Action Center - Latin America Working Group

“It Could Happen to Any of Us”: Deadly Attacks Against Colombian Human Rights Defenders

by Lisa Haugaard on February 06, 2012

“It’s hard for us to do human rights work where we are. We have to hide what we are doing so they don’t watch us. Our comings and goings are monitored. Our emails are monitored. Our leaders are in a permanent state of stress, not just for themselves but for their children. It was hard for us to even get out to talk to you.”

This is what I heard from one activist when I visited Colombia on an international mission to investigate the status of human rights defenders this past December. Unfortunately, he was not alone in describing this systematic persecution and attacks against those working for justice in Colombia.

:2012, Blog Posts, Colombia, Lisa Haugaard

Deadly Attacks Against Colombian Human Rights Defenders

by Lisa Haugaard on February 06, 2012

:2012, Action Alerts

Congress Weighs in on Human Rights Defenders Protection Mechanism in Mexico

by Ben Leiter on December 18, 2011

By most accounts, Mexico has become an increasingly dangerous place to stand up for human rights over the past several years. According to the Mexican nongovernmental organization CENCOS, at least 24 human rights defenders and journalists were murdered in 2011 alone. The Mexican government has not adequately responded to threats and attacks against defenders, leaving 99% of all aggressions against them in impunity. Until Mexico’s judicial and law-enforcement institutions are fully able to uphold the rule of law, a special mechanism is needed to protect human rights defenders so they may continue their important work without fear. The Mexican government is in the process of developing such a protection mechanism, but has failed to fully include the participation of civil society--the very people these measures are being designed to protect.

Several members of the U.S. Congress concerned with the high levels of danger facing human rights defenders in Mexico have raised their voice. Together, they sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging her make a priority in her dialogue with Mexico the importance of civil society participation in the development of a protection mechanism for human rights defenders.

To read the letter, click here.

:2012, Congressional Letters, Statements, and Resolutions

Open the Suitcase: Declassify Guatemalan Military Files

by Lisa Haugaard on January 30, 2012

:2012, Blog Posts, Guatemala, Latin America, Lisa Haugaard

The Putumayo Women’s Alliance: “Here We Are Still Fighting” (Part One)

by Winifred Tate, LAWGEF Board Member on January 25, 2012

“On horseback, on motorcycles, in canoes, in jeeps, on unpaved roads, over mountains and through jungles, we arrived to listen to the voices of women.”

This account of a powerful Colombian women’s movement is brought to us by Winifred Tate, a LAWGEF Board Member and Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Colby College. Ms. Tate translated and edited the following interview with Nancy Sanchez of the Colombian human rights group Asociación MINGA about the Putumayo Women’s Alliance, a network of women’s organizations and activists working together for peace and justice in the middle of a conflict zone. This is the first of two posts about the Putumayo Women’s Alliance.

:2012, Blog Posts, Colombia, Guest