This month we bring you news that:

• Colombia – The Colombian NGO Indepaz found that 187 social leaders and human rights defenders were killed in 2023, about the same number as in 2022 and 2021. There is still time to sign Amnesty International’s petition demanding that the Colombian Government improves its protection of human rights defenders, in particular members of the NGO CREDHOS.
• Brazil – Amnesty International has reiterated its demand that the killers of the human rights defender and politician Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes be brought to trial, almost six years after the assassination.
• Peru – The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples has warned that changes to Peru’s Forestry and Wildlife Law could legalise and encourage the dispossession of Indigenous Peoples from their lands
• Chile – Amnesty International’s report “Eyes on Chile” and several campaigns since the repressive response to the 2019 protests – including the current Urgent Action – have called for an end to impunity for those who were in charge
• Argentina – We have a new Urgent Action: Pierina Nochetti, a lesbian human rights activist, is facing criminal charges of “aggravated damage”.
• Venezuela – We have published a new Urgent Action calling for the removal of a bill which will potentially criminalize Venezuelan NGOs.

COLOMBIA

The Colombian NGO Indepaz found that 187 social leaders and human rights defenders were killed in 2023, about the same number as in 2022 and 2021.  44 former FARC guerrillas were killed in 2023, a slight reduction from the prior two years. A further 55 people were killed by landmines and 167,000 people were forcibly displaced in the year. In broad terms, violence continues at a high level despite the Government’s efforts to negotiate ceasefires with armed opposition groups. A more detailed analysis will be published by Programa Somos Defensores later in the year.

There is still time to sign Amnesty International’s petition demanding that the Colombian Government improves its protection of human rights defenders, in particular members of the NGO CREDHOS.

Justice for Colombia carries an update on the peace talks with the ELN and EMC guerrillas. Negotiations with the ELN (National Liberation Army) are into their sixth cycle of talks in Havana. Negotiators will focus on a ceasefire extension, an end to hostage-taking and enhancing the participation of civil society groups. Meanwhile, the EMC (FARC members who refused to abide by the 2016 Peace Accord) have agreed a six-month ceasefire extension to 15 July.

The BBC reports that the Colombian Government has approved regulations that encourage indigenous and Afro-descendant communities to produce energy from renewable sources and sell the power to the national grid. Over 70% of the country’s energy is supplied by hydroelectric dams, which can harm the environment and local communities. President Petro says that he wants to diversify Colombia’s energy mix.

The body of Eimer Emilio Gómez David, former member of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó (PCSJA), was found 12 December. He had been tortured and killed, presumably by former paramilitaries who still operate in the region. The PCSJA reports that former paramilitaries continue to occupy their territory and threaten their members while soldiers from the 16th Brigade stand idly by. The Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff recently wrote to AIUK’s Mayfair and Soho Group to say that he had given orders to the Brigade to hunt down these former paramilitaries. [Read more…]

This month we bring you news that:

• Regional – there is a new report by several NGOs on how armed criminal gangs have expanded their presence in the Amazon, threatening indigenous inhabitants.
• Peru – Amnesty has a petition calling for the perpetrators of the killings during last year’s protests to be prosecuted.
• Colombia – Amnesty has a petition demanding that the Colombian government protects Human Rights Defenders at risk, in particular members of the human rights NGO CREDHOS .
• Brazil – Amnesty has issued an action and a video interview with the mother of Pedro Henrique, a Brazilian human rights defender killed by police in 2018.
• Argentina – Amidst protests against new decrees, Amnesty has published an open letter to President Milei’s government urging that people must be at the centre of all public policy.
• Chile – Amnesty has an Urgent Action calling for an end to police impunity for excessive use of force during the 2019 protests.
• Venezuela – the Maduro government has mobilised troops, threatening to take action on a land claim on the oil-rich Essequibio region of Guyana.

REGIONAL

A group of NGOs, including Amazon Watch, have released a report Amazon Underworld (based on the work of the Amazon Underworld research journalism project and developed together with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime) that shows how criminal organisations and armed groups have expanded their presence, increased their political control and diversified their economies in the Amazon with disastrous impacts on Indigenous peoples.

PERU

Please sign the petition that we have placed on the AIUK website calling on the Peruvian Attorney General to press ahead with criminal investigations into the deaths and injuries during the protests in Peru between December 2022 and February 2023. After a year, the families and communities are still waiting for truth, justice and redress.

Ex-President Fujimori was released from prison on 6 December, following an order by Peru’s  Constitutional Tribunal. Fujimori was serving a 25-year sentence for his role in extrajudicial killings, abductions, enforced disappearances and corruption. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) had ordered Peru not to release Fujimori, but the tribunal argued that the order was not binding and then ignored a further IACHR order to refrain from implementing the ruling pending a review by the Court.  This article provides the background and the political context. [Read more…]