By Sovereign Hager
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia-A U.N. independent expert on minority issues has urged the Colombian government to address the displacement, dispossession, poverty, and violence against Afro-Colombian, Black, Raizal, and Palenquero individuals and communities. The expert cited “woefully inadequate” implementation of equal rights legislation.

Collective titles were granted to almost ninety percent of Afro-Colombian ancestral lands, yet many communities are “displaced, dispossessed and unable to live on or work their lands . . . the laws say all the things but still, nothing has happened.”

Investigations by the U.N. Human Rights Council revealed that many Afro-Colombians are displaced by “mega projects,” or large-scale multinational business developments with government promotion. The communities are converned about the encroachment on their lands and environmental degradation. The U.N. expert called these rights “inconvenient rights.”

Other important issues discussed by the U.N. expert include, discrimination against Afro-Colombians, women, the displaced, and the poor leading to “extreme vulnerability.”

The Colombian government has a joint plan with the UNHCR and local aid groups to aid internally displaced people. Afro-Colombians living on the border with Ecuador and in coastal settlements are continuously being displaced. The department of Narino has the highest level of displacement, as indigenous people have been forced out at a higher rate than the Afro-Colombians.

Government estimates indicate that there are more than 140,000 internally displaced people in Narino, with 7,500 forced out last year. Over two hundred people per month register at camps for displaced individuals.

For more information, please see:

Reuters-UNHCR Helps Ease Life for Displaced Colombians in Swampy Shanty Settlement-8 March 2010

Mynews-U.N. Human Rights Expert Soptlights Enduring Plight of Afro-Colombians-16 February 2010

United Nations Human Rights Council-U.N. Expert Calls on Colombian Authorities to Focus on Afro-Colombian’s Plight-15 February 2010

By Sovereign Hager
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

GEORGETOWN, Guyana-Guyana’s Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination is challenging the country’s ban on cross-dressing in the Supreme Court, stating that the law is  “irrational, discriminatory, and undemocratic” and therefore unconstitutional. The six individuals behind the suit were born male but now identify as women. They were arrested and fined for crossdressing.

In a statement, one individual called the experience “one of the must humiliating experiences of my life. I felt like I was less than human.”  Those bringing the suit are also challenging the sexual orientation laws that make homosexual sex a crime. An international team of lawyers is working on the case.

International rights groups have increased their criticism of the laws as the government began a recent crackdown. Last year Guyanese police arrested and convicted several individuals under the law and fined them up to 7,500 Guyanese dollars each. The judge told the individuals to go to church and give their lives to Christ. Efforts to overturn the laws are strongly opposed by Christian, Hindu, and Muslim clergy.

There are laws banning homosexual activity and cross-dressing in many of the former British colonies in the Caribbean. The movement to overturn in the laws is gaining steam accross the region, with various allied groups working together. The first transgender human rights and health conference took place last September. One participant remarked that the case “goes to the heart of freedom of expression, our freedom to express our gender identity.”

A landmark case in Trinidad and Tobago created wider awareness about transgender issues in the Caribbean. In that case a police officer arrested and tried to strip search a transgender woman. Since that time dialogue has led to intergovernmental planning on strategies for sexual orientation and gender identity legal reforms.  However, in Guyana the calls for reform have not resulted in any changes and that is why rights groups are now using the courts.

For more information, please see:

PrideSource–Transgenders File Suit Against Guyana Crossdressing Ban-6 March 2010

Trinidad News-T&T Activists Say of Guyana Crossdressing Lawsuit: Just the First of Step to Bring Changes-28 February 2010

Rueters-Transgender Group Seeks End to Dress Code Laws-24 February 2010

By Sovereign Hager
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CONCEPCION, Chile-The search for survivors of the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile on February twenty-seventh continues, as the death toll climbs to over seven hundred people. Chile’s main highway was severed and over 1.5 million homes were damaged or destroyed. The epicenter of the quake was the coastal city of Concepcion, which is two hundred miles from Santiago. Coastal cities were also hit by a giant wave causing even greater devastation after the earthquake.

Chile’s interior minister called the disaster “a natural event the like of which none of us have experienced in our lifetime.” Field hospitals are being set up as the Chilean government awaits emergency supplies being sent by the United Nations. The Defense Minister Francisco Vidal told members of the press that the Army is deploying 10,000 troops to secure the most devastated areas. The hope is that the soldiers will be able to decrease the incidence of looting. So far troops have fired tear gas on looters in Concepcion. A curfew has been established to aid in these efforts.

While the earthquake was felt even in Argentina, more than fifty aftershocks measuring 6.0 have increased the devastation in Chile. The government has called on private companies to aid in the emergency efforts and reconstruction. Highways and airports are currently closed and there has been damage to some of Chile’s copper mines, prompting a spike in copper prices. Economic damage is estimated to be as much as $30 billion, or roughly fifteen percent of Chile’s gross domestic product.

The damage to infrastructure has slowed relief efforts. Food is reportedly running out because it is impossible for supplies to reach the city. A coastal town mayor stated that “people are running out of food at home and that encourages looting. If we don’t solve that problem . . . social tension will be very high.”

President Bachelet stated that about 2 million people have been affected by the earthquake, which is the fifth strongest world wide since 1900. President elect Pinera, to be sworn into office on March 11th, vowed to reallocate funds to reconstruction efforts.

For information about  groups you can support to help earthquake victims in Chile click here.

For more information, please see:

BBC-Chile Troops Tackle Quake Looters-1 March 2010

Business Week-Chile Deploys Soldiers to Quell Looting After Quake-1 March 2010

CTV News-Chileans Wait for Aid in Aftermath of Massive Quake-1 March 2010

The Economist-Chile’s Earthquake in Need of Repair-1 March 2010

By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela- Venezuela is strongly denying the findings of a new report on human rights from the Organization of American States. The report was released earlier this week by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and made findings that the Venezuelan government often intimidates or punishes citizens based on their political affiliation. The Venezuelan government claims that the Commission distorted statistics to construct a pattern of political repression that does not actually exist.

The report was compiled by seventy-five jurists and rights activists from Antigua, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, and the United States. The report specifically finds that democracy is in danger in Venezuela because the state punishes critics, including anti-government television stations, demonstrators, and opposition politicians who advocate an alternative form of government.

The report also states that “the commission considers alarming the number of cases of extra-judicial execution; torture; forced disappearances; death threats; abuse of authority; and cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment meted out by agents of the Venezuelan state.” Human rights workers and journalists were among those most affected by the “pattern of impunity.”

Venezuelan Ombudswoman Gabriela Ramirez told members of the press that the report “attempts once again to discredit and weaken the democratic institutions of the state.” She further criticised the OAS for a lack of impartiality demonstrated by taking statistics out of context and using others selectively. Ramirez maintains that the data actually shows that human rights violations have decreased in Venezuela.

The report acknowledges that the Chavez government has observed citizens’ economic, social, and cultural rights. However, the commission “emphasizes that observance of other fundamental rights cannot be sacrificed for the sake of realizing economic, social, and cultural rights in Venezuela.”

For more information, please see:

AP-Chavez Rejects Report Citing Human Rights Violations-26 February 2010

CNN-Venezuelan Official Disputes Report on Human Rights Abuses-25 February 2010

Washington Post-OAS Report Criticizes Venezuela-25 February 2010

Organization of American States-IACHR Publishes Report on Venezuela– 24 February 2010

By Ryan C. Kossler                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia – Amnesty International reports that the indigenous population of Colombia is at risk of disappearing.  Increasing abuses and a lack of government protection has forced thousands of indigenous Indians to flee their homes.  Amnesty International credits this influx in dispersion of nearly 1.4 million Indians to the changing nature of the four decade conflict between the military, leftist rebels, armed gangs, and drug traffickers.

Since the Colombian military increased its offensive against the rebels, the conflict has moved away from the urban centers where the conflicts originally occurred, and more toward remote rural and jungle areas where many indigenous groups live in designated reservations.  The shift in the fighting has increased the indigenous groups’ exposure to attack by armed groups who operate on their lands.  Marcelo Pollack of Amnesty International said, “part of the reason for the increase in human rights violations is to do with the way the conflict in Colombia has changed.  The conflict has been pushed to the margins, to rural areas where many indigenous peoples live.”

According the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), 114 indigenous people were killed last year.  This is a forty percent increase as compared to 2008 figures.  ONIC estimates that armed groups have killed more than 1,400 indigenous Colombians over the last decade.  Right wing paramilitary groups, drug gangs, and Colombia’s security forces have all been accused of committing human rights violations against indigenous tribes such as kidnappings and sexual abuse of women.

Colombia is home to one of the world’s largest displaced population, at an estimated 3.2 million internally displaced people.  According to the U.N., although indigenous groups make up around 3.4 percent of Colombia’s population, they account for seven percent of the country’s total displaced population.  The U.N. estimates that nearly 20,000 indigenous people were uprooted in Colombia last year.  The most recent threat contributing to displacement of indigenous people has been the danger of rebels kidnapping children to fight in their dwindling ranks.

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International – Indigenous Peoples in Colombia, Facts and Figures – 23 February 2010

Colombia Reports – Amnesty International is too Critical – 23 February 2010

Reuters – Colombia’s Indians Face Worsening Human Rights Situation – 23 February 2010