By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia—Despite recent victories over the country’s most powerful rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia remains a nation plagued by violence and human rights abuses.

Last month, Colombians rejoiced after learning that armed forces killed a high-ranking FARC commander, “Mono Jojoy.”  President Juan Manuel Santos, who took office on August 7 of this year, announced, “This is the beginning of the end for the FARC.”

But military wins have come at a high cost in Colombia.  Colombian armed forces have become increasingly infamous for frequent, and often unreported, human rights abuses with impunity.  Concerned human rights organizations have discovered evidence of torture, rape, looting, displacements and restricted freedom of movement against innocent civilians.  About 2,300 extrajudicial executions have also been uncovered.

Many believe that the government’s tunnel-vision focus on the FARC has allowed military abuses to go unchecked, while allowing other, smaller rebel paramilitary groups to run rampant.  It is even thought that many Colombian troops work with illegal groups to engage in drug trafficking and human rights violations.

A Colombian soldier has recently been accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl on October 2 of this year near a site where three children were murdered this month.  The soldier had disappeared from his military camp when both the sexual abuse and murders had taken place; he also fits the description of the offender given by the abused girl.  Incidents such as these remain alarmingly commonplace.

Colombia has admitted for the first time that 50,000 of its citizens have been “forcibly disappeared.”  The Colombian Commission of Jurists reported that the vast majority of those who vanished were activists who were kidnapped and killed by government soldiers or right-wing paramilitaries.

On Thursday, human rights groups issued a report announcing that over 22 activists were killed in the first 75 days of President Santos’ presidency.  The report, a 21-page document, explores the details behind several activists’ deaths, including indigenous leaders, a human rights worker, trade unionists, and community educators.  These murders only represent “registered cases,” and many other similar cases are believed to exist.

Maria Paulina Riveros, the director of human rights in the Ministry of Interior and Justice, vowed to investigate the murders “immediately,” and said, “Obviously we recognize that there continue to be very serious threats against human rights defenders; we say that progress is about to open the way to relevant consultation.”

For more information, please see:

Tribune Magazine-Finally, Colombia admits that 50,000 have ‘disappeared’-29 October 2010

Colombia Reports-Army faces further child abuse accusations-29 October 2010

Colombia Reports-22 activists killed in Santos’ first 75 days-29 October 2010

Miami Herald-A fleeting chance to end the war-29 October 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

 GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Thousands of workers in the sugar industry recently carried out a strike on the Guyana Sugar Corporation, the largest sugar producing company in the country.  The workers are protesting unfair wages and calling for a 15 percent pay increase.

With hopes of producing 264,000 tons of sugar by the end of the crop, the state run Guyana Sugar Corporation said that the one-day strike would not result in an actual loss of production but would reduce the number of available production days of dry-weather to plough the fields. 

Although the Guyana Sugar Corporation seems unwilling to accommodate the demands for the pay increase demanded by the workers, Paul Bhim, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, stated that “[t]he crop is still in an early stage because we are so far behind and as we go towards completing the crop, we’ll have more of an idea of what we could actually offer the workers in terms of a wage increase.”

In a statement released to the public, the Guyana Agricultural and General workers Union said it will not apologize for calling for the strike even though the sugar company is underperforming.

It is traditional for the sugar corporation to indicate whether there will be pay raises every year during the month of October.  However, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union claims that the strike is in response to the sugar company’s silence on the issue.

The Guyana Sugar Corporation claims that it has been holding talks with the union regarding the pay issue and the need for the workers to improve their attendance, which averages 57 percent attendance for working days.

Guyana is the Caribbean’s leading sugar producer and one of a handful of countries in the region that continues to export sugar to the United States and Europe.

In an interview with demerarawaves.com, Bihm indicated that the striking workers would lose one day’s pay for their actions.

For more information, please see:

Caricom News Network – Sugar Workers on Strike for Higher Wages – 19 October 2010

Caribbean News Now – Thousands of Sugar Workers Strike in Guyana – 19 October 2010

Bloomberg Businessweek – Guyana Sugar Workers Launch 1-day Strike – 18 October 2010

Nation News – Guyana Sugar Workers on Strike – 18 October 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Francisco Gomes de Medeiros, a Brazilian crime journalist, was gunned down in front of his home in northeastern Brazil.  The murder occurred last Monday and the police have since apprehended a man they believe to be responsible for the shooting.  Officials report that Gomes died instantly from five gunshot wounds.

Gomes, who routinely received death threats as a result of his criminal reporting,  recently claimed that political candidates were trading drugs for votes in Rio Grande do Norte.  Gomes declined to give specific political candidates’ names, and said that the cocaine-for-votes scheme was the work of people running for seats in the state legislature.

Only days after the arrest, police arrested João Francisco dos Santos, claiming that Santos committed the murder.  According to the police officials, Santos held a grudge against Gomes because Santos felt that Gomes’ coverage of a robbery that Santos had committed in 2007 convinced the judge to sentence him to eighteen months in jail instead of the seven months that Santos expected.

Although Santos has admitted to the shooting, police are not ruling out that the murder is connected to Gomes’ reports about the political drug trading scandal.

Emanuel Soares Carneiro, president of the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Stations said in a statement, “[Gomes] is one more victim of the violence committed against journalists that seek to tell the truth to society.”

Gomes’ murder is just one of many in an ongoing battle between the media and Brazilian criminals who wish to silence the truth.  One day before Gomes was killed, three men broke into the home of the owner of a small newspaper in Sao Paulo state and shot and killed him.  Police were unable to identify any suspects in the shooting.

According to media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists, 20 Brazilian journalists, most of whom exposed cases of corruption, have been murdered between 1994 and 2009.  Sidney Silva, who worked with Gomes at Radio Caico, believes that the murder is directly linked to Gomes’ journalistic work.  Silva described Gomes as “an excellent person and professional who will be missed.”

For more information, please see:

Radio-Info.com – A Radio Crime Reporter is Gunned Down in Brazil – 22 October 2010

Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas – Journalist’s Confessed Killer Arrested in NE Brazil – 21 October 2010

Latin American Herald Tribune – Journalist Slain in Brazil – 20 October 2010

The Washington Post – Crime Reporter Murdered on Northeastern Brazil – 20 October 2010

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Protests erupted nationwide in Argentina after the killing of a young activist.  Mariano Ferreyra, 23, was shot Wednesday while demonstrating with railway workers who demanded better pay and benefits.  At least two others were injured by gunfire, including a 57-year-old woman who is now suffering from a serious head wound.  The gunman is still unidentified.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has denied any government involvement in Ferreyra’s murder.  “Violence must be condemned by everybody,” she said at a rally at the Government House.  “We are all responsible.  I don’t want to live in an Argentina where people leave their houses armed with sticks and weapons.  I’m going to defend every demonstration, but not with sticks or guns.”

The President went on to criticize people who “believe that by repressing they show authority,” saying at another rally:  “Some were looking for a new death in Argentina; as they couldn’t achieve it in democracy, these kinds of violent groups appear.”

Opposition groups have denounced the government, accusing it of covering up the “union bureaucracy” they see as being responsible for Ferreyra’s death.

“Murder cannot be the response to a demand from workers,” Hugo Yasky, a union leader, said Thursday.

Although some members of the police force were present at the railway demonstration where Ferreyra died, no officers are currently under investigation.

On Thursday, widespread protests swept across the country as a backlash to Ferreyra’s death.  Protesters blocked roads and interrupted public transportation after a labor federation called a general strike.

Two airline companies in Argentina—LAN and Aerolineas Argentinas– are also protesting Ferreyra’s death.  Unionists from both airlines said they will stop operations from 12:00-2:00pm (for LAN) and 2:00-3:00pm (for Aerolineas Argentinas).  The protests are expected to increase flight delays.

For more information, please see:

Buenos Aires Herald-‘I don’t want to live in an Argentina where people leave their houses with sticks and guns,’ CFK-21October 2010

Latin American Herald Tribune-Union Member’s Killing Spurs General Strike in Argentina-21 October 2010

Momento24-Airline companies protesting because of the death of Mariano Ferreyra-21 October 2010

Monsters and Critics-Protests in Argentina after activist was killed-21 October 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America  

TIERRA AMARILLA, Chile – With the world’s attention focused directly on the 33 rescued Chilean miners over the last couple of weeks, Chilean President Sebastian Piñera has vowed to strengthen health and safety standards for miners in the future. 

Although miraculous, the rescue, and scrutiny that came along with it, has proven devastating to many mine workers.  New, strengthened regulations will undoubtedly cause mines to shut down for periods of time, and for some, permanently, putting many Chileans out of work in one of the country’s largest industries.

Northern Chilean mines are home to a vast amount of valuable copper, spurring investment to uncover the untapped resources.  Mining accounts for 40 percent of the state’s revenue and employs 170,000 people, about 10,000 of them just in the smaller mines in northern Chile.

The government crackdown on mining has closed dozens of mines or restricted operations until tunnels can be made safe, escape shafts can be dug and ventilation can be improved.  Piñera said he would triple the budget of mine safety agency Sernageomin, whose top regulators he fired after the collapse in San Jose but which had only three inspectors to oversee hundreds of mines in northern Chile.

Fernando Rivadeneira, a 45-year veteran miner, whose father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were also miners, stated “[t]his is all paralyzed now,” pointing to the small mine he owns and where he works.

Like the rest of the general public, the miners recognize the need and importance of a safer work environment in the mines.  However, they face unemployment as the only alternative because up to this point, the government has not offered any aid to those who will be forced out of work.

An inspection in September determined that Rivadeneira needed to reinforce tunnels in the mine that he operates, which means lining them with wooden timbers and industrial netting to capture falling rocks.  Rivadeneira, who is being forced out of a job himself, has also lost several workers on his crew due to the closing.

Rivadeneira said, “They are right about it, [b]ut I cannot just go work at something else. I am 62 and no one is going to give me a job.”  Nobody will argue that improved safety is a negative thing for the mining industry.  However, there are unintended consequences that cannot be ignored.

Although Chile has some of the toughest regulations in the region leading to a drop in mining accidents and fatalities, 31 miners have died this year, and government regulators admit that only a fraction of mining operations are ever inspected.

For more information, please see:

Washington Post – Government crackdown after mine collapse leaves other Chilean miners feeling left out in the cold – 16 October 2010

Bloomberg – Pinera Vows to Improve Chile Mine Safety After Rescue – 14 October 2010

CBC News – Chilean mine safety under scrutiny – 14 October 2010