Posts Tagged ‘Colombia’

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Is US aid Endangering Women Human Rights Defenders in Mexico and Colombia?

November 30, 2012

In the FPIF edition of 29 November 2012 (Foreign Policy in Focus, a project of the Institute for Policy Studies) Christine Ahn and Erika Guevara-Rosas have published a provocative piece that takes US policy – especially its aid policy – to task for contributing to the process of militarization that adds to the woes of (women) HRDs. A long but well-argued piece worth reading:

“While a significant chunk of USAID spending goes to education and health programs, pockets of aid enlarge the already bloated military budgets of recipient governments. The result: less security and more violence against women, particularly women human rights defenders. ………..we take a look into Colombia and Mexico, the two countries with the largest number of documented instances of death threats against women human rights defenders—and coincidently two major recipients of U.S. aid.”

Endangering Women Human Rights Defenders | FPIF.

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TRADE UNIONISTS IN COLOMBIA STILL AT RISK

August 20, 2012

While there have been some notable improvements in Colombia with regard to the situation of Human Rights Defenders over the last years, there are still terrible lapses as shown by the case of the trade unionists Oscar Arturo Orozco and Wilson Jaramillo’s who were shot at when traveling by car  on 4 August in the Caldas Department. The president of the Caldas branch of the Trade Union Congress (Central Unitaria de Trabajadores, CUT), Oscar Arturo Orozco and the secretary-general Wilson Jaramillo were travelling by car between Manizales and the municipality of Palestina in Caldas Department when shots were fired by two men on a motorbike and several others standing at the side of the road. Several shots hit the car, but neither man was injured. Both men are also members of the National Movement of Victims of State Crimes (Movimiento Nacional de Víctimas de Crímenes de Estado, MOVICE) and the Colombian Electricity Workers’ Union (Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Electricidad de Colombia, SINTRAELECOL).

Over recent years flyers containing death threats have been repeatedly left at the office of SINTRAELECOL, most recently in mid-July when the death threat contained a picture of bullet cartridges. According to the CUT, 12 trade unionists have been killed in Colombia in this year alone. This attack comes at a time when there had been an order to remove the protection Oscar Arturo Orozco was receiving and when parts of the budget of the Ministry of Interior Protection Programme have been reduced.

Amnesty International, Protection International and other NGOs call for expressions of support:  Go to original article

 

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New UN rapporteur for truth, justice and reparation important for HRDs

April 6, 2012

The Mail & Guardian Online carried an interesting piece that may have gone unnoticed. It is about the appointment of the first ever Rapporteur ‘on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence’. On March 23, the United Nations Human Rights Council appointed Pablo de Greiff, a Colombian national, who is currently the New York-based director of research at the International Centre for Transitional Justice. His tenure as special rapporteur begins on May 1.

The article refers to a recent meeting entitled “African Perspectives on the Appointment and Mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence”, of which a comprehensive report is forthcoming.

The article also gives a useful background to the what “Special procedures” are and underlines rightly that civil society (i.e. HRDs) should play a vital role in relation to the special rapporteur. Feeding the special rapporteur with succinct, reliable and accurate information on urgent matters relating to the mandate is one important function civil society can take on. Raising awareness about the special rapporteur and the relevant mandate as well as how it translates into reality is equally important in order to ensure increased participation in the broader process.

UN appoints rapporteur for justice – Opinion – Mail & Guardian Online.

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HRDs in Latin America get attention from experts on 6 March

February 19, 2012

On 6 March 2012, the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) will organise a side-event to United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, where UN and Latin American experts will come together to study and publicize the conditions of human rights defenders working in the Americas.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ (IACHR) has it own Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, Mr José de Jesús Orozco. His report will highlights an increase in assassinations, extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances of human rights defenders in the region since 2006, particularly in those countries where democratic rule is interrupted, where there is internal armed conflict, or where clashes occur between defenders and organised crime groups or powerful economic actors. In response, the IACHR has ordered many American States to take specific action to protect defenders. These protection measures have been issued primarily to Colombia (27 percent), Guatemala (24 percent), and Honduras (9 percent).

At the same event, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, Ms Margaret Sekaggya will present ISHR’s report on the situation of defenders in Colombia. The findings are the result of research into whether recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur have been effectively implemented in Colombia, following her visit to the country in 2009. The report portrays a Colombian Government showing a more constructive attitude in its dealings with human rights defenders. However, it also identifies a failure to mainstream this attitude among local authorities, a worrying increase in attacks on human rights defenders in the past year, and the limited success of State authorities in investigating and addressing such attacks. Executive Director of the Colombian Commission of Jurists, Mr Gustavo Gallón will go on to provide a civil society view on the ISHR report and the situation of defenders in Colombia.

Further information about the event can be downloaded here.

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Peace Brigades International (PBI) ‘celebrates’ 15 years with video on Youtube

November 30, 2011
English: Orthographic map of Colombia centered...

Image via Wikipedia

PBI Colombia, which was the Laureate of the MEA in 2001, celebrated 15 years of accompanying human rights defenders with a special edition of its Bulletin and a

documentary about its work with filmmaker Oliver Merchant; the documentary ’15 years of PBI Colombia”  is available to view – chapter by chapter – on YouTube.

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The Observatory starts with videos on Human Rights Defenders

June 16, 2011

As someone who has always championed the increased use of film images for Human Rights Defenders (one reason to start True Heroes, films for HRDs, in 2006), the reader will understand my joy to share the following announcement:

On June 14, 2011, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), released a series of video testimonies on the situation of human rights defenders in Belarus, Colombia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Observatory is – finally ! – developing audio-visual testimonies as a tool to widen the mobilisation and to increase impact on the media and public opinion. This new tool also aims at increasing the awareness of activists, national authorities, national, regional and international institutions and agencies and their mechanisms.

You can see the first series of such testimonies on the situation of human rights defenders in Belarus, Colombia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and the DRC by following the links on the website of FIDH and OMCT. For more information please contact:

FIDH: Karine Appy, Arthur Manet: + 33 1 43 55 25 18
OMCT: Delphine Reculeau: + 41 22 809 49 39

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