SUMMARY
In this month’s newsletter (from the South American Team of Graham Minter and Richard Crosfield), we report on the recent visit to the UK of Esperanza Huayama, a leading campaigner for justice for the thousands of indigenous women submitted to forced sterilisation in Peru in the 1990s. We report further on the crisis in Venezuela where 80 people have been killed in anti-government protests in the last three months and the Attorney General has been banned from leaving the country. There is good news on the peace process in Colombia but major challenges remain as threats to communities continue. Brazil remains in turmoil and we highlight reports on police killings, violence against women and attacks against human rights defenders. In Chile we have a new Individuals At Risk case (Rodrigo Mundaca) that you can opt into and there are concerns that the law partially decriminalising abortion may be watered down. In Paraguay, President Cartes has threatened two journalists with imprisonment.
PERU
In June we were delighted to co-host, with the University of Kent and the Peru Support Group, the visit to the UK of Esperanza Huayama, President of the Association of Forcibly Sterilised Women in the province of Huancabamba and Vice-President of the National Association. The programme included an event at the Human Rights Action Centre (photo), where we presented a documentary on the subject and heard from Esperanza about her own experience and her work to campaign for justice. We also accompanied Esperanza to meetings at parliament, the FCO, CAFOD and Equality Now. For a fuller report, see here.
VENEZUELA
At least 80 people have been killed in anti-Government protests in the last three months. Amnesty has warned that “the increased deployment of military forces to repress protests, the rise in excessive use of force against protesters and others, and the use of military courts to try to silence dissenting voices illustrates a terrifying shift of the Venezuelan authorities’ approach to the human rights crisis wreaking havoc across the country”. For a fuller report, see here.
The Attorney-General, Luisa Ortega Díaz, has asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for protection, after the Supreme Court barred her from leaving the country and ordered her bank accounts to be frozen. Ortega Díaz’s office had just announced that it was summoning the chief of Venezuela’s intelligence agency, Gustavo Gonzalez, to appear before them on suspicion of “committing grave and systemic violations of human rights”. Ortega Díaz, one of the few critical voices in the current government, had earlier contested a Supreme Court decision that would have dissolved the opposition-controlled National Assembly, the decision that sparked the current wave of protests. [Read more…]
Amnesty has issued a statement that the use of military courts to try civilians in Venezuela undermines the rule of law in the country, violating the Venezuelan constitution and international laws. According to official data, more than 250 people are currently deprived of their liberty and were brought before military judges and prosecutors. They were all prosecuted under military jurisdiction for crimes such as “association with intent to incite rebellion” and “attacking a sentinel”. More information 
