This month we bring you news from Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Suriname

Highlights are:

• Regional: AI Directors in the region have shared concerns about President Trump’s agenda and the implications for human rights in the region and more widely
• Venezuela: There is a new Urgent Action calling for the release of four unfairly detained Human Rights Defenders
• Colombia: There is a new Urgent Action calling for the protection of the civilian population of Catatumbo, where armed violence has led to dozens of civilian deaths and massive forced displacements
• Argentina: Tens of thousands have taken to the streets to protest against the threat to diversity rights arising from President Milei’s recent pronouncements
• Chile: Two police officers have been sentenced to imprisonment for an unprovoked attack in 2019 that led to a 24-year-old student and athlete losing vision in one eye
• Suriname: Plans for a major mining project in western Suriname have sounded alarms in nearby Indigenous communities

REGIONAL

The executive directors of all Amnesty International Americas sections have joined to share concerns about President Trump’s agenda and possible threats to human rights in the U.S. and around the world and especially the impacts on the Americas region.  Amnesty International Directors also reminded the incoming U.S. administration of its international human rights obligations in a challenging and polarised environment.

VENEZUELA

We have launched a new Urgent Action calling for the release of Javier Tarazona, Rocio San Miguel, Carlos Julio Rojas, and Kennedy Tejeda. Carlos Correa, who we have also been campaigning for, has now been released. Correa had been detained for eight days after being intercepted by hooded individuals dressed in black, without his friends or family knowing his whereabouts. There are reports of him to be soon facing criminal charges, although no evidence of criminal wrong-doing has been presented.

Javier Tarazona has been unfairly detained since 2 July 2021, Rocio San Miguel since 9 February 2024, Carlos Julio Rojas since 15 April 2024, and Kennedy Tejeda since 2 August 2024. Rocio San Miguel has not received complex surgery and rehabilitation for an injury sustained months back whilst in custody. [Read more…]

This month we bring you news from Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and Ecuador.

Highlights are:

• Colombia: Amnesty has released a new report which documents the reality experienced by the women who dedicate their lives to searching for the victims of enforced disappearance.
• Peru: Amnesty has published the stories of four of the survivors of the repression of the 2022/23 protests, highlighting how the authorities have failed to ensure their health and recovery.
• Venezuela: Nicolas Maduro has been sworn in to the Presidency, prompting outrage amongst non-governmental organisations and in other countries.
• Chile: Amnesty has issued a new Urgent Action, calling on the Senate to reject draft legislation that poses a grave threat to the rights of migrants.
• Argentina: Amnesty Argentina have published a report on the human rights situation during 2024. This explores how the economic policies and reforms have negatively impacted the lives of millions of people, especially the most vulnerable.
• Ecuador: Amnesty has published an article on how communities in the city of Guayaquil and along the country’s coast have stepped up their activism in the face of the hostile environment created by the authorities.

 COLOMBIA

Amnesty has released a new report Transforming pain into rights: Risks, threats and attack on women searchers in Colombia.  The report documents the reality experienced by the women who dedicate their lives to searching for the victims of enforced disappearance in Colombia, and the need for society to recognize these women and for the authorities to guarantee their rights, given the serious obstacles they face in demanding truth and justice.  The report has been prepared as part of Amnesty International’s #SearchingWithoutFear campaign, which calls for the recognition and protection of women searchers across the Americas. [Read more…]

This month we bring you news from Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Brazil, Paraguay and Ecuador.

• Peru – Amnesty is bringing two Human Rights Defenders to the UK and you may book here to join them at the Human Rights Action Centre on 11 November evening and you can sign a petition.
• Colombia – Amnesty has issued a new Urgent Action demanding that the authorities investigate the attacks on Fundación Nydia Erika Bautista.
• Argentina – Joel Paredes is in this year’s Write For Rights campaign, you can sign an online petition
• Argentina – Amnesty has issued a new report Muted: The impact of digital violence against women journalists.
• Venezuela – Amnesty welcomes the two-year extension of the UN’s Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela.
• Chile – On the 5^th anniversary of the protests, Amnesty demands reparations for victims of the protests and reform of the Carabineros
• Brazil – As the trial of the killers of Marielle Franco begins, Amnesty demands that the master minds behind the killings be apprehended.
• Paraguay – Amnesty has issued an updated Urgent Action aimed at stopping the enactment of a bill that endangers work for human rights in Paraguay.
• Ecuador – Amnesty issued a briefing setting out its concerns about the decline in human rights protections under the current administration

PERU

Two Peruvian Human Rights Defenders will visit the UK from 10-13 November to raise international pressure in the search for justice for those who were killed or seriously injured during the repression of protests in Peru in 2022-2023. Yovana Mendoza Huarancca, Vice-President of the Ayacucho Victims Association, and Mario Iquita Chambi, Representative of the Juliaca Victims Association, will be speak at an event that we are organising at the Human Rights Action Centre on 11 November from 6pm to 8pm.  Space will be limited to a maximum attendance of 40.  You can book here. Their programme includes a meeting at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and an event at Parliament.  You can still sign our petition here.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has found that the policy of forced sterilisation in Peru, which took place during the 1990s, amounted to sex-based violence and intersectional discrimination, particularly against Indigenous, rural, and economically disadvantaged women.  The decision was a response to a joint complaint filed by five victims who were forcibly sterilised between 1996 and 1997 as part of the State-led birth control policy. [Read more…]

AIUK SOUTH AMERICA TEAM OCTOBER 2024 NEWSLETTER

Dear Friends
This month we bring you news from Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Peru. 
Highlights are:

• Regional: Amnesty has called on seven South American Presidents to strengthen action to reduce the risk of wildfires after recent record fires had a devasting impact on indigenous territories
• Colombia: We have an Urgent Action calling for those threatening and harassing Jani Silva to be brought to justice
• Argentina: We have a new Urgent Action urging Congress to insist on the passage of a law to improve pensions for older people.
• Venezuela: Amnesty has called for the extension of the mandate of the UN’s International Independent Fact-Finding Mission for Venezuela
• Brazil:  Global Witness reports that 25 land and environmental defenders were killed in Brazil during 2023
• Chile: President Boric has promised to push for the repeal of a dictatorship-era law that rules out most investigations of crimes against humanity committed under General Pinochet.
• Peru: Former President Alberto Fujimori, who was convicted of human rights abuses and corruption, has died aged 86.
• Uruguay: Human Rights Watch report Uruguay’s shortcomings in meeting the support requirements of people with disability

REGIONAL

August and September 2024 saw record fires across South America, with several millions of hectares burning not only in rainforests of the Amazon basin, but also in diverse ecosystems stretching across entire countries.  Amnesty has published an Open Letter addressed to the presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru calling for governments to ramp up action to extinguish wildfires, strengthen efforts to abandon fossil fuels, protect territories of Indigenous Peoples and provide guarantees to environmental human rights defenders.

COLOMBIA

Amnesty has issued a new Urgent Action : On 10 September Jani Silva, a defender of land, territory and the environment in the Colombian Amazon (department of Putumayo), received a phone call threatening to “blow you up, car and all”. Jani and her association ADISPA have protection measures in place, provided by the government’s National Protection Unit (UNP). We call on the Colombian authorities to identify those responsible and to bring them to justice. Please take action. This is the letter we sent at our last meeting.

Global Witness reports that in 2023 Colombia was the most dangerous country in the world for land and environmental defenders ‘with a record 79 defenders killed last year compared to 60 in 2022, and 33 in 2021. With 461 killings from 2012 to 2023, Colombia has the highest number of reported environmental defender killings globally on record.’ [Read more…]