This month, we have updates on Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Argentina and Paraguay, as well as Amnesty’s call on governments throughout the region to fight inequality and discrimination.  You can sign a petition calling on the Colombian government to counter the discrimination and stereotyping of refugee Venezuelan women and LGBTIQ+ people; and another calling on the Brazilian authorities to counter police violence.

REGIONAL

In an open letter to heads of state attending the 52nd General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), Amnesty called on governments in the Americas to fight inequality and discrimination by adopting all measures necessary to ensure full enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights in the region.  Amnesty also called on them to guarantee protection for refugees and migrants who face high levels of violence and discrimination based on their gender, race, or nationality, among other factors.

COLOMBIA

The Colombian Ombudsman has reported that between January and September 157 social leaders and human rights defenders have been killed so far this year. This compares to 109 killings in the same period for 2021. Most at risk are indigenous, farming and community leaders.

Colombia’s Congress approved a bill that allows new President Gustavo Petro to negotiate the dismantling of illegal armed groups. The bill gives Petro congressional support for his ambitious “Total Peace” policy, which seeks to reduce violence caused by illegal armed groups and organised crime. The new law will allow illegal armed groups to move to temporary locations where orders for their capture and potential extraditions will be suspended until talks are concluded. ‘Total Peace’ policy is based on the principles of deepening ‘democracy, solidarity and inclusion’.

Amnesty has launched a petition calling on the Colombian government to step in and counter the discrimination and stereotyping of refugee Venezuelan women and LGBTIQ+ people in Colombia. These refugees experience violence every day on the street, in their relationships and at work.

The WOLA Colombia peace monitoring centre has published a thoughtful article on the ‘lopsided’ defence establishment’s approach to security. While Colombia spends more on defence, as a % of GDP, than any other Latin American country, it remains one of the least secure for its citizenry. By comparison, the amount it spends on developing rural areas (PDETs), justice and effective administration of these areas is tiny. [Read more…]

This month, we update you on developments in Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Paraguay, Suriname, and Argentina.

In Colombia, most of the country’s dissident FARC guerrillas declared a unilateral ceasefire: during the conflict over 1,700 people were forcibly displaced by non-state armed groups, and over a million individuals from ethnic minorities were displaced. In Brazil, general elections have taken place, with Lula polling 48% of the vote and Bolsonaro 43%. The United Nations Human Rights Council discussed the report of the latest Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela, which was rejected by Venezuela’s government. The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture visited Ecuador, in response to the continuing violence, riots, and deaths in their prisons. This year, Paraguay will feature the Write for Rights campaign. In Suriname, Parliament continues to work to recognize the rights of indigenous people. Lastly, Argentine doctor Miranda Ruiz was cleared of all charges after performing an abortion.

COLOMBIA

In a hopeful development, the commander of the majority of Colombia’s dissident FARC guerrillas declared a unilateral ceasefire ahead of a possible multilateral ceasefire that includes the security forces.

Colombia Reports explains how the new government’s peace proposals could seriously disrupt the cocaine trade if it were taken up by the 22-armed groups fighting over cocaine cultivation, laboratories and trade routes. As drug traffickers largely fund the ongoing war in Colombia and Colombia accounts for nearly half the world’s production of cocaine, this would be a stunning success for the government of Gustavo Petro. But there is a long way to go, as the new plan resembles in many ways the peace accord with the FARC and earlier agreements to disband the paramilitaries, which have not put an end to the fighting or illegal drug trafficking.

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP in Spanish) has identified 1.35 million victims from ethnic minorities, who have suffered from forced displacement during the 52-year conflict to 2016. The JEP has begun mega proceedings against landowners which are aimed to activate the process of reparations for these communities. This is also an opportunity for communities, who have never denounced their loss of land, to have their claims investigated.

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre notes that 1,791 people were forcibly displaced by non-state armed groups from three different regions of Colombia in the month of September 2022. In 2021, 134,000 people were internally displaced, of whom 41 per cent were African Colombians and indigenous people. Around 5,235,000 people were living in displacement as result of conflict and violence as of the end of the year.

According to Global Witness, of the 200 land and environmental rights defenders killed worldwide in 2021 thirty-three were killed in Colombia. ‘Land disputes are a driving force behind the killings of land and environmental defenders, and the peace agreement acknowledges the need to address matters such as forced land displacement, unequal land tenure and the substitution of illegal crops by alternative legal crops.’

The London Mining Group and other international organizations are appealing to the highest court in Colombia over ongoing concerns of human rights violations at one of the largest open pit coal mines in the world. The organisations call on the court to uphold its earlier decision supporting the rights of Indigenous communities resisting the expansion of the Cerrejón mine, which is owned by London-listed Glencore. [Read more…]