Honorable Janet Napolitano Secretary of Homeland Security U.S. Department of Homeland Security Washington, D.C. 20528
Dear Madam Secretary:
As faith-based and humanitarian organizations, we write to express our opposition to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) recent decision to resume deportations to Haiti. One week after the United States deported 27 Haitians, deportee Wildrick Guerrier has died. After being placed in a Haitian jail, Guerrier, 34, a long-time U.S. resident, began to suffer from cholera-like symptoms. He died shortly thereafter, leaving family in the U.S. to mourn his loss. At least one other Haitian detainee shows similar symptoms and had to be transferred to an already overburdened medical center for treatment.
The death of Mr. Guerrier proved an unfortunate point that humanitarian and faith-based organizations had raised with DHS before the January 20 deportation was executed: That deportations to Haiti at this time may amount to a death sentence, as Haiti is wholly unprepared to absorb the population and guarantee the protection of their human rights. We are alarmed to hear that even following this tragedy, DHS is planning to deport another group of Haitians, perhaps as early as this week. Now is not the time to resume deportations to Haiti, nor would it be morally or politically appropriate to do so in the foreseeable future. To continue deportations in the face of such conditions would represent a knowing disregard for the life and dignity of the Haitians scheduled for deportation.
We ask that you cease these deportations immediately.
Many of our organizations had expressed our concerns about the resumption of deportations of Haitians at a time when Haiti is still struggling to recover from a devastating earthquake. Mr. Guerrier’s untimely death proves that Haiti is unable to provide for the safe and dignified reintegration of deportees. Not only are the lives of deported Haitians at risk, deportations could divert critical resources from Haiti’s recovery and reconstruction effort.
Of the 27 Haitians already deported and another 300 who await deportation, there are a significant number with low-level, non-violent criminal convictions who had already been released and had been living in the community without incident for years. Others have compelling humanitarian situations, including serious medical conditions or potential claims for immigration relief.
DHS has stated that it intends to deport 700 Haitians by October. Yet, a cholera outbreak has claimed over 3,600 lives and infected more than 400,000. Reconstruction continues at a slow pace, with hundreds of thousands still living in tent cities. To compound these issues, Haiti’s jails, in which the Haitian government routinely holds deportees and which are notorious for the inhumane treatment of detainees, are now rife with cholera.
In addition to immediately halting all deportations, the United States can take additional steps to reiterate its commitment to help Haiti recover. This would include: 1) A re-designation of TPS for Haiti so that Haitians who entered the U.S. after the earthquake may access its benefits; 2) Humanitarian parole for immediate family members of Haitians evacuated to the United States for medical purposes after the earthquake; and 3) The implementation of a family reunification parole program that would benefit 55,000 Haitians with approved family petitions into the United States as they wait for their priority dates to become current. We believe that these measures would alleviate an otherwise inevitable worsening of the social and economic strains on the stricken nation, facilitate the reunification of Haitian families, and ensure that sorely-needed remittances flow to the country. The adoption of these measures would also send an important signal to the Haitian people that the United States remains committed to their long-term welfare.
Sincerely,
African American Ministers In Action (AAMIA) American Jewish Committee American Jewish World Service Church World Service Disciples Justice Action Network (Disciples of Christ) The Episcopal Church Friends Committee on National Legislation Gender Action Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti Jesuit Refugee Service/USA Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office Mennonite Church USA Muslim Public Affairs Council The National Advocacy Center Sisters of the Good Shepherd NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby Partners In Health Refugees International Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations Unitarian Universalist Service Committee United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society UNITED SIKHS United States Conference of Catholic Bishops World Relief
Cc: Honorable Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State Melody Barnes, Director, Domestic Policy Council Denis McDonough, Deputy National Security Advisor, National Security Council John Morton, Director, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Alejandro Mayorkas, Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service
To look at the letter in original format click here
We’re moving full speed ahead with the “Stop Gun Smuggling to Mexico” campaign and want to make sure to keep you in the loop. We’ve seen some small but significant progress lately, and there are a number of exciting developments on the horizon that we want you to know about, so check out the updates below!
If you haven’t already, click here to tell President Obama to stop gun smuggling into Mexico.
Preliminary Report Bogotá, Colombia December 2, 2011
The International Verification Mission is made up of 40 people from 15 countries, including parliamentarians, lawyers, and human rights defenders. At the invitation of the National and International Campaign for the Right to Defend Human Rights in Colombia, and with the objective of following up on the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, the Mission visited eight different regions in Colombia from November 28 to December 2, 2011. During these visits, the Mission met with dozens of organizations and hundreds of human rights defenders, in addition to local, regional and national authorities.
Each year, tens of thousands of migrants transit through Mexico with the goal of reaching the United States. This journey is fraught with danger and many experience extreme violence along the way. According to Mexico’s Nation Human Rights Commission (CNDH), a staggering 11,333 migrants were victims of kidnapping from April 2010 to September 2010. However, the humanitarian crisis of migrants in Mexico extends beyond kidnapping. Too often, migrants become victims of extortion, robbery, torture, rape, and even murder, including the horrific mass murder of 72 migrants in Tamaulipas in 2010.
So there is no suspense, you did it! Through your calls and emails, forwarding of the action alert, and commitment to retaining unrestricted travel to Cuba for families, the Diaz-Balart policy rider has been removed. President Obama’s regulations allowing the reunification of Cuban families stands firm—and without government interference.
DC wouldn’t be what it is without power struggles, complicated and indiscernible Hill jargon and impending government shutdowns. But what we have never witnessed before in the nation’s capitol is a hold placed on the funding of the entire U.S. government over the right for Cuban-American families to travel and see their relatives in Cuba. Here’s what happened:
In the spirit of the holidays, Cuban-American members of Congress are at it again with their Grinch-like tactics. Rolled into a spending “Megabus” bill that is being pushed through Congress is language that would restrict family travel to Cuba for Cuban Americans to once every three years, no exceptions. However, not only does this amendment, led by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, separate families, it also redefines what constitutes a family circle. Cuban Americans, TAKE NOTE: What this means is that your cousins, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, etc., will no longer qualify as "family." As one of our Cuban-American friends said, “The very idea that some U.S. entity is going to tell a Cuban who is your family and who is not is something so beyond the pale that it might suffice to turn water into wine . . ."
Congressman José Serrano (NY-16) issued a statement today saying he was "shocked and apalled" at the "heartless approach" by House Republicans to shut down all family travel to Cuba during the holiday season (read full press release below). Rolled into a spending “Megabus” bill that is being pushed through Congress is language that would restrict family travel to Cuba for Cuban Americans to once every three years, no exceptions. However, not only does this amendment, led by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, separate families, it also redefines what constitutes a family circle, limiting the definition to immediate family only.
by LAWG Cuba Team and our Partners from WOLAon December 13, 2011
This summer, conservative House of Representatives Republicans, led by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, proposed rolling back President Obama’s executive order that allows Cuban Americans to travel to Cuba to visit their relatives without any restrictions. In response, President Obama threatened to veto any legislation that imposed limits on Cuban-Americans’ right to travel freely to visit their families. He is aware that this is an important issue about family values and that it is very important to Cuban-American families in Florida, New Jersey, and across the country.
Today, we have learned that House of Representative Republicans are about to succeed with their punitive campaign against Cuban-American families. They are including rollback language in the “Megabus” appropriations bill now being finalized in the Congress that would prevent Cuban Americans from visiting their relatives more often than once every three years and would limit the remittances they can send. President Obama needs to live up to his promise and say “no” to these efforts to once again divide Cuban families. He must insist that he will not sign this bill if the family travel provision is not removed.
Last week, the Latin America Working Group partnered with the Center for International Policy to host a conference examining Cuba’s placement on the State Department’s list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. Along with Mavis Anderson from LAWG, speakers included renowned Cuba experts Wayne Smith (Center for International Policy), Robert Muse (Muse and Associates), Carlos Alzugaray (University of Havana), Sarah Stephens (Center for Democracy in the Americas), and Arturo Lopez-Levy (University of Denver). Each panelist spoke critically of this designation, which has served to hurt Cubans rather than affect political changes in Cuba, or combat real terrorist threats.
Last night on "Strategy Session with Antonio Gonzalez" on 90.7 KPFK, LAWG's Senior Associate, Mavis Anderson, discussed the current political reality of U.S. policy towards Cuba. While there are some who will criticize President Obama's slow movement in changing our outdated Cuba policy, "kudos should be given where kudos are due," says Anderson. Obama has made some of the changes available to him under executive authority in permitting Cuban Americans to travel freely back and forth to the island, liberalizing the travel licensing process, and also issuing a veto threat if any legislation is proposed in Congress that aims at repealing his positive changes.
This year, LAWG’s Colombia team brought together a coalition of labor, human rights, faith-based, and environmental groups to build a national grassroots movement to oppose the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement (FTA). While this FTA ultimately did pass on October 12th, 2011, we are proud of the work that everyone involved did to generate debate about the problems with this trade deal and to convince many members of Congress to vote for human rights rather than corporate interests. Click here to find out how your members of Congress voted and hold them accountable!
Just through the participation of LAWG’s activist base alone, we collected 11,695 signatures on a petition to President Obama, sent over 13,000 emails to Congress, and made hundreds of phone calls right before the vote. By connecting with other groups for fair trade, we were able to multiply our collective voice by tens of thousands. In many major cities, people came together to stage vigils in the streets, which grabbed the attention of local and national media. They spoke out at town hall events and met with their members of Congress when they came back to the district for recess. While LAWG made videos and wrote articles for sites like the Huffington Post, activists across the country published op-eds and letters to the editor in their local newspapers.
Meanwhile, in DC, LAWG and our partners pounded the marble halls of Congress. We brought Colombian unionists, human rights defenders, and small-scale farmers to meet with undecided members of Congress, educating them about the devastating affect that this trade deal would have on the lives of so many Colombians. We displayed the art exhibit Remember Me: Voices of the Silenced in the U.S. House of Representatives to let the testimonies of survivors of Colombia’s conflict speak for themselves. Then, right before the vote, we provided our congressional allies with talking points as well as stories and photos to use in their final arguments.
And in the end, we made a difference. During the debate, we watched as representatives and senators stood on the floor of Congress and told the stories of union leaders who have been killed in Colombia, of families who have been devastated by the conflict, of Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities who are struggling to stay on their ancestral lands. We convinced 82% of House Democrats to vote against this unfair trade agreement. This represents the largest percentage of House Democrats voting against a Democratic president on trade in history, and it sent a message to President Obama: no more trade without human rights.
Missed the action? Check out this powerful speech by Representative Luis Gutiérrez in which he honors the lives of two murdered Colombian activists: Alejandro José Peñata, a teacher and unionist, and Ana Fabricia Córdoba, a dynamic Afro-Colombian social leader who struggled for the rights of the displaced.
To read the inspiring speech that Representative Jim McGovern gave during the debate, click here. LAWG sends a big thank you to Rep. McGovern for his tireless efforts to oppose this agreement, as well as to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi who “stopped the clock” on this FTA in 2008 and came out against it last week. Thanks also to Representatives Sandy Levin, Mike Michaud, George Miller, Hank Johnson, and John Lewis, Senators Sherrod Brown and Bernie Sanders, and all the other members of Congress who chose to speak out for human rights during this critical debate.
Although the fact that it passed was upsetting, we were encouraged in the week afterwards when we received messages from our partners in Colombia thanking us for what we’ve done to keep this FTA off the table since it was introduced by the Bush Administration five years ago. By delaying it so long, they said, we pressured the Colombian government to clean up its record on human rights—and they have made some good promises. However, the struggle does not end here.
In the months ahead, we will focus our efforts on making sure that both the U.S. and Colombian governments keep their word to support communities, unionists, small-scale farmers, and others whose livelihoods and safety may now be at greater risk than ever before. We look forward to working with both old and new partners to stand by our brothers and sisters in Colombia as they face these challenges and continue their pursuit of peace and justice.
This patchwork quilt, with photos and bits of poems stitched on it, was created by Blanca Nieves from the blue jeans, blouses and dresses of her four murdered daughters, who were disappeared and killed by paramilitary forces in Putumayo, Colombia where the family lived. This quilt is one of the tremendously moving pieces of art in Remember Me: Voices of the Silenced in Colombia exhibit, created by Lutheran World Relief and the Colombian human rights groups MINGA, Agenda Caribe and Fundación Manuel Cepeda.
Vanessa Kritzer takes the exhibit to Portland with Witness for Peace Northwest organizer Colette Cosner!For the past two years, this powerful exhibit has travelled around the United States, educating communities about our country’s role in Colombia’s conflict. LAWG got involved this past summer, working with Witness for Peace and Lutheran World Relief to display the exhibit and organize panel discussions about U.S.-Colombia policy in Seattle and Portland. Then, on October 4th, 2011, we brought it to Washington, DC, for a reception in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Art piece about fumigations.The Remember Me exhibit features works of art created and inspired by victims of violence, their friends and families from San Onofre, Sucre and the province of Putumayo. One piece was comprised of a simple plastic box filled with a mosaic of small squares, each with a face of a desaparecido (disappeared) in Colombia who lies somewhere unidentified in a mass grave. Another powerful work used toy planes to illustrate the devastating effects of aerial fumigations, as they indiscriminately dropped herbicides on fertile land and families. A third poignant piece used three hearts connected by a stake, highlighting the faces of a leaders killed or imprisoned because of their commitment to human rights and peace.Representative Jim McGovern speaks about violence in Colombia.
At the opening in the Rayburn House Office Building, Colombian human rights defender Juan David Diaz spoke about his father, who was murdered in February 2003. Tito Diaz, mayor of the small town El Roble in Sucre, had denounced the alliance between deadly paramilitaries and local politicians to then-President Uribe. Within weeks, his bodyguards were removed, and in April of that same year he was found murdered, tortured, shot and left in a crucifix position. Today, his son Juan David continues to endure threats for his own human rights work.
Congressional Human Rights Caucus Co-Chair Representative Jim McGovern also spoke at the reception about his experiences visiting displaced communities in Colombia and many families who are victims of human rights abuse. “This exhibit helps bring those voices to life,” said Rep. McGovern. “It is so important that we not just know, but feel, the violence and loss that they experience.”
Lisa and Vanessa attend the Remember Me opening in Congress with Annalise Romoser from LWR, Zoraida Castillo, Amaury Padilla, and Juan David Diaz.Zoraida Castillo from Lutheran World Relief’s Colombia office described the process they went through to create the exhibit. Then, Amaury Padilla from MINGA explained that this exhibit comes from a tradition in Colombia used not only to honor the victims, but also to illuminate truths that are too often denied about the country’s decades-long conflict.
This exhibit humanizes Colombia’s humanitarian crisis by providing a forum for understanding outside of the context of policy papers and statistics. Remember Me drives home a powerful lesson by giving a face to the victims and those who struggle for justice.
by Ben Leiter and Katrina Weekson November 21, 2011
After ten years of making a life for himself in the beach-front city of Santa Monica, California, Jorge Romero* was deported to Mexico, joining the ranks of nearly 400,000 other undocumented migrants removed from the United States this past fiscal year. Behind the record high number of deportations by the Obama Administration are stark, human stories of broken families and untold abuse suffered by those who attempt to return to their homes in the United States. Jorge, who left behind his cousin and father in Santa Monica, was one of those to brave the dangerous journey back. On the way, he was apprehended and grossly abused by the U.S. Border Patrol. This is his story, as recorded by humanitarian organization No More Deaths:
CONTACTO: Lisa Haugaard, Latin America Working Group, 202-546-7010 Camilo Ramirez, Center for Constitutional Rights, 212-614-6463
Veintisiete organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONGs) de Canadá, los Estados Unidos, y México han firmado comunicados y mandado cartas en apoyo al Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo y al Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos con respecto a las declaraciones preocupantes del Presidente colombiano Juan Manuel Santos y otros altos funcionarios colombianos que intentan poner en duda la integridad de CCAJAR y el Sistema Interamericano.
Los oficiales del gobierno colombiano hicieron estas declaraciones después de que una mujer retractó su testimonio anterior de que su marido y sus hijos habían sido asesinados en la masacre de Mapiripán en 1997. CCAJAR había representado a la mujer, junto con varios familiares de otras víctimas, en un caso llevado ante la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, que en 2005, basado en evidencia proporcionado por el gobierno colombiano, responsabilizó al estado colombiano por la masacre y falló que debía llevar a cabo una investigación exhaustiva para identificar a todas las víctimas y pagarles las reparaciones. Como la Corte declaró en su fallo, “es obligación del Estado investigar debidamente las violaciones a los derechos humanos ocurridas en Colombia que han costado la vida a miles de colombianos y que han contado con la comprobada aquiescencia y/o participación de agentes estatales.”
Todos los comunicados y las cartas de apoyo de las ONGs de América del Norte destacan su gran preocupación por las declaraciones hechas por funcionarios del gobierno colombiano en contra de CCAJAR. Por ejemplo, en su carta del 16 de noviembre al Presidente Santos, el Centro de Derechos Constitucionales (CCR) identificó algunas declaraciones problemáticas del propio Presidente, en los que intenta desacreditar el Colectivo. CCR señala que estas declaraciones son “indignantes para cualquiera persona que conozca el trabajo valiente y dedicado de CCAJAR a causa de la verdad y la justicia para las víctimas de violaciones de derechos humanos.” Tales declaraciones ponen en riesgo a los defensores de derechos humanos en Colombia, dado el contexto de amenazas constantes, el seguimiento y la infiltración ilegales a los que los defensores son objetos.
Igualmente preocupante a las ONGs son las declaraciones del gobierno colombiano que intentan socavar el Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos. Como señala el CCR en su carta, el Sistema Interamericana ha sido un recurso inestimable para las víctimas numerosas de graves violaciones de derechos humanos. “De hecho,” escribe el CDC, “es precisamente la crisis de impunidad por las violaciones a los derechos humanos que se han cometido en muchos países, incluyendo Colombia, la cual ha forzado a las víctimas a acudir al Sistema Interamericano.”
La declaración de las ONGs también hace referencia a otros casos emblemáticos de violaciones de derechos humanos con presunto participación las fuerzas colombianas que van a ser vistos por el Sistema Interamericano o por tribunales colombianos, así como un proyecto de ley que extenderá el fuero militar. Expresan su preocupación de que estas declaraciones recientes por los oficiales del Gobierno colombiano establezcan un precedente peligroso para el debido proceso en estos casos.
In too many communities across Mexico, violence has become a frightening reality of daily life, leading to the death of some 50,000 people in five years.
Recently, the Latin America Working Group teamed up with well-known Mexican actor Diego Luna to oppose one of the contributors to this violence: illegal gun smuggling across the U.S. border.
Click here to tell President Obama to Stop Gun Smuggling into Mexico.
by Collin Laverty, Cuba Consultant at Center for Democracy in the Americason November 15, 2011
Significant changes being implemented by the Cuban government to permanently alter the island's economy have so far fallen on deaf ears in Washington.
A new report by the Center for Democracy in the Americas, Cuba’s New Resolve: Economic Reform and its Implications for U.S. Policy, identifies a number of measures the Obama administration should take to support and facilitate the economic reform process in Cuba. According to the report, Cuba is undergoing the most significant changes to its socialist system since the 1959 Revolution. Despite moves to increase the private sector, decentralize decision-making, increase autonomy for farmers and "a fundamental shift in economic thinking," the Obama administration has downplayed the reforms as insufficient.
On the heels of an especially violent summer south of the border, well-known Mexican movie star Diego Luna came to Washington, D.C. in September, not as an actor, but as an advocate for the growing international campaign Stop Gun Smuggling: 3 Things President Obama CAN Do. Luna met with policymakers to promote measures that could curb the flow of assault weapons from the United States into Mexico, saving thousands of Mexican lives, while making U.S. communities safer. Some estimates suggest that as many as 2,000 guns are smuggled across the U.S. border into Mexico every day, and in Diego’s own words:
“Es una situación de completo abandono.” Few people know of the struggles experienced by the miskito buzos of Honduras, a group of indigenous scuba-divers forced to work under terrible conditions to harvest lobster and shrimp. These divers—ranging from young boys to elderly men—dive into depths beyond what is safe for the human body, with little to no protective equipment and at great risk to themselves.
by Vanessa Kritzer, LAWG Colombia Teamon November 01, 2011
Great news! Two of the women leaders of the Afro-Colombian community La Toma, which we have told you about in blogs and action alerts, have been featured on a program called Women, War & Peace on PBS!
Below is a very important report by No More Deaths describing serious problems concerning short-term custody practices by the U.S. Border Patrol. The findings of this report are twofold: First, human rights abuses of individuals in short-term U.S. Border Patrol custody are systematic and widespread. The abuses documented over the past two and a half years do not reflect anomalous incidents but rather an institutional culture of abuse within Border Patrol. Second, the custody standards that do exist are inadequate and are not subject to the oversight necessary to ensure their implementation. Without drastic changes to Border Patrol custody standards and independent accountability mechanisms, the senseless abuse of immigrants along the border and in Border Patrol custody is certain to continue. Please find a brief summary of the report’s methodology, findings, and recommendations below.
by LAWG Cuba Team, Mavis, Emily and Katon October 25, 2011
Happy 20th Anniversary! Or maybe “un-happy” anniversary.
Today for the 20th year in a row, the UN General Assembly has voted to condemn the United States’ 50-year-old economic embargo on Cuba. How did the votes turn out this year?
YES (against embargo) – 186 NO (in favor of embargo) – 2 ABSTAIN – 3
As a follow-up to our blog on "La Colmenita" (the Cuban children’s youth theater) last week, today we are happy to host a guest blog post from Wayne Smith of the Center for International Policy and former chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana from 1979-1982.
by Vanessa Kritzer, LAWG's Colombia Teamon October 21, 2011
Despite more than five years of incredible work by people like you to advocate for fair trade policies, we are disappointed to report that the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.
On Monday, October 17th, Chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, expressing grave concerns over the U.S. performances by the National Cuban Youth Theater, “La Colmenita.” In her letter, she questions the decision of the State Department to issue visas to the children’s group and demands an explanation for granting the visas, in addition to a “detailed accounting of all funding for educational programs with Cuba.” Her reasoning? To ensure that the State Department is not misusing taxpayer funds to promote exchange with Cuba. Rep. Ros-Lehtinen also claims that the group, which is comprised of 5-16 year olds, poses a national security threat, as one of the plays they perform is inspired by the story of the Cuban Five, un-registered agents of the Cuban government who were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage and are currently serving long sentences in U.S. prisons. The Economist, a United Kingdom-based newspaper (with offices in the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and Asia), conducted an interesting poll last week about the fairness of the trial (which was held in Miami) of the Cuban Five; see the results here.
by Geoff Thale, Director of Programs, WOLAon October 14, 2011
The Latin America Working Group is pleased to re-post this piece on U.S.-Cuba policy from our colleague at the Washington Office on Latin America, Geoff Thale. At LAWG, we are trying to maximize the opening recently made available by President Obama for increased travel to Cuba -- people-to-people travel, educational travel, religious travel, cultural travel. We are encouraging and educating the public on "how-to" travel to Cuba. See our on-line brochure, "How-to Travel to Cuba" here . We are very aware of how tenuous this small opening is, and how far it is from "Travel for All" with no restrictions. And we are aware that with just a stroke of the pen from a new President, these advances could be erased. We ask for your help in preventing that roll-back. Sign up for our Cuba policy updates and action alerts here. And "like" our "End the Travel Ban on Cuba" Facebook page here.
The 2012 presidential race is effectively underway, and the two leading candidates have both recently made statements about Cuba. While they may differ in emphasis, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney clearly share one thing: they are both out of touch when it comes to Cuba and what U.S. policy should be towards the island.
This is horrible and shameful news, so we’ll get straight to the point.
Over the last 5 years, migrants have suffered more than 30,000 incidents of abuse and mistreatment while in Border Patrol custody, according to a shocking new report by humanitarian organization No More Deaths. Many of the abuses plainly meet the definition of torture under international law.
Click here to sign the petition calling for an immediate end to the abuse, clear and enforceable standards for Border Patrol short-term custody, and independent community oversight of Border Patrol.
"Why do we care so much about this?" said Lisa Haugaard, Executive Director of the Latin America Working Group (LAWG). "Because we believe that passage of this agreement will make it harder to encourage the Colombian government to protect its trade unionists, who are still murdered with impunity today—23 so far this year. Because we believe the flood of agricultural imports from the United States will undermine Colombia’s small-scale farmers, including Afro-Colombians and indigenous people, who have suffered so much in Colombia’s civil war. And because it will boost the kinds of large-scale investment, such as mining and biofuel, that has helped to fuel the violence in a conflict that still grinds brutally on."
The State Department on September 15, 2011, certified that Colombia had met the human rights conditions attached to U.S. assistance. No surprise there—the State Department always certifies Colombia meets the conditions, no matter what is happening on the ground. To be fair, this time, with the year-old Santos Administration, there’s somewhat more reason to certify than during countless rounds of certification during the Uribe Administration. The certification document cites the Santos Administration's successful passage of a victims' reparations and land restitution bill; a “disarming of words” initiative in which it abandoned the inflammatory anti-NGO language used by Uribe and his top officials, which had endangered human rights defenders and journalists; progress on some historic human rights cases; and a variety of directives and policy initiatives, at least on paper, to support human rights and labor rights.
But the 118- page document contains a wealth of information that shows why we should still be deeply concerned.
Inés and Valentina have waited long enough. It’s time for justice to be served.
Nine long years after being raped and tortured by soldiers in the Mexican military, Inés Fernández and Valentina Rosendo—two Me’phaa indigenous women from Guerrero, Mexico—have yet to see justice done. They’re tired of excuses and sick of delays, so they’re launching a campaign that calls on President Calderón to stand up against human rights abuses by the military and hold soldiers accountable for their crimes.
But Inés and Valentina can’t do this alone. They need your help.
by Lisa Haugaard and Vanessa Kritzer, LAWG Colombia Teamon September 15, 2011
We’re up against some big forces in our struggle against the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA): major corporations, the Chamber of Commerce, stubborn Republicans, free trade-loving Democrats, and even the President. They have money, power, and connections. But we have conviction.
We have hardworking partners in the United States. We have incredibly brave community leaders and human rights defenders on the ground in Colombia telling us every day about why this trade deal will be so devastating for those already hit hardest by Colombia’s conflict. And we have something better than a slingshot to fight this Goliath—YOU.
by Max Schoening and Sibylla Brodzinsky, Voice of Witnesson September 13, 2011
“And the worst of all is when the things happen to you and you can’t do anything,” said María, a displaced woman in Colombia who has endured abuses by guerrillas, paramilitaries and the army. “And you have to just watch and simply be silent. If you say something, it will happen all the same. That’s when I saw that the only real right we have as people is to be silent. Maybe that’s the real right I’ve exercised here, in Colombia. It’s watch and be silent, if you want to survive.”
LAWGEF is pleased to publish this selection from a book coming out in 2012 from McSweeney’s Voice of Witness, by editors Max Schoening and Sibylla Brodzinsky. This will be a powerful collection of oral histories, compiling the life stories of a selection of Colombia’s over 5 million internally displaced people. In their own words, narrators recount their lives before displacement, the reasons for their flight, their personal tragedies and struggles to rebuild their lives. By amplifying these unheard voices through the intimacy of first person narrative, this Voice of Witness book aims to increase awareness of Colombia’s human rights catastrophe and illuminate the human impact of the country’s ongoing war.
by Mavis and Emily (the LAWG Cuba team)on September 06, 2011
Greetings from post-earthquake and post-hurricane Washington, DC. The next (un)natural disaster due to hit our nation’s capitol is the return of the Congress to Washington after Labor Day (shout-out to Rep. Jeff Flake, see below).
When Ana Pineda* left her small village in Nacaome, Honduras in 2009, she was full of hope: “I had dreams of going to the United States to get a good job and to help support my mother and father.” But her hopes were soon crushed when she was kidnapped by criminal gangs in Coatzalcoalcos, a coastal city in Veracruz, Mexico that is a frequent transit point for Central American migrants. “They brought me to a house in Tamaulipas, Mexico and had me there for four months, imprisoned along with other Central Americans, South Americans, and Mexicans. I was abused, terribly abused. Many of the others were raped, even the men. Thank God I was able to escape.”
Ciudad Juárez police officer Jose Alarcon fled Mexico to the United States in 2008 after a series of horrific events – he himself was injured and his partner killed in a shootout with organized crime, and then he was threatened by criminal gangs when he refused to accept bribes to overlook their activities. Seeking refuge for his family, he sought asylum in the United States, but a Dallas immigration judge denied Alarcon’s request, ruling that this was a “risk that police officers are supposed to take.”
by Mavis and Emily, LAWG Cuba Teamon August 23, 2011
With the lingering, humid, August heat, we’re looking forward to the upcoming cooler days of the fall season. But, as we all are well aware, the heat never seems to subside when it comes to our work on Cuba! So, while the weather may cool off, we will actually be kicking up the heat on our efforts to restore the right for all Americans to travel freely.
Congress will vote on the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement TOMORROW, Wednesday, October 12th. So, even if you’ve called once, twice, or more before, your members of Congress need to hear from you NOW. Follow the simple instructions below to make your call today!
Call Instructions
Step 1—Call the capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your representative or one of your senators. (They all need to hear from you!) If you don't know who represents you, click here to look it up by entering your zip code. Then pick up the phone and dial!
Step 2—Ask to speak to the senator or representative. If you can't speak to him/her, ask for the aide that works on trade and labor issues. Keep your message simple. Just say:
“My name is ____. I am a constituent calling to urge Representative/Senator ____ to take a stand for human and labor rights by publicly opposing the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.”
Step 3—If you have time once you're done with your first call, get on the line with your other members of Congress too.
Congrats! You've done it. Now send the link to this page to 10 friends asking that they make the call too!
Only together can we defeat this harmful trade agreement. Thanks for doing your part!
If you have any questions, give us a call at 202-546-7010 or
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.
The August recess is always a crucial time for people to connect with their members of Congress. Elected officials meet with corporate lobbyists multiple times every day. August is the time of the year when they spend the longest chunk of time back home, in-district, talking with constituents. It's when they get their best sense of what people really think. Given that the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement and other FTAs are expected to be voted upon this fall, this August recess takes on added significance. It very well could be our last opportunity to see our Members of Congress face-to-face before the votes. For those of us who have been working to defeat the Colombia FTA for years now, it's exciting and energizing, and perhaps even a little scary, to know that what we do over the next three weeks is likely to determine whether we win or lose on this crucial issue.
Tactics
Lobby Visits: Requesting a face-to-face meeting with your members of Congress is the best way to ensure that they actually receive the info you're trying to give them and that you get an opportunity to identify and rebut any misperceptions they may have. Obviously, lots of people are trying to meet with their Members this August, so it is crucial that you get a request in now. You do that by calling the district office and asking to speak with the scheduler. Click here to look up their office numbers by searching either by name of the member of Congress or your zip code.
Be prepared to tell them who, beyond yourself, is requesting the meeting and what the topic is. If you have a small group going, it makes sense to have the most powerful person in that group ask for the meeting—someone who represents a constituency the Member cares about. A minister, a union leader, a campaign donor, whomever. Try to have a sense of the best meeting time that works for the group, and know that you'll need to be flexible. You may not find a time that works for everyone in your party. The scheduler is also likely to suggest a meeting with staff rather than with the Member. It's worth pushing a bit to request a meeting with the Member directly. You can talk about how many years you've been working on this, and how a vote is expected shortly after Labor Day. If it looks like there's no way you'll get the meeting, obviously meeting with staff is better than no meeting at all. If possible, try to meet with the District Director or staff from Washington, DC if they're in town, rather than just some intern who takes notes and has no idea what you're talking about. To find resources to prepare for and bring to your meeting, click here.
Call-in Days: We will have multiple call-in days throughout the summer, in which we'll centralize our efforts by having activists across the country make calls on the same day to make sure our legislators know the large scale of opposition to this harmful trade agreement. The first will happen on Wednesday, August 17th. Click here to get instructions on how to make an effective call.
Beyond just making phonecalls yourself, you can encourage others to do so by forwarding around the email about it. Posting it to Facebook. Tweeting it. You could organize a call-in lunch party at your work where you buy a pizza and give folks a slice once they've called. You can do something at your home where you gather folks to watch on of the great YouTube videos about the FTA, lead a discussion group about it, and then have people call and leave messages—and hopefully then discuss what more people want to do together. It's a lot easier to make a call when you see everyone around you doing it. And if you have an extra moment, click here to follow your phone calls up with an email to your members of Congress too.
Speaking Out and Bird-Dogging at Public Events: Most Members of Congress do town halls and other public events throughout the August recess. You want to ensure that they're hearing opposition to the Colombia FTA at each and every one of those appearances. The first trick is finding out when and where they're going to be. Some Members will publish their schedule for the entire month on their website. Others only post events a couple days before they happen. Make sure to check the website often. Sign up for their email lists and Facebook pages. When in doubt, you can also call the office and say you're a constituent looking wondering if there are any public events where you can see the Member.
Then you need to be prepared with what I call a question-statement. Give three or four lines of info before posing a very pointed question like: "I was disappointed to hear that Congress may be voting upon the Colombia Free Trade Agreement when you return from recess this September. As you know, Colombia is the deadliest country in the world to be a union member. President Obama and Colombian President Santos recently offered up a side agreement that is supposed to help address the murders there, but its not binding in the FTA, and Colombian and American unions have called it inadequate. How can we have so-called "free trade" with a country where workers' basic freedoms aren't protected?" You can work on the wording and choose which issue you're going to focus on, but try to get enough info in there and make the question pointed enough that it really puts them on the spot.
And the third trick, of course, is recruiting friends and colleagues to go with you. It increases the opportunity one of you will get to ask a question—or that the member will receive multiple questions.
Get Your Message in the Media: What is published in your local papers and widely-read blogs during the recess can also help to keep the pressure up. You can write Letters to the Editor or if you've got some sort of title or were recently in Colombia, you could try submitting an op-ed. Click here to use Witness for Peace's letter to the editor writing tool online.
Creative Demonstrations: Creativity also helps grab the attention of both your legislators and the media. If you've got a critical mass, you could organize a vigil or a picket or a die-in outside a Member's office. Get everyone in your town to sign a petition against the FTA, make copies, and then have everyone drop by your legislators' offices to deliver the petition one after another along with a verbal message. The sky is the limit!
The important thing is to do what you can. Anyone who is still undecided on the Colombia FTA at this point in time is only going to be swayed by constituent pressure. Our brothers and sisters in Colombia have been risking a lot to fight this thing; but they can't stop it at this point. We can. It's up to us to make it happen.
Note: This text was written by Citizens Trade Campaign with only a few edits from the Latin America Working Group. For more information from CTC, please go to http://www.citizenstrade.org/ctc/
Can you believe it’s August? It’s amazing to realize that through months of working hard together to maintain pressure on our legislators, we have kept the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement off the table. Congrats on fantastic work so far!
Please note that there are many articles being written about the U.S.-Colombia FTA. These do not represent them all by a long shot. If you know of an article that is not on here that you think would be useful for people to read, please
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.
Please note that there are many statements being written about the U.S.-Colombia FTA. These do not represent them all, but we do our best to post as many as we can find in a timely manner. If you know of a union statement that is not on here that you think would be useful for people to read, please
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.
Please note that there are many statements being written about the U.S.-Colombia FTA. These do not represent them all, but we do our best to post as many as we can find in a timely manner. If you know of any statement that is not on here that you think would be useful for people to read, please
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.
Please note that there are many statements being written about the U.S.-Colombia FTA. These do not represent them all, but we do our best to post as many as we can find in a timely manner. If you know of a statement that is not on here that you think would be useful for people to read, please
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.
Please note that there is a lot being written about the U.S.-Colombia FTA. These do not represent them all, but we do our best to post as many as we can find in a timely manner. If you know of a report that is not on here that you think would be useful for people to read, please
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.
Please note that there are many videos about the U.S.-Colombia FTA. These do not represent them all, but we do our best to post as many as we can find in a timely manner. If you know of a video that is not on here that you think would be useful for people to watch, please
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.
Below you'll find a list of organizers we know of working to oppose the U.S.-Colombia FTA through local activism. If you live in one of these places and want to get involved, please contact them! If you are organizing people in your area and are not on this list, please
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and we'll be happy to put you on.
California: Statewide organizing. To get involved contact
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California: Mingas Network. To get involved contact
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California: Marin Interfaith Taskforce on the Americas. To email them,
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Colorado: Denver Justice and Peace Committee organizing. To get involved contact
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DC Metro Area: To get involved contact
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or
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Illinois: Chicago organizing. To get involved contact
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Indiana: To get involved contact
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Massachusetts: In the Boston area get in touch with
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. Or if you're closer to Worchester
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Maryland: Baltimore. To contact other involved activists
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Maine: Statewide. To get involved contact
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Michigan: Detroit. To get involved contact
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Minnesota: Minneapolis. To get involved contact
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Nationwide: Presbyterian Peace Fellowship organizing faith-based action! To get involved contact
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New Mexico: To contact other involved activists
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New York: Statewide. To get involved contact
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New York, New Jersey, Connecticut. To get involved contact
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New York: Buffalo. To get involved contact
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Ohio: Statewide. To get involved contact
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Oregon: Eugene. To get involved contact
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Oregon: Portland. To get involved contact
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Oregon: Salem. To get involved contact
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Pennsylvania: Statewide. To get involved contact
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Texas: Statewide. To get involved contact
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Washington: Seattle. To get involved contact
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Wisconsin and Upper Midwest: To get involved contact
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Congress will be on recess August 8th through September 6th, meaning your Representative will be back in their hometown office for an entire month. Together, we have the opportunity to make sure our members of Congress don’t just vacation during their time away from Capitol Hill, but instead hear from all of us, urging them to oppose the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. So we have to get organized now.
Big news! Havanatur Celimar, which is the branch of Cuban tour operator Havanatur that handles the U.S. travel market, has reported that Cuba has approved a bundle of U.S. airports, plus charter service providers and relevant airlines, for landing rights in a variety of Cuban airports (Havana, Camaguey, Cienfuegos, Holguin, Santiago de Cuba, Santa Clara, and Manzanillo). These U.S. airports have already received U.S. permission to begin charter flights to Cuba, as directed by President Obama in January of this year.
The Latin America Working Group salutes our faith community colleagues who are taking a stance to protect the poor, around the world as well as in the United States. As we said in the attached letter, the budget should protect assistance to the most vulnerable in Latin America—and around the world, and here at home.
WASHINGTON -- Frustrated that their pleas to the Administration and Congress to protect funding for the nation's most vulnerable are being ignored, nearly a dozen leaders from the faith community were arrested in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Building on Thursday, July 28th. Despite repeated warnings from the U.S. Capitol Police, the leaders refused to end their public prayers asking the Administration and Congress not to balance the budget on the backs of the poor. Over twenty-five other religious observers were present to witness the demonstration as an act of solidarity.
Just when we thought things were somewhat under control (i.e., Rep. Diaz-Balart’s amendment to restrict family travel to Cuba to Bush-era regulations – see our last e-alert here – would not remain in the final bill), another nasty amendment reared its ugly head.
Last month, a congressional report noted that a staggering 70% of the weapons recovered in Mexico in 2009 and 2010— and submitted for tracing— originated in the United States, overwhelmingly from Southwest border states. The controversial and highly flawed ATF Operation Fast and Furious has drawn attention to not just the staggering number of firearms that flow over our southern border, but to loopholes and shortcomings in our policies surrounding firearms purchases that have enabled straw purchasers (people who claim to buy weapons for themselves, but then pass them on to criminal groups) and other gun traffickers in the U.S. to channel thousands of weapons to organized crime in Mexico.
Yesterday, President Obama and his staff in the White House released a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) that provided Congress with the Executive Office’s views on H.R. 2434, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2012. This is the appropriations bill that was approved by the House Appropriations Committee on June 23rd, which included Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart’s (R-FL-21) amendment that intends to restrict Cuban-American family travel and remittances to Cuba.
On Monday, July 11, activists from the United States and Colombia organized an emergency demonstration against the pending Colombia Free Trade Agreement across from the White House.
Facundo Cabral, a singer/ songwriter from Argentina, was one of the leaders in nonviolent protest music throughout Latin America for over 50 years. Born in La Plata, Argentina in 1937, Cabral grew up in extreme poverty. As he learned to play the guitar, sing, and write, he quickly became known as the voice of the people who could not speak. His dedication to social justice movements and his response to violent military dictatorships in Latin America forced him into exile in Mexico following the Argentine coup in 1976, where he continued writing and performing, and gained wide-spread popularity. In 1996, the United Nations designated Cabral a "worldwide messenger of peace" for his continued commitment to the people and to justice and freedom for the powerless in Central and South America.
Imagine waking up to the sound of AK-47s in the morning and going to bed to the cries of grieving families at night. Imagine a place where children cannot play outside for fear of being caught in the crossfire or gunned down at a birthday party.
In too many communities across Mexico, such violence has become a frightening reality of daily life. Over the past four years, roughly 40,000 people have been killed in Mexico’s “drug war.” And many of the guns that fuel this violence were smuggled over the border from the U.S. into Mexico.
The U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) could come up for a vote any day now unless our legislators really see some resistance. So please participate in our National Call-in Day to Congress TODAY Monday, July 11th!
Regarding a recent attempt by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL 21st) to restrict Cuban-American family travel to Cuba, it is reported that Rep. Diaz-Balart maintains that an overwhelming 90% of the Cuban-American community supports his amendment.
"We write to express our deep concern for the rights of Colombia's Afro descendents and indigenous populations, and to affirm that the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) should not be considered as drafted. We believe that the United States and the Colombian Government should take the immediate steps to strenghthen Afro-Colombians' territorial rights and prevent further displacement of Afro-Colombians." Read the full letter here (PDF).
The steps up to the conference room were plastered with faces. Faces of the missing fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands, mothers and wives. They looked out at us, some faded, torn photographs, others as real as if they could be ready to pick up their child, eat dinner with their family, head off to work, today. Gathered in this hotel conference room in Bogotá were the women and men who had lost a part of themselves when their loved one was taken away in “the perfect crime”: forced disappearance.
As of April 21, 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control released new travel guidelines for travel to Cuba that mirror the intentions of President Obama’s directiveaimed at liberalizing the regulations. Under these guidelines, many groups that have been previously denied access to Cuba can now travel under either general or specific licenses.
To travel to Cuba, you must be eligible under regulations published by the U.S. Treasury Department. There are two kinds of licenses: a General License, which requires no permission or advance notification to U.S. officials; and a Specific License, an actual piece of paper for which one needs to apply to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) which oversees the travel restrictions within the U.S. Treasury Department.
To learn how YOU can travel to Cuba, we invite you to take a look at the on-line brochures that LAWGEF has compiled. These brochures are intended to be a guide. If you have further questions regarding travel to Cuba, you should consult the full OFAC guidelines here, or consult with a licensed travel service provider or an attorney. Let the travel begin!
*Please feel free to print these documents as we will not be distributing them via regular mail*
Schedule of 2013 Planned Trips to Cuba (Just Updated!) * This list is not comprehensive, rather a compliation of some organizations that are organizing group trips to Cuba.
The United States maintains travel restrictions on no other country in the world except Cuba. Restrictions on travel to Cuba have existed since 1961, except under President Jimmy Carter beginning in 1977. Restrictions were re-imposed in 1982 during the Reagan Administration, codified (written into law) under the Helms-Burton Act of 1996, and were tightened further by the Bush Administration in 2004. Since being codified, only Congress can end the travel ban (and the embargo) through legislative action (passing a law). The President has limited powers to loosen—or tighten—regulations that govern 12 categories of travel.
The restrictions apply to all citizens and residents of the United States—no matter whether you travel to Cuba through a third country, or even if you hold citizenship from another country. Up to 2009, travel was severely limited for all Americans until President Obama eased restrictions for Cuban Americans visiting family. On January 14, 2011, President Obama directed that travel regulations be eased for certain categories of citizens, and many more people are now able to travel to Cuba without breaking the law (a law which we consider to be a violation of our fundamental rights as citizens of the United States).
Coalition of Groups ask U.S. Congress to Oppose Colombia Free Trade Agreement
Yesterday, June 23, 2011, the Latin America Working Group (LAWG), the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), and more than 400 other organizations, academics, and individuals from both the United States and Colombia, sent a letter to the U.S. Congress asking representatives to vote no on the pending U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Human rights violations in Colombia–abuses against labor activists, Afro-Colombians, human rights activists and others–continue to take place at alarmingly high levels. In this climate, it would be a mistake to approve the FTA.
by Mavis, Paulo, Emily and Andrew, LAWG Cuba Teamon June 23, 2011
Today the House Appropriations Committee voted in favor of an amendment, put forth by Representative Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida (R-FL 21st), to the FY 2012 Financial Services Appropriations bill. This amendment, which passed by voice vote, rescinds changes that President Obama made in 2009 to Cuban-American family travel and remittances regulations. If this amendment were to become law, Cuban Americans would only be permitted to visit their families in Cuba once every three years, with a limited definition of what constitutes family, and with no humanitarian exceptions. Cuban Americans would also be limited in what they could send in remittances to Cuba. We would be back to Bush Administration-era regulations on family travel. This is totally unacceptable.
Calling for justice for their murdered or disappeared loved ones and peace for the nation, family members representing just a fraction of the 40,000 individuals who have lost their lives since President Calderon initiated his militarized crackdown against organized crime, crisscrossed Mexico in a week-long, 1,550 mile Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity. The caravan arrived at its final destination on Friday, June 9th, in Ciudad Juarez–a city dubbed the epicentro del dolor (epicenter of pain) by caravan leader Javier Sicilia, a Mexican writer and poet whose own son 24-year old son was brutally murdered earlier this year.
by Mavis, Paulo, Emily and Andrew, LAWG Cuba Teamon June 22, 2011
We fought for "travel for all" and we got "travel for some." Now we face the possibility of "travel for none. "
The House Appropriations Committee is meeting first thing tomorrow morning, and Cuba may very well come up. Opponents of exchange with Cuba will likely offer amendments to the financial services appropriations bill that will reverse the changes the President has made during his term in office – which has allowed travel by Cuban-American families, students and professors, religious groups, academics, musicians. We can't let this happen.
On Tuesday, June 21st, Cuban contemporary artist Sandra Ramos spoke about her work at the Smithsonian’s National Gallery of Art. Her art represents deeply personal accounts of the connection between herself, society and Cuba. Sandra breaks through censorship issues to present an honest view of Cuba by discussing issues such as migration, political education and cultural contradictions. The paintings and exhibits that she creates make audiences take an introspective look at the effects of various influences in their lives and how those aspects affect them.
“PLEASE SAVE US. We as in my fellow inmates find ourselves in the Torrance County Detention Facility and we are scared for our lives.”
Fearful of being kidnapped or murdered if they were deported to Mexican states that border Texas and New Mexico, individuals held on immigration charges in New Mexico sent this plea to No More Deaths, a humanitarian aid organization that works to protect migrants in the Arizona/Sonora border area.
by Vanessa and Lisa, LAWG Colombia Teamon June 09, 2011
With the debate over the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) intensifying, we’re pulling out all the stops to make our message heard. This week we’re taking over the internet and we need your help!
Support Human Rights in Colombia - OPPOSE the U.S. Colombia Free Trade Agreement
From: The Honorable Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. Current signers: Conyers, Moore (WI), Rush, Lee (CA), Payne, Grijalva, Michaud, Ellison, Hinchey, Jackson (IL)
Dear Colleague:
Please join me in signing the letter below supporting human rights in Colombia. As we begin to debate the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia, it is important to recognize the rights of Colombia’s Afro descendents and indigenous populations and the need for the FTA to be considered within this context.
Colombia’s Afro descendents and indigenous populations have long faced violence, persecution, and lack of opportunity that has perpetuated the cycle of poverty. As the moral and economic leader of the world, the United States must support policies that break this cycle. Unfortunately in its current form, the FTA will only exacerbate the problem.
I urge you to sign this letter to ensure that the voices of Colombia's Afro descendents and indigenous populations will no longer be ignored.
If you have any questions, please contact our office at ext 5-1605.
Sincerely,
Hank Johnson Member of Congress
June X, 2011
President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President,
We write to express our deep concern for the rights of Colombia’s Afro descendents and indigenous populations, and to affirm that the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) should not be considered as drafted. We believe that the United States and the Colombian Government should take immediate steps to strengthen Afro-Colombians’ territorial rights and prevent further displacement of Afro-Colombians.
We are concerned that the FTA would stimulate business development in Colombia at the expense of these vulnerable populations. Colombia has the world’s largest population of displaced people, an estimated 5.2 million, and 26% of Colombia’s population is Afro-Colombian. These populations already experience disproportionate inequality in the labor sector and face major obstacles to unionization. For example, Afro Colombian workers are often forced into “Associative Labor Cooperatives” (CTAs), a labor model where workers are hired through sub-contractors, which substantially undermines worker protections and results in preventing workers from unionizing. Today, economic interests, including large scale mono-culture crop plantations and mining, continue to be a cause of displacement in Afro-Colombian areas. The FTA and the April 7thAction Plan do not adequately address these issues. Without adequate protections, the number of displaced persons will continue to increase and economic opportunity will continue to be beyond the reach of these populations.
We appreciate the Administration’s efforts to grow the economies of the United States and Colombia but we must do so in a way that benefits the citizens of both countries. We must not tolerate economic inequality or persistent violence against Afro Colombians and indigenous people.
As you know, Members of Congress have consistently denounced the systematic paramilitary persecution and assassinations of Afro-Colombian, indigenous and labor rights activists in Colombia. We are concerned that our voices on this subject are not being heard and our concerns are not being adequately addressed. Full implementation of the Colombian Action Plan Related to Labor Rights, and the reform of the CTA model, are critical to any serious discussion of free trade with Colombia. We insist that the Ministry of Labor and Justice’s protection programs, which the Action Plan seeks to broaden, include protection for Afro-Colombian labor activists who face political persecution.
We appreciate your attention and consideration to these matters and look forward to working with you in ensuring that labor and minorities rights in Colombia are protected if entering into a Free Trade Agreement between this country and the U.S.
Studying abroad in Cuba was an experience that is impossible to forget. People’s eyes bulge whenever I mention that I lived in Cuba for five months. A torpedo of questions always follow; “Did you feel safe? How did you survive? Isn’t Cuba communist?” While I love to discuss my time spent in Cuba, it’s questions like these that make my mind race and my blood boil.
On May 31, 2011, one day before Honduras was readmitted to the Organization of American States, 87 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Secretary of State Clinton expressing concerns about the country’s human rights situation nearly two years after the military coup that promted Honduras’ OAS suspension in the first place.
Citing reported abuses against journalists, campesinos, human rights defenders, labor activists, and opposition voices, the letter urges the State Department to more actively press the Honduran government to end abuses by official security forces. The group of representatives also calls for the suspension of U.S. aid to the Honduran military and police until “mechanisms are in place to ensure security forces are held accountable for abuses.”
"As member States prepare to meet and reinstate Honduras to the OAS, it's important to remember that there are serious human rights issues in Honduras that urgently need to be addressed," Rep. McGovern said.
For the Spanish version of the letter, click here.
by Vanessa and Lisa, LAWG Colombia Teamon May 26, 2011
All across the country activists are coming together to stop the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Check out these resources we've compiled on opposing the FTA, and get involved!
Whether you only have enough time to send an email or you want to visit your member of congress in person, this is the moment to make your voice heard!
We want to see just U.S. policy towards Mexico and the border region, and we know that you do too. Over the past year we have worked tirelessly for real policy change in Washington that prioritizes human rights, and we have made real progress. Collaborating with partners like you, we pushed the U.S. to stop sending helicopters and other aid to the Mexican military, drew attention to the ways the U.S. fuels drug violence in Mexico, and alerted the White House to the humanitarian crisis of violence against migrants on both sides of the border.
In 2008, as military operations in Ciudad Juárez surged, Josefina Reyes Salazar, an outspoken critic of pervasive violence against women, summoned her courage and determinedly denounced the militarization in her home state of Chihuahua. Not long after, her son Miguel Ángel was kidnapped by the military and her other son, Julio César, was brutally murdered. Josefina openly blamed the army for the slaying of her son and, despite persistent death threats, tirelessly voiced her demands for justice. In early 2010, Josefina herself was coldly executed by armed gunman on the outskirts of Ciudad Juárez.
It’s go time. The Obama Administration has started moving forward with the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). So we’re organizing immediate national actions to convince Obama and Congress that passing this FTA is wrong—and we need your help.
Join us on a National Conference Call this Monday, May 16th, at 8:30pm EST/ 5:30pm PST to learn what’s happening and
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!
A new government in Colombia that’s more open to dialogue, but continued threats and attacks against human rights defenders and displaced leaders. Budget battles in the U.S. Congress. Colombian peace communities in danger. Pressure increasing to approve the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.
With all that’s been happening, we’ve had a busy last couple months in our advocacy and education efforts to promote human rights and peace in U.S. policies towards Colombia—and it doesn’t look like it will be slowing down any time soon. In case you’ve been busy too, here’s a review of some of what we’ve been working on:
Emergency Actions for Policy Change
When we saw momentum building in Washington to move the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, we leapt into action. We created a petition to President Obama asking him to not move forward with the Free Trade Agreement while labor and human rights violations continue, millions of people are still displaced from their lands, and small-scale farmers have no resources to help them compete with incoming subsidized agro-business. We collaborated with Change.org to reach out to thousands of new activists and we got everyone in our coalition spreading the word. The result? Over 11,000 messages going straight to the White House! (And it’s still live. If you haven’t signed yet, check it out here.)
Meanwhile, alarming reports of threats and attacks against human rights defenders, peace communities, and land rights activists in Colombia keep coming in. In April we heard from our partners that the communities living in humanitarian zones in Curvaradó and Jiguamiandó river basins in Colombia were in great danger. The Colombian military forces that usually form a protective perimeter around the outside of the communities had pulled out and paramilitary forces had been seen coming in. So we put out an emergency call to action and 1336 people responded, sending 5336 messages to top Colombian officials asking them to send protection back to these brave communities. But so far the threats and violence continue. If you haven’t sent a message yet, please do so here. And check out this action alert with updates on various threats to Afro-Colombians and human rights defenders here.
Grassroots Education and Organizing
We still have to tally up the final numbers, but we can already tell that the 6th annual Days of Prayer and Action: Hand in Hand for Peace in Colombia has been a great success! Throughout April, thousands of activists have created hundreds of events across the country to stand with Colombia’s victims of violence. We are particularly energized by the response to the creative project this year, in which communities across the United States have traced and painted images of their hands onto banners and posters filled with messages of hope and solidarity that will be sent to peace communities and human rights organizations in Colombia. To learn more about it, click here.
New Media and Publications Outreach
We’ve continued getting our perspective out to a broader audience online on the Huffington Post and fostering good discussions on our “Stand for Land Rights in Colombia” facebook page, where activists new and old to the movement can share information and be alerted to key moments for action on U.S. Colombia policy. (Check out one of our recent articles on Colombia here and our facebook page here.
Meanwhile, we’ve been promoting Breaking the Silence: In Search of Colombia’s Disappeared to lawmakers, academics, and activists alike. And our efforts have already paid off: our findings made their way into the United Nations’ recent Human Rights Report on Colombia, which spent a whole section on disappearances. (To read it yourself click here)
But as much as we’ve been doing, there’s still a lot of work ahead. What should you look out for?
Action to Stop the Free Trade Agreement: Despite huge problems left unresolved, the Obama Administration recently made it clear that they will push forward with the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement this summer. So now we’re taking it to Congress and we need your help. Starting this month, we will be organizing activists across the country to meet with their representatives, write to their local media, and do creative street demonstrations to raise awareness of why passing this trade agreement right now would be harmful and unethical. Want to participate? Send us an email
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and check out our resources for lobbying here.
More Budget Battles: After barely avoiding a government shutdown by making some serious cuts in the 2011 budget, the new leadership in Congress is already taking out their knives to chop up the Obama Administration’s request for 2012. If we want to preserve aid we support like humanitarian assistance for refugees and internally displaced persons, we will need to keep up the pressure on our members of Congress so they know that these items are not negotiable.
To stay involved on all our Colombia work, make sure to join our email action list on LAWG’s webpage or “like” the “Stand for Land Rights in Colombia” page.
The LAWGEF stands with groups throughout Mexico and around the world in denouncing the bloodshed and impunity associated with President Calderón’s U.S.-supported “drug war” that has claimed over 36,000 lives. In early April, mass mobilizations and pointed criticism by groups and communities across Mexico marked some of the most heated and historic condemnation yet of the Mexican government’s increasingly unpopular military campaign to defeat organized crime. Since these April demonstrations, support for the movement calling for an end to violence and impunity in Mexico has grown exponentially and will culminate in a massive wave of marches and protests throughout the country this weekend.
Last year, 280,041 Colombian civilians were forced to leave their homes, fleeing from the extreme violence of Colombia’s decades-long conflict. This statistic is the centerpiece of a February Spanish-language report published by the Colombian human rights NGO CODHES, a group that has worked tirelessly for nearly two decades to shed light on the human rights crisis in Colombia. As CODHES’ report highlights, almost 33 percent of displaced civilians are forced to flee from zones that are a focus of “territorial consolidation,” the signature program of the Uribe administration that aimed to set up military control of areas of the countryside while also, at least in theory, expanding civilian government institutions.
We’ve all been chomping at the bit waiting for the final piece of the new travel regulations puzzle: the Treasury Department guidelines. The guidelines were issued on Thursday, April 21. Now we have the full picture; let the travel begin.
This past March in the Rayburn Foyer Room, here on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, images and stories of Haitians were exhibited as a “commemorative piece that captures the ongoing plight of Haitians, their spirit of perseverance, and how grassroots and other civil society leaders are striving to create a more equitable Haiti."
By Ezra Millstein
As Church World Service reported, this exhibit was promoted in conjunction with “Haiti Advocacy Days” in which 50 civil society leaders from Haiti, the Haitian diaspora and U.S. humanitarian agencies came to DC to meet with officials in the U.S. State Department, Obama Administration and U.S. Congress.
By Ben Depp
This exhibit was sponsored by the Haiti Advocacy Working Group (HAWG) which was formed shortly after the devastating January 12th, 2010 earthquake to coordinate advocacy efforts for effective and just disaster relief, reconstruction and long term U.S. development policy toward Haiti.
By Elizabeth Whelan
View more photos and read stories from the catalogue here.
by Lisa Haugaard and Vanessa Kritzeron April 19, 2011
Many of the communities living in the Curvaradó and Jiguamiandó river basins in Colombia’s northwest Urabá region have come under great threat this past week.
Over the past few weeks, mass mobilizations and pointed criticism by groups and communities across Mexico have marked some of the most heated condemnation yet of the Mexican government’s increasingly unpopular military campaign to defeat organized crime. On Wednesday, April 6 thousands of people took to the streets in at least 20 Mexican cities to demand an end to the violence and impunity associated with President Calderón’s U.S.-supported “drug war” that has claimed over 35,000 lives. The day of protest has been described as a historic “sea change” in Mexican public opinion as well as an unprecedented rejection of the Mexican Army’s role in public security efforts.
U.S. aid that helps people in need, as they recover from natural disasters, flee from conflicts, and struggle in poverty, is on the chopping block as the Congress takes up the President’s FY2012 foreign aid budget request. Based on a letter we sent with our partners, the Latin America Working Group’s director Lisa Haugaard testified before the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee with the following appeal.
Migrants in our region are experiencing a human rights crisis, particularly those who journey northward through Mexico en route to the United States. But, throughout Mexico, those who bravely stand up to promote and protect migrant rights are increasingly becoming victims of threats and attacks themselves.
Yesterday, in a speech given at the Centro Cultural Palacio Moneda in Santiago, Chile, President Obama gave his first Latin America speech since the 2008 Summit of the Americas. While he spoke of many important issues regarding the region – and LAWG will be reviewing the speech in detail, so keep checking our blog and website for that – the Cuba team wanted to share the substantial Cuba portion of the speech with you today.
When you think of Cuba, the first things that come to your mind may be the “three C’s”: Caribbean climate, the Castro brothers, and Cohiba cigars; but that is by far not all that Cuba has to offer. Because of the United States’ foreign policy aimed at isolating Cuba (and therefore isolating us from Cuba), broad knowledge about the island and its people is limited. Many rely on exotic and stereotypical images of beautiful women on pristine beaches, Fidel Castro giving long-winded, animated speeches in front of the masses, and fine cigars to describe Cuba’s identity.
by Vanessa Kritzer and Lisa Haugaardon March 17, 2011
Momentum is building fast in Washington to approve the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia. Just today there were two hearings in Congress about it! But we cannot let this unfair agreement move forward.
For nine years Valentina Rosendo Cantú has been seeking justice for human rights violations committed against her by the Mexican military. In 2002, Valentina was raped by Mexican soldiers while washing clothes in a stream running through the indigenous community of Me’phaa in Guerrero state. In 2010, Valentina’s case reached the Inter-American court of Human Rights where the court issued a sentence mandating Mexico to make reparations for Valentina and re-open the criminal investigations in civilian courts. Mexico has yet to fulfill its obligation so Valentina continues to fight.
by Lisa Haugaard and Vanessa Kritzeron February 16, 2011
Major changes in the U.S. Congress. A new government in Colombia that’s more open to dialogue, but threats against human rights defenders and community leaders still on the rise. Pressure building to move forward with a harmful U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.
With everything that’s going on right now, we can tell that we’ll need a lot of help from you to promote peace and justice in U.S. policy towards Colombia this year. So while you’re filling in your calendar for the next six months, we wanted to make sure you get these Colombia to-dos on the list:
This patchwork quilt, with photos and bits of poems stitched on it, was created by Blanca Nieves from the blue jeans, blouses and dresses of her four murdered daughters, who were disappeared and killed by paramilitary forces in Putumayo, Colombia where the family lived. This quilt is one of the tremendously moving pieces of art in Remember Me: Voices of the Silenced in Colombia exhibit, created by Lutheran World Relief and the Colombian human rights groups MINGA, Agenda Caribe and Fundación Manuel Cepeda. 
As of April 21, 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control released new travel guidelines for travel to Cuba that mirror the intentions of President Obama’s 
