Colombia has the world's second largest population of internally displaced persons (five million) due to the half-century internal armed conflict—the longest-running war in the Western Hemisphere (since 1964). Control for territory and popular support among the three main groups (left-wing rebel forces FARC & ELN, right-wing paramilitaries, Colombian police/military) has left 220,000 killed, 75% of them non-combatants. Since 2000, the US has exacerbated the violence by sending more than $9 billion in mostly military assistance. Colombia, which has both Pacific and Atlantic coastlines, holds strategic interest for the US for global trade and military posturing.
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Registration is now open for congregations and individuals to participate in a special day of prayer and action this Easter season! CPT has prepared resources to be used during worship on May 8th, the Fourth Sunday of Easter.
Reproductive rights activists across Latin America have vowed to protect hard-fought gains in their own territories as they brace for potential ripple effects if the US supreme court overturns Roe vs Wade – the 1973 ruling which guarantees the right to abortion. Latin America has some of the most draconian anti-abortion laws in the world. But feminist movements have fought for decades to chip away at the prohibitions, and in recent years a younger, diverse generation of activists has mobilized in massive numbers to help clinch a string of victories in traditionally conservative countries.
Social activists and former combatants in the peace process are still being widely targeted in many parts of Colombia. The first four months of 2022 saw the murders of more than 60 social activists and 18 former FARC combatants, while armed groups continued to impact heavily on communities in various parts of the country. Here is JFC’s monthly human rights update for May 2022.
For the next six Fridays, AFGJ will be sponsoring a series of “Happy Hours”, each one an hour long, and featuring different social and political leaders who will help us understand Colombia’s elections and popular movements. These “Happy Hours” will not be your regular webinars where speakers give formal presentations followed by further discussion. Instead, the hosts and guests will share some social time together, conversing, as we learn details about the personal histories and lives of our guests interwoven with tales of struggle and discussions about their dreams and hopes for a New Colombia. Each show will also provide a chance for our guests to share some of the music, poetry, and other cultural expressions of resistance that help them keep their spirits up.
Gustavo Petro, a former left-wing guerrilla and the front-runner in Colombia's presidential election next month, is promising to shake up Colombian society. Disillusioned with the war, Petro took part in peace talks that paved the way for the M-19 to disarm and form a left-wing political party in 1990. Petro talks of raising taxes on the rich — and printing money — to pay for anti-poverty programs. To move toward a greener economy, he promises to stop all new oil exploration and to cut back on coal production, even though these are Colombia's two top exports. Petro has outlined a 12-year transition period and says the country could replace the lost income from fossil fuels with a major boost to tourism, and improvements in agriculture and industry. "I am proposing a path that is much better for Colombia," Petro told NPR.
Colombia’s anti-fracking activists are facing increased threats and violence as two investigative pilot projects to extract oil and gas from unconventional fields move forward, five campaigners said, with some forced to flee in fear for their lives. Threats against activists are common in Colombia, which was the deadliest country for environmental and land defenders in 2019 and 2020, according to campaign group Global Witness. “Environmentalists have repeatedly reported that the authorities dismiss their complaints of threats and do not give them adequate protection,” said Juan Pappier, advocacy group Human Rights Watch’s senior investigator for the Americas.
Eleven Colombian ex-soldiers are giving details about extrajudicial killings carried out by the army during Colombia's armed conflict, as they are taking part in a public hearing of the special court examining crimes committed during the conflict. Néstor Gutiérrez was among six former members of the military who gave evidence on the first day of the hearing on Tuesday. Five more are due to appear on Wednesday. The six took responsibility for killing at least 120 civilians between 2007 and 2008 and passing them off as combat fatalities in the Catatumbo region, in eastern Colombia.
Please see a summary of the letters we sent to heads of state and other high-level officials in Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, urging their swift action in response to human rights abuses occurring in their countries. We join with civil society groups in Latin America to (1) protect people living under threat, (2) demand investigations into human rights crimes, and (3) bring human rights criminals to justice…..IRTF’s Rapid Response Network (RRN) volunteers write six letters in response to urgent human rights cases each month. We send copies of these letters to US ambassadors, embassy human rights officers, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, regional representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and desk officers at the US State Department. To read the letters, see https://www.irtfcleveland.org/content/rrn , or ask us to mail you hard copies.
Ex-guerrilla Gustavo Petro, who leads in opinion polls ahead of Colombian elections next month, signed an oath Tuesday not to expropriate property if he becomes the country's first-ever leftist president. "My proposal of transformation for this country is not grounded in, and does not include, any kind of expropriation," the 61-year-old senator told reporters.
