Dr Miguel Angel Beltran Largest Global Union Federation Calls for Freedom for Colombian Political Prisoner

Justice For Colombia News | on: Thursday, 30 September 2010

Education International (EI), a federation of 402 trade unions in 173 countries representing nearly 30 million teachers, has added their voice to the Justice for Colombia campaign to free imprisoned Colombian academic Dr Miguel Angel Beltran.  An online petition launched by EI calls on the Colombian regime to read more


Millions of displaced people in Colombia live in absolute poverty. Those who speak out on behalf of the displaced are regularly threatened and sometimes killed. Human Rights Activist Assassinated in Colombia

News from Colombia | on: Wednesday, 29 September 2010

A leading human rights defender in the Colombian region of Arauca was assassinated on Friday afternoon as he shopped with his four-year-old son in the town of Saravena. Edgar Bohorquez, who worked with displaced families and was considered a leader of the displaced people’s movement in the region, was read more


Police Harass Parents of Murdered Brothers in Colombia

News from Colombia | on: Monday, 27 September 2010

Family members of two young men killed in strange circumstances last week, as well as the human rights lawyer who is representing them, have been harassed and intimidated by members of Colombia’s special ‘SIJIN’ police after they attempted to ensure that an investigation was conducted into the murders. Brothers read more


American Association of Jurists Condemns Government Abuses in Colombia

News from Colombia | on: Sunday, 26 September 2010

In a statement released yesterday the American Association of Jurists (AAJ), representing lawyers throughout North and South America, has accused the Colombian State of “crimes against humanity” and says that lawyers in the country continue to be the victims of persecution making it difficult for victims to obtain justice. The read more


Riot Police Attack Striking Flower Workers in Colombia

News from Colombia | on: Saturday, 25 September 2010

At least ten workers at the ‘Guacari’ flower plantation near the Colombian capital Bogota have been badly beaten after riot police were sent in to prevent them from establishing a trade union last week. Difficulties arose after a September 7th decision by workers at Guacari to form a trade read more


Colombian soldiers patrol next a Peace Community sign asking armed men not to enter the community Ongoing Army-Paramilitary Collusion Spreading Terror in Peace Community

News from Colombia | on: Friday, 24 September 2010

Soldiers and paramilitary death squads are colluding in a campaign of murders and threats in and around the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado according to local residents who have also accused soldiers of promising to “destroy” them. Established some 13 years ago, the Peace Community covers a rural read more


US Union Calls on Obama to End Military Aid to Colombia

Justice For Colombia News | on: Thursday, 23 September 2010

Citing the murder of nearly 40 trade unionists in Colombia already this year, the largest private sector trade union in the US – the United Steelworkers – has called on President Barack Obama to end military assistance to the Colombian security forces and ensure that no Free Trade Agreement (FTA) read more


Indigenous leader Ramiro Inampuez was murdered at the end of August Colombia Accused of Lying to UN on Violence against Indigenous Peoples

News from Colombia | on: Tuesday, 21 September 2010

The National Indigenous Organisation of Colombia (ONIC) and the Colombian Commission of Jurists (CCJ) today accused the Colombian government of attempting to mislead the United Nations about the true levels of violence being perpetrated against indigenous people in the country. According to a joint press statement the read more


Soldiers in Medellin search a man Medellin: Colombia’s second city erupts into violence

News from Colombia | on: Monday, 20 September 2010

The International Red Cross has announced it is to intervene to try and halt violence in the Colombian city of Medellin after the assassinations of over 1,300 people in the city so far this year. The levels of violence are far higher than at any time in recent years as read more


The town of Saravena is located in Aruaca province, near the Colombian border with Venezuela Eight Assassinations in Colombian Region of Arauca

News from Colombia | on: Monday, 20 September 2010

Reports from human rights organizations in the northeastern Colombian region of Arauca say that at least eight people have been assassinated in recent weeks, with six of the killings occurring in the heavily militarized town of Saravena. The most recent murder, at 1am today, saw 26-year-old Gabriel Eduardo Hernandez read more


Amnesty Denounces Afro-Colombian Killings and Threats

News from Colombia | on: Friday, 17 September 2010

Amnesty International has asked its supporters around the world to call on the Colombian authorities to protect Afro-Colombian communities in two provinces of Colombia who have been threatened by rightwing paramilitaries that, say Amnesty, sometimes operate “with the collusion of the security forces”. Two individuals have already been murdered read more


Amnesty International Highlights Colombia Death Lists

News from Colombia | on: Tuesday, 14 September 2010

Amnesty International has urged the Colombian authorities to protect around 90 young people named on two paramilitary ‘death lists’ after three of those named on the lists were killed last month. According to Amnesty one of the lists contains the names of 65 young men living in read more


Luz Mila Chavez, one of those murdered in recent months Increasing Assassinations of Women Activists in Colombia

News from Colombia | on: Tuesday, 14 September 2010

A coalition of Colombian civil society organisations have denounced what they say is a surge in violence against women community activists in recent months and called on the Colombian authorities to address the issue. The coalition, which includes trade unions, human rights organisations and community groups, gives details read more


The most recent attacks have occured in several regions of Colombia Upsurge in FARC Attacks in Colombia

News from Colombia | on: Monday, 13 September 2010

Leftwing FARC rebels in Colombia have killed more than 50 members of the security forces in a series of attacks since the start of the month leading to renewed calls by civil society groups and the United Nations for peace talks to bring an end to the conflict. The latest read more


VIDEO: Paramilitaries Still Terrorising Colombia

News from Colombia | on: Monday, 13 September 2010

This new documentary from Al-Jazeera examines how, despite claims by the Colombian regime to the contrary, rightwing paramilitary death squads are still operating all over Colombia. read more


The Heirs: The History and Future of Death Squads in Colombia

There is a long history of collaboration between local Army units and paramilitaries in the municipality of El Castillo Colombian Trade Unionist Assassinated

News from Colombia | on: Saturday, 11 September 2010

A Colombian trade unionist from the agricultural workers union SINTRAGRIM has been shot and killed in the latest violence in the heavily militarised central Colombian region of Meta. Nelson Murillo, who was also a member of the local Community Action Council, was assassinated whilst he worked at 1pm on Thursday read more