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…]

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

After a slow start, tickets are being reserved for next weeks quiz, with half the allocation now gone. We want a full house so do come along if you can. The Spring Quiz is  organised for Friday April 20th, 7.30 for 8.00 prompt at the (now refurbished) Brunswick Hotel, 199 Malmesbury Park Road, Charminster, Bournemouth BH8 8PX. David Brown will again be our host. For those unfamiliar, our quizzes are informal but competitive! Teams of up to 6 (some get arranged on the night), entrance £5 a person. Due to popularity, and past overcrowding. We are now obliged to limit total numbers to 54. Please get your tickets here. This system worked very well for our last quiz.  This will let you print off tickets once booked – you will still need to pay on the night!  Please book as soon as you can as we can promote the event more widely if any space left. Any problems, please leave a message (with contact details) on 07787350946, or reply to this newsletter. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/amnesty-international-bournemouth-group-quiz-night-tickets-42842612407

[Read more…]

SUMMARY

In this month’s newsletter we have an urgent action on Colombia where 500 Yukpa indigenous people crossed into the country and are being threatened with return to Venezuela. We have sad news from several countries in the region. In Colombia, Javier Bernardo Cuero Ortíz, the son of Bernardo Cuero was sadly killed on 19 March. In Brazil, a Rio de Janeiro councilwoman and prominent rights advocate was killed in what appears to have been a targeted assassination. In Paraguay, a 14-year-old rape victim died during childbirth. And in Venezuela, 68 people were killed in one of the country’s worst jail fires. Meanwhile, Martin Vizcarra was sworn in as Peruvian President following the resignation of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, and Argentina was up for review at the Human Rights Council. Finally, in London last month Amnesty UK partnered with Human Rights Watch for the presentation of the film Women of the Venezuelan Chaos; while this month Graham will attend a meeting with the Chilean Ambassador to raise human rights issues.

COLOMBIA

Amnesty issued an Urgent Action on behalf of the 500 Yukpa indigenous people that crossed to Colombia and are facing the threat of being sent back to Venezuela. This violates their rights as a binational population. The Yukpa people settled in Cucuta have been evicted twice since 1 October 2017 following the city mayor’s directive. They are currently living in highly precarious conditions lacking basic services such as drinking water, food and access to health or education. Please take action and download the UA.

Amnesty issued a public statement condemning the murder of Javier Bernardo Cuero Ortíz, son of Bernardo Cuero Bravo, on 19 March 2018. His brother Silvio Dubán Ortíz was also killed during the events. The murder of Javier Bernardo took place just nine months after the murder of his father Bernardo Cuero, human rights defender and victims’ leader of the National Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians in June 2017. The murders occurred just weeks after the trial hearing set to press charges against the perpetrators of the crime.

14 million Colombians elected a Congress and Senate on 18 March. Although President Santos’s party saw heavy losses, a small majority in both houses are comprised of parties favouring the peace accord with the FARC. The FARC’s party ran candidates for the first time, but received only 0.4% of the vote. However, as the Peace Accord guaranteed them 5 seats in each of the Congress and the Senate, the FARC will have a presence in both houses. The first round of Presidential elections takes place 17 May with the second round on 17 June. After 2 terms in office, President Santos is ineligible for re-election.

President Santos has said peace talks with the rebel National Liberation Army (ELN) will resume after a six-week halt. Mr Santos suspended talks with the ELN in Ecuador on 29 January after a series of deadly attacks on police stations.

Colombia Peace Monitoring reports the National Coordinator of Cultivators of Coca, Poppy, and Marijuana warns the government that it’s crop substitution program, part of Chapter 4 of the FARC peace accord, is not going well. The government had abandoned aerial eradication for crop substitution, resulting in an increase in cultivation of narcotic plants. Drug money finances much of the ongoing conflict in Colombia, with rival groups concentrating their firepower in coca growing and cocaine processing areas. Participants in crop-substitution efforts have been among a growing wave of social leaders killed in post-conflict Colombia. [Read more…]

 

The latest newsletter from the South America Team:-

SUMMARY

We have good news from Brazil, Venezuela and Peru. However, the security situation in Rio de Janeiro continues to deteriorate, while the number of Human Rights Defenders killed in Colombia in 2017 has risen by 32% and other victims of the ongoing conflict in Colombia continue to accumulate as well. Please continue to write in response to recent Urgent Actions on Brazil and Colombia. The film Women of the Venezuelan Chaos will be showing in London March 13 and 15. We hope to see you there.

BRAZIL

At least 14 people were shot dead and another nine were injured at a party in the city of Fortaleza, Ceará State, on 27 January. Media reports that were confirmed by the Secretary of Public Security state that this event is the biggest mass killing in the history of Ceará state, though the total number of victims could be higher, according to people living in the area. Amnesty International issued an Urgent Action on 31 January, calling on the authorities to ensure a prompt and thorough investigation into the killings. You can find it here.

President Michel Temer on 16 February signed a decree which put the military in charge of security in Rio de Janeiro amid a continued deterioration in security. Although the army has operated there during the last year, as well as during the Olympics and World Cup, this will put them in charge of the city’s police force — the first time Brazil has taken such a decision since the end of the military dictatorship. The director of Amnesty International Brazil stated that the actions of the army in the Rio de Janeiro have already aggravated human rights violations. For the Huffington Post’s account, click here.

An investigation revealed that more than one in ten of Brazil’s high-ranking politicians received campaign donations from companies linked to modern-day slavery. President Temer was amongst the 51 politicians. Brazilian law stipulates that four conditions are used to categorise ‘slave-like labour’, and include being forced to work and degrading conditions that put workers’ health or dignity at risk. To read The Guardian’s account, click here.

Good news. The Supreme Court issued a ruling that pregnant women, mothers of children up to 12 years of age and of people with disabilities, accused of non-violent crimes, should not be held in pre-trial detention. Instead, they should await trial under house arrest. Although a positive step, Human Rights Watch reported that the ruling highlights the country’s overuse of pre-trial detention, in violation of human rights law. Their assessment can be found here.  [Read more…]