Colombia Solidarity Campaign

- Fighting for Peace with Justice -

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Letter to the holder of the Nobel Peace Prize.

RESPECT HUMAN DIGNITY AND

FULFILL THE ACCORDS MADE DURING THE 7 YEARS OF YOUR GOVERNMENT

We must engage in dialogue….whilst respecting the dignity of all.

This is what we did in Colombia” Juan Manuel Santos

Colombia, 01 November 2017

President JUAN MANUEL SANTOS CALDERON,

In the name of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the concurrent international pacts and conventions, the internal norms that govern the rights of indigenous, black and campesino peoples of Colombia and with respect of the Colombian National Constitution, which protects our right to life, we, the human rights organizations and social movements, whose names appear below, solicit you, as the maximum leader of the Armed Forces of Colombia, to halt orders given to the riot squads, ie the Mobile Anti-Disturbance Squadron (Escuadrón Móvil Anti Disturbios) ESMAD, to continue violent and abusive attacks against comunities who at present find themselves in the National Solidarity Mobilisations or National Minga (Minga Nacional).

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No! to Santos

No to Santos' Dirty War in Colombia! No to Mining Multinationals Destroying the Environment and Communities!

Yes to Real Human Rights for All! Yes to Peace with Social Justice!


The Colombia Solidarity Campaign has called a picket from 5.00pm on Thursday, 9th November outside  Chatham House HQ at 10 St James Square, Piccadilly, London SW1Y 4LE

COME AND SUPPORT THIS PROTEST - OUR VOICES NEED TO BE HEARD

The official event is from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 pm p.m. https://www.chathamhouse.org/event/chatham-house-prize-2017-president-juan-manuel-santos

 

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Human Rights Threatened in Cauca

THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND UNIONS IN VALLE DEL CAUCA NEWLY THREATENED BY PARAMILITARY GROUPS

The Committee of Solidarity with Political Prisoners denounces to the national and international community the new threats which they have received, as well as other members of unions and social movements. These threats have been constant and repeated, highlighting and stigmatizing the work of human rights defenders, unions and social movements generally. These threats, current and past, have been reported to the relevant authorities so far, without any responsibility having been found.

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Alert : MICOAHUMADO, BOLIVAR SUR

Alert : EARLY WARNING MICOAHUMADO, BOLIVAR SUR

The following organizations are issuing a warning due to the events outlined below: The Agromineral Federation of the South of Bolivar, Corporation Sembrar, The Chapter of Victims of Organized Crime of the State of Bolivar South, south of Cesar and Catatumbo.

Since Sunday 9 July 2017 on the outskirts of the village of Micoahumado in the municipality of Morales, Bolivar department, inhabitants have seen 4 men dressed in civilian clothes carrying large guns and they do not have any visible insignia which identifies them.

These people, according to the villagers, have entered some nearby farms and roads that lead to the village plaza

The presence of civilians carrying large firearms is creating unease and worry among the residents, as in March earlier this year, a series of actions of the Armed Forces, committed supposedly by the so-called called ‘lone foxes’, led to actions of judicialization of 14 social leaders and townspeople who were detained and until now are imprisoned without charge.

We call to the Human Rights organizations to recognize and denounce these acts and to demand the authorities to inform the community if these armed persons belong to an organization of State Security.

July 14 2017

The Agromineral Federation of the South of Bolivar, Sembrar Corporation, The Chapter of Victims of Organized Crime of the State of Bolivar South, South of Cesar and Catatumbo.

 

Heartbreak in Colombia: Assassination of leader.

Heartbreak in Colombia: BREAKING NEWS

Assassination of Afrodescendent leader taking part in the Patriotic March in the Municipality of Guachene
Department of Cauca, Municipality of Guachene Friday 14th July 2017

In the Jorge Eliecer Gaitán Neighbourhood around 11.45 am, when HECTOR WILLIAM MINA found himself with a friend, outside their home. Four armed men arrived, one of them said ‘Do it, it’s him’ and proceeded to shoot him with a firearm, probably a revolver.
HECTOR WILLIAM MINA was transferred to the Valle de Lili clinic but unfortunately died due to the gunshot injuries.

International Network of Human Rights ‘Francisco Isaias Cifuentes’
National Commission of Human Rights, Political and Social Movement
Patriotic March

 

Open Letter from Violeta Arango Ramirez

OPEN LETTER FROM VIOLETA ARANGO RAMIREZ to the PUBLIC 13 July 2017

(Hello friends, I am sending you a letter by one of the girls who has been imprisoned in the case of the bombing in the Andino Shopping Centre, Bogota. It explains well the whole case and the absurd show surrounding her and her peers.)

My name is Violeta Arango Ramirez, I am a sociologist, graduate of the National University of Colombia. On Saturday 24th June my life changed dramatically with a warrant for my arrest and a raid. Agents from the police intelligence department (SIJIN) and the police arrived at my house in the Chapinero district. Without understanding what had happened, in the anxiety and stress of the moment, my parents asked what was it about: I was wanted in relation to the terrible attack on the Andino shopping mall, accused of terrorism, homicide, conspiracy to commit a crime.

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The "military response" of the Government to Buenaventura: 300 wounded, 10 with firearms.

Buenaventura strike May 2017

Hard-hitting report from the human rights commission of the Buenaventura Civic Strike: excessive use of force, police infiltration, barriers to hospital treatment for the wounded, children at risk of violence by the police. This is how the report describes the "war treatment" for the civilian population who are on strike. The commission doubts the role of the Ombudsman.

 

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Abuses by the Public Security Forces during Buenaventura strike

1 Jun 2017 - 5:00 PM

 

By Alfredo Molano Jimeno


The Buenaventura Human Rights Committee has recorded nine people injured by firearms and stated that the Public Security Forces have been involved in these events.  President Santos has appointed as negotiator the Minister of the Interior, Guillermo Rivera.

After 18 days’ strike in Buenaventura and the government trying to normalise the situation, the Watchdog Committee for Human Rights - Civic Strike to Live with Dignity and Peace in Buenaventura - delivered a report with allegations of abuses carried out  by members of the Anti-riot squad (ESMAD) and the National Police.

With photographic evidence of the wounded, bullet shells and details of the way in which members of the Public Security Forces carried out attacks against the demonstrators, the Watchdog Committee presented the media with their report on the human rights situation  during the protests at Colombia's main Pacific port.

The inhabitants of Buenaventura are protesting the historic abandonment of the port by the Colombian state:  in recent years, armed groups have increased their struggle for the control of neighbourhoods, poverty affects 80% of the population as well as unemployment and illiteracy, which are around 60%.  In addition, the people of the port reject the political class that has run the local administration for decades, the selective killings and forced disappearances - even to the extent of  “casas de pique” [houses of dismemberment] which have been discovered and condemned by the people.

The human rights report warned that "in a joint action between the ESMAD and members of the SIJÍN (police intelligence) group in a white van, shots were fired at the communities that were at the ‘Place of Delights (Sabrosuras)’. This brutal action of the public security forces left six people seriously injured. The communities were demonstrating against articulated lorries passing through their territory.  The Committee had asked the National Government, at the negotiating table on 28 May 2017, to make these lorries subject to a 72-hour 'truce' of transit through their territory".

The document compiles information on nine people injured by gunshot impact and details hours, places and situations within which the facts were presented. It is important to highlight that all the wounded are under 30 years old and most are between 18 and 23 years old. Another one of the accusations set out by the Strike Committee is the excess of force with which the anti-riot squads acted in an area adjacent to a health centre.

"According to a health centre employee in the district of La Independencia  (employee of the District Hospital of Luis Abianque de la Plata), at approximately 2 am on 31st May, the health centre was filled with tear gas indiscriminately launched in the surrounding areas of the medical centre by ESMAD, affecting both patients and workers - medical mission - (three patients and approximately eight workers). The effects were so severe that one employee had seizures and several became ill" says the report.

The document adds: "the Public Security Force fired their weapons in the surroundings of the medical institution. At approximately 6.30am, the police entered with a wounded policeman injured during the confrontation with one of the demonstrators. This action indicates that the police were aware that there was a medical institution there.  Today, the health centre remains closed and staff says they cannot re-enter because there are no guarantees that they can provide the service. "

In the end, the Strike Committee has requested the accompaniment of representatives of human rights organizations, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Office of the Attorney General and the United Nations. President Juan Manuel Santos has appointed the newly-inaugurated Minister of Interior, Guillermo Rivera, to be the voice of the government at the conciliation table which seeks to agree on the steps that will allow the Port to return to normal.

Source (in Spanish):

http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/abusos-de-la-fuerza-publica-en-el-paro-de-buenaventura-articulo-696513

 
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