Welcome to the latest South America newsletter. Several illegal armed groups in Colombia have agreed to talks after the new President proposed a conditional ceasefire, while new figures have revealed the huge numbers of deaths, kidnappings and disappearances in the civil war.  Brazilian police have arrested five more suspects of the killing of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, while UN experts have called on the government to take steps to put an end to police violence.  125 organisations including Amnesty have called for the renewal of the mandate of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela.  Human Rights Watch have highlighted the scale of sexual violence in schools in Ecuador.

COLOMBIA

Colombia’s recently inaugurated President Gustavo Petro has proposed a multilateral ceasefire with illegal armed groups that agree to negotiate their demobilization and disarmament. According to Colombia Reports, opposition armed groups that have agreed to talks include the ELN (National Liberation Army) two dissident FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) commands and dissident AUC (United Self-defence forces of Colombia) paramilitaries.

Colombia’s Truth Commission has issued its final report and executive summary on the six decades long civil war in Colombia. Its estimates for the number of victims are much higher than previously thought.

• 450,000 fatalities. Those responsible for deaths were mainly paramilitaries (45%), guerrillas (27%) and state agents (12%).
• Over 110,000 forcibly disappeared. Main perpetrators were paramilitaries (52%), FARC (24%) and state agents (8%).
• At least 50,000 kidnappings. Main perpetrators FARC (40%), paramilitaries (24%), ELN (19%).
• At least 8 million people have been forcibly displaced. 70% of the perpetrators are not recorded.
• Recruitment of child soldiers exceeded 30,000. 40% by the FARC, 13% by paramilitaries and 9% by the ELN.

You can download the Executive Summary with a commentary by the UK’s ABColombia here.

 WOLA Colombia Peace report that investigative journalists at Blu Radio allege that corrupt officials in Colombia abused their positions to steal hundreds of millions of dollars in peace accord implementation funds, which were meant for some of the country’s poorest, most violent, and least governed territories. They estimate that 12% of the funds never reached their destination. Three investigations by the Attorney General, the Internal Affairs Office and the Supreme Court are under way. Corruption is endemic in Colombia.

 Following their visit to Colombia, the international lawyers group Colombia Caravana is deeply concerned about serious threats to the rule of law that limit access to justice, the repression of political participation and social protest, and the lack of security guarantees for those carrying out vital human rights work in Colombia. They denounce the stigmatisation of legal defence work by conflating lawyers with their clients, the criminalisation of human rights defenders, lawyers and
judges through vexatious litigation [Read more…]

This month we bring you news from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela and a new Urgent Action on Colombia. We report on the plight of female Venezuelan refugees in Colombia and Peru, and the ongoing serial killings of human rights defenders in Colombia. We review Amnesty’s two new updates on human rights in Argentina and Peru relating to their UN Universal Periodic Reviews, ongoing issues with impunity in Uruguay and a new report on extreme violence in Ecuador’s prisons.  There has been another mass killing by Rio police in one of the favelas, a killing of an indigenous leader in Venezuela, and attacks on indigenous peoples by police in Brazil. There is good news from Colombia’s Senate which has started the country’s ratification of the Escazú Agreement.

VENEZUELAN REFUGEE WOMEN IN COLOMBIA AND PERU

In a new report, Amnesty has accused the Colombian and Peruvian states of being largely absent when it comes to guaranteeing, protecting and respecting the right to a life free of violence and discrimination for Venezuelan refugee women, who face gender-based violence in all areas of life, Unprotected: Gender-Based Violence Against Venezuelan Refugee Women in Colombia and Peru. Colombia and Peru have received the largest numbers of Venezuelans fleeing human rights abuses in their own country, together hosting more than 50% of all those who have fled Venezuela.

COLOMBIA

Amnesty International has issued a new Urgent Action on Colombia. On July 5th, Yuli Velásquez, President of the Federation of Santander Fishers for Tourism and Environment (FEDEPESAN), was the victim of an armed attack. Two unknown assailants shot at her, harming her bodyguard. Members of FEDEPESAN have previously suffered other armed attacks and threats. We urge Colombia’s National Protection Unit (UNP) to grant protective measures to Yuli that adequately respond to the level of risk Yuli and FEDEPESAN members are facing.

Amnesty’s report Unprotected (see above) finds that in Colombia Venezuelan women face multiple forms of violence in public spaces, at home and at work. Despite this, they are denied access to justice and health services because of stereotypes related to their gender, nationality and gender identity, among other factors, which also mean they experience new forms of violence and discrimination when they try to file a complaint.

Accompanying the report Unprotected is Amnesty’s Facts and Figures on this gender-based violence against Venezuelan refugee women. In Colombia, 122,000 cases of gender-based violence were reported in 2020 alone. One in four said they had experienced discrimination and of these over half said they had suffered violence in the street.

Programa Somos Defensores (Programme We Are Defenders) report 53 killings of Human Rights Defenders and Social Leaders in the first quarter of 2022, almost double compared to the same period for 2021. Of those perpetrators identified, ex-Paramilitaries were most numerous followed by FARC Dissidents and the Armed Forces. Killings occurred across over half the country’s departments. Indigenous leaders were again especially targeted.

Colombia’s Senate has ratified the Escazú Agreement, a first step which would give local communities much more say over the environment and control over extraction of resources. These include the rights of access to information about the environment, public participation in environmental decision-making, environmental justice, and a healthy and sustainable environment for current and future generations. The approval brings the agreement one step closer to being ratified in Colombia as a whole, pending two more debates and votes in the House of Representatives, the Commission and in the plenary. Finally, the agreement would be signed by the President. [Read more…]