by Alivia Tison, LAWG intern
on July 24, 2012
On July 10th in Washington DC, Reverend Francisco Marrero, the General Secretary of the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba (PRCC), discussed the role of the PRCC in Cuba. In celebration of the 45th anniversary in which the PRCC became autonomous from the New Jersey Senate of the Presbyterian Church, Marrero shared the strides the PRCC had made as well as the challenges the church still faces in light of its strong and active presence within Cuba's ecumenical community.
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by Ruth Isabel Robles
on July 09, 2012
Mexico’s Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD), led by Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, will tour the United States this summer in a Caravan for Peace (#CaravanaUSA). The Caravan will travel more than 6,000 miles to more than 25 cities, starting on Sunday, August 12th in San Diego and ending in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, September 12th.
The MPJD was born out of a father’s grief over his son’s death and a country’s pain for the 50,000 to 71,000 dead, 10,000 disappeared, and the thousands more displaced by President Calderon’s “war on drugs” which began in December 2006. In Mexico, the MPJD serves as a platform for victims of violence to share their stories and demand an end to this failed offensive against organized crime that has left a "trail of death, pain, and corruption in its path." Last year, the MPJD launched two similar caravans to the North and South of Mexico, where victims we able to express the consequences of the "drug war" in their own voices.
Read Javier Sicilia’s invitation to join the US Peace Caravan
Javier Sicilia and the MPJD hope the Caravan will spark a bi-national dialogue, in which victims on both sides of the border can share their collective pain and search for common solutions towards a much-needed peace. Through this dialogue, the Caravan hopes to “inspire U.S. civil society to stem the flow of illegal weapons into Mexico, to support humane and health-oriented alternatives to drug prohibition, and to demand more effective, non-violent security strategies.”
Want to get involved? Fill out this volunteer form or send an email to
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To view the Caravan’s route, click here.
To read the Caravan’s mission statement, click here.
To check out the Caravan's official website, click here.
Check out Global Exchange for more information.
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by Ruth Isabel Robles
on July 23, 2012
Estamos hasta la madre -- it means, “we’ve had enough.”
Last year, Javier Sicilia experienced a parent’s worst nightmare: his 24-year-old son, Juan Francisco, was murdered in Mexico’s deadly “drug war,” one of 60,000 men, women and children to fall victim to brutal violence in the past six years.
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by Omar Martinez
on July 09, 2012
July 9, 2012
Today the US Office on Colombia (USOC) and the Latin America Working Group Education Fund (LAWGEF) in partnership with Colombian and international organizations released the final report of the International Verification Mission on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in Colombia. See the English version here and the Spanish version here. The report includes the findings of the 40-person mission conducted November 28-December 2, 2011 which show continued violations of the rights of human rights defenders despite a positive change in discourse at the national level. The mission, comprised of jurists, journalists and human rights activists from 15 different countries, visited eight regions of Colombia and verified firsthand the situation of human rights defenders with respect to five thematic areas identified by the Campaign for the Right to Defend Human Rights: impunity, baseless prosecutions, misuse of state intelligence information, systematic stigmatizations and structural problems with the protection program for defenders at risk.
The report reveals that human rights defenders continue to face threats, attacks and stigmatizations at alarming levels and that the welcomed change in discourse at the national level has not yet been translated into effective policy, especially at the regional level. It also shows that impunity for such crimes is extremely high.
The Somos Defensores ("We are Defenders") database shows that there were 239 acts of aggression against human rights defenders in Colombia in 2011, including 49 assassinations.
"The experience of the Mission just reinforced for me that until there are significant advances in terms of impunity levels, human rights defenders in Colombia will continue to be at grave risk due to the very exercise of their rights," says Dana Brown, Executive Director of USOC.
"Human rights defenders of all descriptions in Colombia still face terrifying threats, and these threats translate to physical attacks, forced disappearance and murder," said Lisa Haugaard, executive director of LAWGEF. "While threats come from all directions, including guerrillas and members of the armed forces, many are from paramilitary successor groups. Our mission found that regional authorities' denial of the existence of paramilitary successor groups contributed to their failure to take serious measures to protect human rights defenders."
The report calls on the Colombian government to take concrete, effective steps to reduce the levels of impunity and effectively dismantle the illegal armed groups that are responsible for the majority of the aggressions against human rights defenders in Colombia.
For more information, contact:
Dana Brown,
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, 202-232-8090 (office)
Lisa Haugaard,
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, (202) 546-7010 (office)
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by Lisa Haugaard
on July 10, 2012
In old city Cartagena, Colombia, elegant colonial buildings with verandas and wooden shutters contain trendy restaurants, a Benetton store and expensive shoe shops. But the Afro-Colombians selling strands of pearls on the sidewalks, who add life to this tropical tourist haven, may have come from Urabá, Carmen de Bolivar, Marίa la Baja or other areas where threats and clashes between all the armed actors, paramilitaries, guerrillas and the armed forces forced them to flee the violence.
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by Ruth Robles
on July 06, 2012
Earlier this week, thirty-three members of Congress sent a “dear colleague” letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressing concerns regarding human rights and the rule of law in Mexico. In the letter, members of Congress call on Secretary Clinton to make detailed inquiries into human rights abuses committed by security forces during the Calderon administration as the State Department prepares its next report for Congress on the human rights requirements included in the Merida Initiative.
Since President Felipe Calderón took office in December 2006, he has responded to organized crime related violence with the deployment of thousands of Mexican military and federal police throughout the country. During this same period, complaints of serious human rights violations by Mexican security forces have increased five-fold—including torture, rape, murder and forced disappearances. The letter reiterates Congress’ recognition of the need for abuses committed by soldiers against civilians to be investigated in civilian jurisdiction. However, impunity for such abuses remains the norm despite the Mexican Supreme Court’s July 2011 ruling that military jurisdiction should not be applied in cases of alleged human rights abuses against civilians.
Members of Congress also express concern regarding the use of torture, still a widespread practice despite reforms to the Mexican Constitution to prohibit the use of confessions obtained through torture and other forms of ill treatment, such as in the case of Israel Arzate Meléndez, a man who was beaten, given electric shocks, and suffocated into giving a false confession.
Members of Congress conclude by asking, “If, upon obtaining this information, the Department of State determines that the human rights requirements are not being met, we believe your report should reflect this conclusion and the 15 percent of select funds should be withheld.”
We applaud members of Congress who have taken a stand in support for human rights and the rule of law, and join them in urging Secretary Clinton to provide a full, accurate and thorough assessment of the Mexican government’s efforts to fulfill the human rights requirements in the Merida Initiative.
The letter was coordinated by Congressman James P. McGovern (MA), who was joined by Reps. Nita Lowey (NY), Jan Schakowsky (IL), John Lewis (GA), James Moran (VA), Raul Grijalva (AZ), Rosa DeLauro (CT), Sam Farr (CA) and John Conyers (MI), among others.
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