Colombia

Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

RWANDA: Country marks genocide anniversary

Rwandan police have increased security for a national ceremony commemorating the 15th anniversary of a genocide in which more than one million people died.  al Jazeera

ISRAEL: Police kill Palestinian

Israeli police have shot dead a Palestinian motorist they say tried to drive into them during the demolition of the home of a digger driver who killed three Israelis last year.  al Jazeera

COLOMBIA: Prosecutor General investigates 22,000 disappearances

Colombia’s Prosecutor General Mario Iguarán revealed Monday his office is investigating 22,000 cases of people who disappeared during Colombia’s ongoing violent conflict.  Colombia Reports

SOUTH AFRICA: Permits Will Make Zimbabweans Safer

South Africa’s positive decision to grant temporary work permits to Zimbabweans in South Africa should help protect people fleeing the crisis in Zimbabwe, Human Rights Watch said today.  Human Rights Watch

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

GAZA: UN Official Pleads for Opening of Gaza Borders

The top U.N. aid official in the Gaza Strip urged Israel on Friday to ease restrictions on the flow of goods into the conflict-torn territory, saying they were “devastating” for the people. “It’s wholly and totally inadequate,” John Ging, head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, said about the amount of goods Israel permits into the territory, where some 1.5 million Palestinians live.  Common Dreams

FRANCE: ‘De Facto Impunity’ for French Police Unacceptable, Charges Amnesty International in New Report

Unlawful killings, beatings, racial abuse and excessive use of force by law enforcement officials are prohibited under international law in all circumstances. Yet in France, reports of such human rights violations are rarely investigated effectively and those responsible seldom brought to justice, Amnesty International said in a new report published today.  Common Dreams

GAZA: Evidence That Israel Violated International Law, US Domestic Law Implicated

Israel violated international law by targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, misusing weapons, deliberately denying medical care to the wounded and attacking medical personnel, the National Lawyers Guild Delegation to Gaza said today upon releasing a 37 page report containing new evidence on the facts surrounding Israel’s 22 day military offensive in Gaza. The full report can be viewed at www.nlg.org.  Common Dreams

COLOMBIA: 6th labor activist this year killed

Hitmen assassinated a union leader in the north west Colombian town of Montería. The victim is the sixth labor activist killed in the country this year, authorities say. Hernán Polo, a leader of the union for teachers was shot dead by sicarios (hitmen) while arriving home. His 16-year-old daughter was injured and taken to hospital for treatment. Colombia Reports

COLOMBIA: 97% of murders in Colombia go unpunished: EU

Less than three percent of the investigations of murders committed in Colombia between January 2005 and May 2008 led to a conviction, a European study shows. While in the researched period 62,737 murders were committed, only 1,699 cases (2.7 percent) led to a conviction, the European Union report says. The researchwas based on statistics by Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office.  Colombia Reports

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

COLOMBIA: Indigenous start search for murdered Awá

800 members of several of Colombia’s indigenous peoples started a search Monday to find the bodies of the eight indigenous Awá people who were killed by the FARC.  Colombia Reports

U.S.: Coming Soon: Declassified Bush-Era Torture Memos

Over objections from the U.S. intelligence community, the White House is moving to declassify-and publicly release-three internal memos that will lay out, for the first time, details of the “enhanced” interrogation techniques approved by the Bush administration for use against “high value” Qaeda detainees. The memos, written by Justice Department lawyers in May 2005, provide the legal rationale for waterboarding, head slapping and other rough tactics used by the CIA. One senior Obama official, who like others interviewed for this story requested anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity, said the memos were “ugly” and could embarrass the CIA. Other officials predicted they would fuel demands for a “truth commission” on torture.  Newsweek

GAZA: IDF soldiers ordered to shoot at Gaza rescuers, note says

“Rules of Engagement: Open fire also upon rescue,” was handwritten in Hebrew on a sheet of paper found in one of the Palestinian homes the Israel Defense Forces took over during Operation Cast Lead. A reservist officer who did not take part in the Gaza offensive believes that the note is part of orders a low-level commander wrote before giving his soldiers their daily briefing.  Haaretz

U.S.: Court Orders FDA to Reconsider Decision on Morning-After Pill Restrictions

Today, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued a ruling that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must reconsider its decision in the case of Tummino, et al. v. von Eschenbach in which plaintiffs challenged FDA policies regarding the Morning-After Pill, often referred to by its brand name, Plan B. Plaintiffs claimed that restrictions were based on anti-birth control politics and political pressure not science.The FDA must not only reconsider Plan B’s over-the-counter (OTC) status without any age or other restrictions, but must also make it available to women 17 and older without a prescription.  Common Dreams

GAZA: ‘IDF used Gaza boy as human shield’

IDF soldiers used an 11-year-old Palestinian boy as a human shield during the Operation Cast Lead against Hamas in Gaza, a group of UN human rights experts said Monday.  Jerusalem Post

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

COLOMBIA: US keeps US$72 million in aid to Colombia frozen over ‘false positives’

The United States have frozen US$72 million in aid that will not be released until Colombia knows to clarify extrajudicial executions carried out by the army and the role of the military’s top commanders in these human rights violations.  Colombia Reports

WORLD: Leading Climate Scientist: ‘Democratic Process Isn’t Working’

Protest and direct action could be the only way to tackle soaring carbon emissions, a leading climate scientist has said.  Common Dreams

IRAQ: New deal for Blackwater

Days after the Baghdad government decided it no longer wanted the company then known as Blackwater in Iraq, the State Department signed a $22.2 million deal in February to keep the embattled contractor working there through most of the summer, contract records show.  Washington Times

US: Cluster Bomb Supply Cut

A new US law permanently banning nearly all cluster bomb exports by the United States will end a long period of transfers of the weapon to Israel and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa, Human Rights Watch said today. The measure should spur the countries in the region as well as the US to join the international treaty prohibiting cluster munitions, Human Rights Watch said.  Human Rights Watch

US: Ill Migrants Left to Languish Behind Bars

Clinical staff at U.S. immigration detention centres systematically abuse detainees in their charge, according to two reports by Human Rights Watch and the Florida Immigration Advocacy Centre (FIAC) that describe the medical care system in these facilities as “dangerously inadequate”.  IPS

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

VATICAN: Pope says condoms could worsen Aids

The Roman Catholic pope has come under renewed criticism after saying that condoms are not the solution to Africa’s HIV epidemic.  Al Jazeera

ISRAEL: Lieberman has Arabs worried

The Arab world is reacting with alarm in the wake of a coalition agreement that brings Israel Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman closer to becoming the next foreign minister and grants his party other key posts. “The leader of extremism is leading diplomacy in Israel,” the Middle East Online news site proclaimed on Monday. Jerusalem Post

PALESTINE: Gazans Struggle for Clean Drinking Water

As environmental experts, NGOs and government officials gather in Istanbul this week to attend the Fifth World Water Forum, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has drawn attention to the critical water situation in Gaza.  IPS

COLOMBIA: FARC releases Swedish hostage

Colombia’s largest guerrilla group FARC released a Swedish citizen the rebels had held hostage for almost two years, a government official said Tuesday. The FARC released Erik Roland Larsson in the Córdoba department, where they kidnapped the 69-year-old Swede in May 2007. Colombia Reports

SIERRA LEONE: Women raped in Sierra Leone clashes

At least 20 people have been injured and six women raped in clashes between the two largest political parties in Sierra Leone.  Al Jazeera

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

US: Senate Committee Weighs “Truth Commission”

In a preview of the heated divisions likely be triggered by the formation of a “truth commission” to investigate detainee interrogation, warrantless wiretapping and other alleged violations during the administration of President George W. Bush, witnesses before a Senate committee Wednesday characterised such a body as either a “profoundly bad idea” or “critically important to avoiding the mistakes of the past.”  IPS

SUDAN: Rights Groups Applaud Bashir War Crimes Warrant

Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, the first head of state to be indicted by the Hague-based International Criminal Court, now faces an arrest warrant issued Wednesday by the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.  IPS

EGYPT: Hundreds Still Held Over Gaza Protests

Egyptian authorities should immediately charge or free Diaa Eddin Gad, a blogger held since February 6, 2009, Human Rights Watch said today. Gad is among a number of bloggers and activists arrested in relation to protest in Egypt since the beginning of the Gaza offensive in late December 2008.  Human Rights Watch

SRI LANKA: Urgently Evacuate Civilians

The Sri Lankan government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) should immediately agree to a plan of action to allow civilians trapped in the Vanni to leave the conflict area, Human Rights Watch said today. Some 150,000 civilians are at grave risk from fighting and aid shortages in the shrinking war zone in northeast Sri Lanka.  Human Rights Watch

COLOMBIA: Extradition of HH leaves hundreds of questions unanswered

The extradition of former paramilitary boss Hebert ‘HH’ Veloza — expected within 24 hours — leaves crimes against thousands and the disappearance of dozens unanswered. ‘HH’ will be taken to the United States where he faces charges for drug trafficking and is the fifteenth leader of the demobilized AUC to be extradited and face U.S. justice within a year. His extradition comes too soon for him to finish his collaboration with Colombian Justice and to confess the crimes he committed as one of the most feared leaders of the AUC.  Colombia Reports

ZIMBABWE: Forced Closure of Refugee Area Further Endangers Zimbabweans in South Africa

The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) today denounced the decision by South African authorities to close the ‘showground’, a large open field in Musina town near the border with Zimbabwe, where 3,000 – 4,000 Zimbabweans line up to apply for asylum and seek refuge every night. The closure of the showgrounds demonstrates a flagrant disregard for the humanitarian and protection needs of Zimbabweans seeking refuge in South Africa, and will have extremely negative consequences as no allowances have been made to ensure their access to shelter, food, or medical assistance.  Common Dreams

ISRAEL: US denounces Israeli demolitions

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has criticised Israel’s plans to demolish dozens of Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem, describing the move as “unhelpful”.  Al Jazeera

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

COLOMBIA: Spurious Cases Against Human Rights Defenders

Six months after human rights defender Julio Avella was put behind bars, a prosecutor reviewing the case threw out the charges against him, which were based on the testimony of former guerrillas and police and army reports, on the grounds that they were “contradictory, incoherent, inconsistent and illogical.”  IPS

U.S.: Jobless Angry at Possibility of No Benefits

As governors in nine states, mostly in the South, consider rejecting millions of dollars in federal stimulus money for increased unemployment insurance, there is growing anger among the ranks of the jobless in those states that they could be left out of a significant government benefit.  NY Times

BANGLADESH: Dozens missing in revolt

Authorities in Bangladesh continue their search for the bodies of people killed in a two-day revolt by border guards inside the capital, Dhaka.  Al Jazeera

SERBIA: UN court acquits ex-leader

Milan Milutinovic, the former Serbian president, has been acquitted of the murders of hundreds of Kosovan Albanians in 1999 by a United Nations war crimes tribunal.  Al Jazeera

CHINA: Government rejects US rights criticism

China has rejected US criticism of its human rights record, with state media describing the charges as “groundless, irresponsible and an interference in Chinese affairs”.  Al Jazeera

GERMANY: Headscarf Bans Violate Rights

German state bans on religious symbols and clothing for teachers and other civil servants discriminate against Muslim women who wear the headscarf, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.  Human Rights Watch

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Today, we focus events in Colombia. As we note in the first update, the U.S. State Department has noted some improvement in human rights in that Latin American country. However, as the following articles note, things are a long way from normal for many of its citizens.

U.S. State Department praises ‘improvement’ human rights in Colombia

A report by the U.S. State Department that was sent to Congress Wednesday praised the improvement of human rights in Colombia, but expresses concern about new paramilitary violence.  Colombia Reports

Investigators find mass graves with possibly 1,150 corpses

Investigators of Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office found a number of mass graves in the central Meta department where, according to some locals, 1,150 corpses are buried.  Colombia Reports

Rebels Kill Awá Indians as Army Informants

A local group of Colombia’s FARC guerrillas acknowledged that it had killed eight members of the Awá indigenous group, who it accused of being army informants.  IPS

Another Illegal Wire Tapping Scandal

Last weekend, Semana news magazine revealed that some agents at the Administrative Security Department (DAS for its Spanish initials), Colombia’s “secret police,” had been illegally wire tapping politicians, journalists, magistrates, intellectuals, and -this time- even government officials close to President Álvaro Uribe, including his private and legal secretaries, and an official from his personal security staff. Even worse, according to the magazine, some of these agents allegedly had been “selling to the highest bidder,” namely guerrillas, paramilitaries or drug traffickers, the information obtained with the illegal phone bugging. Most of the recordings, the magazine says, were destroyed [es] between January 19-21. The story was echoed [es] early Saturday by other media as the magazine was hitting the stores.  Global Voices

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Today’s update of human rights events around the world.

COLOMBIA: Radio show reveals identity killed FARC hostages

Caracol Radio show ‘Voces del Secuestro’ (voices of abduction) revealed 34 names of FARC hostages who were killed in captivity. The names were given by demobilized guerrillas.  Colombia Reports

U.S.: Probe Finds Army Charity is Hoarding Millions

As soldiers stream home from Iraq and Afghanistan, the biggest charity inside the U.S. military has been stockpiling tens of millions of dollars meant to help put returning fighters back on their feet, an Associated Press investigation shows.  Common Dreams

U.S.: Freed Guantanamo detainee says U.S. behind his torture

Binyam Mohamed, a British resident held at Guantanamo Bay for more than four years, was released and put on a plane to Britain on Monday and accused the U.S. government of orchestrating his torture.  Reuters

ZIMBABWE: 80,250 cases of cholera recorded in Zimbabwe (as of 19 Feb 2009)

These are the latest figure for the cholera crisis, as of (19 February), released by the World Health Organisation (WHO). 80,250 cholera cases have been recorded to date, and 3,759 Zimbabweans have died from the disease. Click on the graph to enlarge. This is Zimbabwe

CHINA: Trapped China miners found alive

Dozens of trapped miners have been rescued after a blast at the mine they were working in killed at least 74 people.  Al Jazeera

PALESTINE: Amnesty urges Israel arms embargo

Amnesty International, the human rights group, has called for a global arms embargo on Israel over its conduct during the war on Gaza.  Al Jazeera

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