reasonable basis to believe that “civil authorities, members of the Armed Forces and pro-government individuals have committed crimes against humanity” in Venezuela, at least since April 2017. [Read more…]

Dear Amnesty Activists and supporters. The fear, terror and despair of Afghan women men and children trying to flee the Taliban regime has brought the plight of refugees back into our view and conscience. War, oppression and persecution are forcing people to flee and find a place of safety. Those braving to cross the Mediterranean in little unseaworthy boats are doing so because there is no way back, behind them is death and the hell of Libyan detention camps. But instead of compassion most refugees are met with violence when they try to cross into Fortress Europe. I am attaching the latest Amnesty report on Libya:
Libya: ‘No one will look for you’: Forcibly returned from sea to abusive detention in Libya
The report is detailing the torture, rape, abuse and extortion inflicted on refugees, and the complicity of Frontex the European border agency collaborating with the Libyan coastguard . But even those who managed to get into Europe are suffering violence at the hands of border police, and abuse in detention or asylum centres as in Switzerland.
It is time to show compassion and solidarity with refugees. We are organising a demonstration and Day of Action for the 23rd of October, campaigning for safe and legal routes for refugees, the right to asylum and respect for the dignity and human rights of refugees.

Demonstration Defend the Right to Asylum !
Refugees Welcome !
Saturday 23rd October
Assemble 12 noon at Embassy of Switzerland
Finish at 3.30 pm at the Home Office.

Complicit in Torture, Rape, Extortion and Murder-Fortress Europe kills!

War, oppression and persecution are forcing people: men, women, children to leave their homes and seek safety and a future for their children in another country. The vast majority of refugees are hosted in developing countries.
Few take the perilous and dangerous journey to reach Europe lured by the promise of democracy , rule of law and respect for Human Rights. They are let down badly.
At the external borders in Greece, Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary refugees experience brutality at the hands of the border police , who are briefed to keep refugees out. Families and unaccompanied children are languishing in overcrowded tents which are frequently flooded with little water and sanitation on the Greek islands.
Worst : the European Union and Frontex are cooperating with Libya at keeping refugees out of Europe no matter what the human cost. Surveillance drones and planes are directing the Libyan coastguard to the little boats full of refugees desperate to escape the hell of Libyan detention camps. Once caught a terrible fate awaits most. Women and girls are abused and raped . All face inhuman conditions in overcrowded detention camps with little food, water and sanitation. Many are forced to work under inhuman conditions, torture and extortion are rife. Some refugees die, we don’t know how many.
“No-one will look for you “ said a refugee who managed to escape.

El Hiblu 3

Before they were known as the El Hiblu 3, they were three teenagers with a passion for football and basketball. Aged 15, 16 and 19 at the time, they wanted what we all do: a safer, better life. That common goal brought them from Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire to Libya. Desperate to escape the violence and torture cells reserved for refugees and migrants there, they boarded a dinghy with over 100 others bound for Europe. The dinghy soon ran into trouble and was rescued by the El Hiblu, an oil transporter. The El Hiblu’s crew then tried to return those rescued to Libya –which was unlawful –despite promising that they wouldn’t. A protest broke out. The three youths were asked to help calm the situation. Acting as interpreters, they defended the right of those rescued not to face torture again in Libya. The crew turned the ship towards Europe. However, as it entered Malta’s waters, the Maltese authorities stormed the ship, claiming the three had taken it by force. They charged the youths with offences so serious that they could be jailed for life. This despite finding almost no evidence to support the charges. The three youths had simply tried to defend their safety and to protect those rescued with them. Now they’re in the dock.
For several years members of Ngo’s and charities like “Jugend rettet” “Medicines sans Frontieres”, “Save the children” as well as Individuals who save lives have been criminalised ,ships impounded, the crew taken to court.
But even those refugees who made it into Europe are not safe. Federal asylum centres in Switzerland are rife with abuse against asylum seekers.
Denmark is deporting or forcibly returning refugees to countries where their lives are in danger. Of particular concern is the coerced removal of Syrian refugees into removal centres where they are under pressure to “voluntarily” return while Denmark waits for the diplomatic situation to enable them to deport directly.
In the UK the Nationality and Borders bill is awaiting its third reading in Parliament. If this bill goes through it will make vulnerable people even more vulnerable and set a terrible example. Criminalising people just for trying to reach a place of safety is morally and legally indefensible. People cross the
Channel and put themselves in serious danger because there are simply no safe alternatives open to them. [Read more…]

This month we bring you news from Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. There is good news from Venezuela, Brazil and Chile and Gustavo Gatica. We have a new Amnesty report on the National Strike in Colombia and another from Human Rights Watch on abortion rights in Ecuador. We look at the secret activities of the UK’s National Crime Agency and question its role in the excessive use of force by the Colombian police, whom it has trained. Updates include police killings in Brazil, inmate deaths in Ecuadorian prisons and forced displacements and killings of human rights defenders and social leaders in Colombia.

COLOMBIA

 Amnesty International’s new report Cali: In the epicentre of repression examines how the Colombian authorities violated the human rights of peaceful demonstrators in Cali and elsewhere during the National Strike. The security forces, in particular members of the police’s Mobile Anti-Riot Squad, used excessive and unnecessary force to disperse them. Under the pretext of restoring order, terrible injuries were inflicted on hundreds of people and dozens of young people lost their lives.

The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) trained the Colombian police in a multi-million pound 5-year programme shrouded in secrecy. The NCA programme in Colombia “engaged” with “Colombian law enforcement agencies to improve their capability”, according to UK government documents seen by Declassified. The aims included “specialist cadres of police to be trained in priority areas of intervention” alongside “trusted relationships formed with key units and individuals”. The NCA’s lack of transparency is particularly worrying, raising questions over its involvement with police in their excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrators in Colombia.

28 human rights defenders/social leaders were killed in the January-March quarter of 2021, according to Programa Somos Defensores (We are Defenders Programme) Nine of them were indigenous leaders. Most of the known perpetrators were successor paramilitaries, while the ELN (National Liberation Army) guerrillas and Security Forces were also responsible for killings. Many of the killings occurred in regions where armed groups are fighting over illegal and legal economic activities.

Commenting on the 106,000 people forcibly displaced in 2020, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre states: ‘Clashes between FARC dissidents, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and paramilitaries took place throughout the year in the Pacific coast departments of Chocó, Nariño and Cauca, and in Antioquia and Norte de Santander. The same departments recorded most internal displacement. African-Colombian and indigenous people represented the majority of those newly displaced.’

VENEZUELA

Venezuelan migrants have been deported from Chile: The Chilean government must end summary deportations of Venezuelans and ensure that all deportations comply with international human rights law. The government announced that it planned to deport 1,500 people during 2021. According to the Jesuit Migrant Service (SJM), the government had deported 294 people; in most cases, without judicial control. Most were Venezuelan women.

Good news! Defender for the rights of women and girls is free: Venezuelan professor and human rights defender Vannesa Rosales was released on July 21, after spending nine months in detention, six of which were under house arrest. She was criminalized for her work as a defender of sexual and reproductive rights in Venezuela. During the preliminary hearing held on July 21, the court dismissed the accusation and closed the case against Vannesa. Thank you very much to all who sent appeals!

The International Criminal Court and Venezuela: The situation in Venezuela, a member country of the International Criminal Court (ICC), is under review. The final decision will determine whether a formal court investigation is warranted. The prosecution reported that, based on the information to which it had access during its preliminary examination, it had found reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity had been committed in Venezuela. [Read more…]

As we flagged up last month, we are planning to relaunch the group when we are able to return to Moordown Community Centre in the autumn.  Normally this time of year we would be running a stall at Bourne Free. Sadly, whilst there is a Pride event in Bournemouth at the end of August, it is restricted due to COVID and there are no stalls. But human rights abuses continue and there are details and a variety of actions below.

Here’s why thousands of people are taking to the streets in Cuba – click the clink for a brief video https://www.facebook.com/amnesty/videos/368433941294537/

Protests and Campaigns in Cuba On 11 July thousands of people took to the streets in Cuba to peacefully protest over the economy, shortages of medicines, the response to COVID-19, and harsh restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly.  Find out more about what has been happening and what you can do. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/07/cuba-protests-updates/ There had been a recent waves of arbitrary detentions, surveillance and harassment of members of Cuba’s San Isidro Movement – composed of artists, academics, and alternative thinkers. The Movement had been set up to defend the freedom of expression of artists like them. Prior to the protests, Amnesty had started a campaign – #TheEternalFlame – to put pressure on the Cuban authorities for change, as well as show solidarity with the San Isidro Movement. The petition you can sign is the existing one linked to this #TheEternalFlame campaign (UK = Reino Unido) https://lallamaeterna.org/

South America Newsletter July 2021 The latest edition of the South America Regional Newsletter has updates on developments in Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, and Chile.  Amnesty International reviews the victims of excessive use of force by Colombia’s security services during the recent National Strike, and analyses the killing of 199 Human Rights Defenders in 2020, a new record. Amnesty International continues with its action on behalf of Human Right Defenders – see below. In Brazil , according to the indigenous organisation APIB, indigenous Brazilians are 68% more likely to catch Covid-19 and their mortality rate is 58% higher than for the rest of the country. According to official counts, 523,000 Brazilians have died from Covid-19 as of 3 July.

Protect María, Jani, Joel, and Danelly Colombia is the second most mega-biodiverse country in the world and is home to the Amazon, which makes up almost 40% of its territory. At the same time, it is the most dangerous country for those who defend our environment. María, Jani, Joel, and Danelly are brave people who have been among the voices and protectors of our environment and natural resources in Colombia. In a country where the attacks that they suffer from usually go unpunished and authorities appear ambivalent about their safety, they are forced to risk their life on a daily basis to defend the water, oxygen, and food that we all depend on to live. The Colombian Congress has the power to monitor that human rights defenders have the guarantees necessary to continue protecting the environment. Take action and call on the Colombian Congress to guarantee their safety and protection.

Europe Newsletter July 2021 This month there are reports from Turkey, Switzerland, France, Greece, Kosovo, Denmark, Czech Republic and Hungary. On 21 May 2021 Hungary took the Presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers amidst a serious national human rights, democracy and rule of law crisis which has no end in sight. The newsletter expands on the situation in Hungary and the series of laws adopted in the last few years which curtail the enjoyment of human rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. After targeting Roma, Refugees and NGO’s the Hungarian Government has recently turned on LGBT communities. A new law passed in June states that any education or depiction of  consensual same sex relationships or the affirmation of one’s gender must not be accessible to under-18. The newsletter has links to this and details of other legislation recently passed. https://amnestyat50.co.uk/europe-newsletter-july-2021