We are pleased to welcome Carla Torres to our team as Country Coordinator for Argentina and Chile.

This month, we update you on developments in Colombia, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Argentina. We have new Amnesty reports on human rights defenders in Colombia and police violence in Chile, an update on illegal cattle farming in Brazil and alert you to a new Amnesty campaign to legalise abortion in Argentina. There are petitions and Urgent Actions for Colombia (2), Bolivia and Paraguay. We report on the pressures on indigenous communities in Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, Ecuador, Brazil and Argentina threatened by mining companies, paramilitaries, farmers, loggers, security forces and drug traffickers. Covid-19 infection rates surge to new highs across the region and Amnesty has written to the OAS asking member states to prioritise human rights, particularly in El Salvador, Paraguay and Venezuela where lockdown measures are extreme.

REGIONAL

In an open letter to heads of state attending the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), Amnesty called on OAS Member States in the Americas to prioritise a human rights-based approach to combating the COVID-19 pandemic, which it said had exposed widespread inequality and discrimination in the region. It noted that in countries such as El Salvador, Paraguay and Venezuela, the strict measures taken to combat COVID-19 have included confining tens of thousands of people in state-run quarantine facilities under police or military control.

COLOMBIA

Amnesty International has published a new report, Why do they want to kill me? on the plight of human and environmental rights defenders in Colombia. The signing of the Peace Agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrilla group on 24 November 2016 has not had the hoped-for impact on human rights because of the failure of the Colombian state to fulfil the terms of the Agreement. The flaws in the implementation of the Agreement are endangering the lives of human rights defenders, particularly those defending territories in the country that are richest in natural resources. The sharp increase in the number of human rights defenders killed since 2017 is evidence of this.

As part of this campaign, Amnesty is calling on the Colombian Congress to guarantee the safety of Human Rights Defenders. Please sign Amnesty’s petition to the Colombian Congress to set up a Commission for the Verification of Guarantees to monitor and fulfil its responsibilities to protect defenders, including those who protect the environment and our natural resources.

One of Amnesty International’s Write for Rights human rights defenders, Jani Silva, tells her story. It begins, My name is Jani Silva and I’m a campesina, or small-scale farmer, from Colombia. I’m 57 years old and I work in the Perla Amazónica Farming Reserve Area in the southern region of Putumayo. Ever since I was little, I’ve always followed my convictions and always defended what I believe in. This is why I’m fighting to preserve the Amazon and its biodiversity… Please sign the letter to President Duque, asking him to ensure that Jani Silva and the colleagues she works with have access to a collective protection plan.

The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment has called on ‘Colombia to implement the directives of its own Constitutional Court and to do more to protect the very vulnerable Wayúu community on the Provincial indigenous reserve against pollution from the huge El Cerrejón mine and from COVID-19.’ The dispute over the mine’s colossal damage to the environment and to the livelihood, health and way of life of the indigenous Wayúu community has been ongoing for 20 years. The mine is owned one-third each by BHP, Glencore and Anglo-American PLCs. All three are listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The UN’s High Commission to Colombia condemned the attempted killing of the indigenous senator Feliciano Valencia. The senator was on his way to commemorate the anniversary of the killing of five indigenous people in the Cauca, a social leader and human rights defender and four indigenous guardians, 29 October 2019.

The New York Times reports on the march of 10,000 indigenous people to Bogotá to negotiate with President Duque the surrender of indigenous lands, the implementation of a 2016 peace deal and respect for democracy. The President refused to meet them.

Colombia Peace summarises the testimony of LGBT+ victims of the civil war to the Special Jurisdiction of Peace (JEP). ‘The testimonies in this latest report are unique because they provide evidence on how state forces and paramilitary groups targeted the leaders of locally based LGBT+ groups, who promote fundamental rights, democratic ideals, and peace, to permanently exterminate their presence in civil society. Therefore, this is the first report submitted to the JEP that reveals how LGBT+ groups, not only LGBT+ individuals, were subject to conflict-related violence.’ [Read more…]

This newsletter came from the Central and Eastern Europe A.I.U.K. coordinator Ulrike Schmidt, with a report on Belarus from Tess Linton.  But it also contains information on Western Europe – specifically France – from the Western Europe coordinator Anna Radzikowska:-

“Over the last few months we have admired the courage of women leading the protests against repression and injustice, resisting violence and intimidation. More than 400000 women were marching on Wednesday for their reproductive rights in Poland. Over the summer we have seen women marching for democracy in Belarus. 3 Polish women : Elzbieta, Anna and Joanna are threatened with jail sentences for claiming the right to freedom of expression and standing up against discrimination and hate.  https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/take-action/poland-activist-elzbieta-podlesna/.

On 29^th September 2020 Amnesty International released long awaited and previously delayed due to the pandemic situation report on criminalizing peaceful protests in France.  And in Hungary and Poland the rule of law, the independence of courts and judges and therefore the right to a fair trial is under attack.

“Eyes on France” campaign

29 September 2020 – 10 April 2021

On 29^th September 2020 Amnesty International released its long awaited (delayed due to the pandemic) report Arrested for protest on criminalizing peaceful protests in France.

The report examines problematic areas where the French authorities restricted the right to freedom of peaceful assembly unnecessarily and disproportionately from 2018 to date, in contravention of international and regional human rights law and standards that France is party to.  Amnesty International is concerned that the French authorities have failed to respect, protect and ensure the right to freedom of peaceful assembly with sweeping consequences. Urgent and far reaching actions must be taken by the authorities to end the violations highlighted in the report and safeguard this crucial human right in France.

Specific and detailed recommendations include:

1. Stop the criminalization of protesters who have not committed acts of violence and drop the charges against peaceful protesters.
2. Repeal all laws that impose a punishment solely for the exercise of the right to peaceful assembly and are in violation of international human rights law.
3. Amend vague and broad legislation to ensure it is not used arbitrarily to limit people’s right to peaceful protest.
4. Ensure that measures introduced to protect public health do not impose undue restrictions on the right to peaceful protest such as for example blanket bans;

“Eyes on France” campaign aims to work towards shifting the narrative in France around the issue of protest –seen by some as leftist, rebellious, violent activity, but also dangerous and not always clear in its causes. AI aim to go back to basics and restate that everyone should be able to protest peacefully and express a dissenting opinion whenever they want to without fear for their safety or of prosecution or fines.

This campaign is one of the priorities for Amnesty France in 2020/2021 and it aims to frame the tone and the narrative to highlight a positive message and solidarity with the people peacefully protesting on the streets of France. It aims to achieve a multitude of objectives across media and communication, mobilisation and activism, advocacy and policy calls. The work at the national level will aim to support and mobilise a critical mass of ‘the street’ to support our campaign and calls, while the international part of the campaign will strengthen international criticism and scrutiny of France.

Please get involved and sign the petition

https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/take-action/france-right-to-protest-freedom-of-expression/ [Read more…]

Issues Discussed 8th October 2020

We discussed at length the forthcoming talk on Syria, 21st October,  by Revd Dr Andrew Ashdown:-
https://amnestyat50.co.uk/syrian-conflict-the-human-impact
The big issue is to how to promote locally and whether to invite other AI groups. Please can everyone let their personal contacts know and share within any groups they are involved with where at all possible.

We did discuss about inviting Bical, the new Local Groups organiser, who has take over from Farshid Talaghani, to the next meeting on the 12th November. Also to go ahead and order the W4R cards and leaflets in the hope something can happen. There was nothing in the Local Groups newsletter about this (or on the AIUK site). DR to liaise with LF and Bical – also to ask him what other groups are doing re W4R.

We did float the possibility of trying to liaise with churches and perhaps passing the information/cards to them if the library is a non starter.

DR reminded everyone that he has received further information on the Marielle Franco mosaic (Southampton group) and Auction of Promises (Croydon group) that was put on the blog page. He reflected that Marielle Franco is also our case file. The South America newsletter is also on the blog. Partly due to a lack of an AI researcher in Brazil there are no current Brazil actions. But there appear to be no updates on her case since the 2 year anniversary of her murder in March.

We reflected on the appalling developments in India, with AI India having to shutdown operations.

There was a reminder of the Activists Strategy Consultation Sessions at the end of October/early November. Sign up via the Local Groups newsletter. There is also a Panel Discussion scheduled on Saturday 10th October – World Day Against the Death Penalty. Hammersmith Group are also hosting a talk by Paul Bridges, chair of the Anti-Death Penalty Project, on 14th October.

Next Video Conference Thursday 12th November 8pm.    But don’t forget Syrian conflict: the human impact October 21st 7.30pm

Welcome to the latest newsletter. The next meeting  is on Thursday 8th October 8.00pm – on ZOOM.  Obviously our plans to return to Moordown Community Centre have been put on hold. Do join us if you can. There will be campaign updates and a discussion on future plans. In particular we will review plans for our Syria talk on October 21st (see below). Please reply to this newsletter if you would like the Zoom invite.

The Syrian Conflict: the Human Impact This talk by the Revd Dr Andrew Ashdown is now scheduled (over Zoom) for Wednesday 21st October 2020 at 7.30pm. There is more about the speaker, the content and how and why we have arranged it on the blog. There is also a link to his slides so you can get a feel for whether its something likely to be of interest to you. The main thing to flag up here is that we are likely to promote the event and/or let other groups know about it. There is a limit on Zoom to the number of participants allowed. So please let us know asap if you wish to attend. As ever, just reply to this newsletter, or use the contact link on the blog. https://amnestyat50.co.uk/syrian-conflict-the-human-impact

The UK Human Rights Act came into force 20 years ago, on 2nd October 2000.Its aim was to incorporate into UK law the rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights.   There have been numerous commitments, reports and other comments over the past decade on the Governments intention towards the European Convention on Human Rights, but in particular the Human Rights Act. Last month the Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, whilst dismissing any threat to the European Convention, said of the Human Rights Act:- “I think it needs to be looked at carefully. We’re working on ways on which we can examine that and do it in a mature and sensible way.” As maturity and good sense haven’t been much in evidence recently, we have reason to be concerned. Please visit AIUKs page on the Human Rights Act, with a link through to a petition. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/issues/human-rights-act

South America Newsletter October 2020 The latest newsletter is on the website – as ever full of updates and links to happenings throughout the continent, including three Amnesty reports.  One of these looks at the use of quarantine measures. Whilst some quibble about 2 week quarantine in the UK, in some countries, including Venezuela, El Salvador and Paraguay authorities have taken particularly strict measures which have included placing tens of thousands of people in state-run quarantine centres under the custody of the military and the police. Amnesty International believes that the way that the authorities have implemented mandatory quarantine has converted a public health intervention into a punitive response. This has disproportionately impacted low-income communities, and refugees and migrants returning to their countries of origin. https://amnestyat50.co.uk/south-america-newsletter-october-2020

This month, we update you on developments in Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Argentina,  Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay.  We alert you to three recent or upcoming Amnesty reports: on the use of repressive, mandatory quarantines under COVID-19 in three countries in the Americas; on the lack of protection for Human Rights Defenders in Colombia; and on the arbitrary detention, disappearance, torture and death of a retired Navy captain in Venezuela.

In other public statements, Amnesty has condemned the torture and excessive use of force by the Colombian police; called for a renewal of the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela; called for more investigation into the police force killings in Rio de Janeiro; and called on the Brazilian Government to return control of environmental monitoring and law enforcement to the appropriate civilian authorities in light of the alarming spate of fires in the Amazon.

We have one new and one updated Urgent Action for you: one relating to the killing of Roberto Carlos Pacheco, a Human Rights Defender, in Peru; and the other to the discovery of the body of Facundo Astudillo Castro, who disappeared after his arrest in Argentina.

REGIONAL

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, authorities in Venezuela, El Salvador and Paraguay have held tens of thousands of people in inadequate state-run quarantine centres without sufficient safeguards against human rights violations.  In the latest chapter of its series of reports on human rights in the Americas under COVID-19, When protection becomes repression: Mandatory quarantines under COVID-19 in the Americas, Amnesty has documented how the authorities in these countries have disproportionately held migrants, refugees, people returning to their countries of origin, and low-income communities in state-run quarantines, often in insanitary and sometimes inhumane conditions without adequate food, water and medical care.

The COVID-19 death rates reported for South America are among the highest in the
world. Peru has the highest death rate of any country in the world with 938
deaths per million. Other countries with high death rates include Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia.  This article reports on the impact on indigenous communities in the Amazon.

26 September was the deadline for countries to sign the Escazú Agreement.  24 countries, more than two thirds of the region, have signed it.  For it to come into force, at least 11 countries must ratify it and 10 have already done so.  The agreement, the first regional environmental treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean, sets new standards for protection of the environment and human rights that guarantee access to information, citizen participation and access to justice on environmental issues. It is the first international treaty to include specific measures for the protection of environmental rights defenders.

COLOMBIA

Amnesty is about to launch a new campaign with the report Why Do They Want to Kill Us? aimed at the lack of or ineffective protection that human rights defenders receive in Colombia. The report includes new cases and we’ll send you further details shortly.

Amnesty has issued a public statement condemning torture and excessive use of force by the Colombian police. This follows the death of the lawyer Javier Ordoñez at the hands of the police using Taser guns and the use of violence including firearms against people protesting his death. On 10 September, the Minister of Defence, who is responsible for the National Police, reported that 403 people were injured (194 of whom were members of the security forces) and 10 people were killed during these protests.

The Defence Minister has refused to comply with a Supreme Court order to curb police brutality and has threatened to imprison critics, according to Colombia Reports.

AP news reports on the large number of massacres that have resulted in the death of 230 people so far this year, double all last year’s killings. ‘The deaths signal a new chapter in the country’s long history of bloodshed. Rather than the previous national dispute between guerrillas and the state, violence in rural Colombia is now marked by a patchwork of local feuds between criminal groups that fight over drug routes, illegal mines and even gasoline smuggling routes.’ The disputes are mostly in areas that were vacated by the FARC following the 2016 Peace Agreement with the Colombian government. [Read more…]