Justice for Colombia Summer Barbeque
Justice For Colombia News | on: Friday, 30 May 2008
Join JFC at their legendary Summer Barbeque on Saturday 5th July 2008 in London. From 12 to 5pm Live Music, Free Food & Free Latin Cocktail on Arrival! Only £12 / £8 concessions (Full price tickets bought before Friday 27 June, only £10)9 Arkwright Rd, NW3 6AB, 5 mins from read moreSoldiers Execute Indigenous Brother and Sister
News from Colombia | on: Friday, 30 May 2008
In the latest of a series of abuses committed against indigenous people in Colombia, soldiers have murdered two members of the Nasa indigenous group in the department of Cauca. The two victims, brother and sister Silvio and Luz Amparo Chaguendo Ipia, were killed on the afternoon of May 29th read moreWales Launch of Colombia Photo Exhibition
Justice For Colombia News | on: Thursday, 29 May 2008
Join Justice for Colombia and photographer Sam Green to celebrate the Wales launch of this compelling exhibition on Tuesday 17th June at the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff. Resistencia: Portraits of Colombia. A photographic journey through the Colombian conflict and the struggle for social justice.In 2006 and again in read moreUribe Orders Roundup of Opponents in Witch Hunt
Justice For Colombia News | on: Thursday, 29 May 2008
Tribune report on the Uribe regime's announcement to open legal proceedings against senior opposition politicians from the 'Democratic Pole' and Liberal parties in a crude attempt to silence opposition and divert attention away from a growing scandal that has seen over 30 pro-government Congress members jailed for links to paramilitaries read moreAlarm in Bogota as Paramilitary Groups Reform
News from Colombia | on: Wednesday, 28 May 2008
The return of fully fledged paramilitary groups to several Bogota neighbourhoods has become the "sad reality" according to the Colombian Ombudsman (Defensoria del Pueblo). His assertions have been backed up by Bogota Mayor Samuel Moreno who, like the Ombudsman, had previously warned the government that such a process was read morePublic Meeting with Colombian Public Sector Workers Union Leader
Justice For Colombia News | on: Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Ana Lucia Pinzon, the leader of the Colombian Public Sector Workers Union, will be speaking at the SERTUC International Conference in London on Saturday 14th June SERTUC International Conference Building international trade union solidarity in London, the South East and East of England Saturday 14 June Congress House, Great Russell read moreFARC Leader Dies
News from Colombia | on: Monday, 26 May 2008
The commander of the leftwing FARC guerrilla group in Colombia, Manuel Marulanda, has died of a heart attack aged 78. Marulanda, a peasant farmer who founded the FARC in 1964, was considered the oldest guerrilla leader in the world. According to a FARC communiqué he died in his read morePublic Meeting in Wrexham, Concert in Leeds
Justice For Colombia News | on: Monday, 26 May 2008
Justice for Colombia hopes that supporters in different parts of the county will attend two events that are happening on June 7th. The Moncada Rocks concert in Leeds which is raising money for the JFC campaign to assist female political prisoners, and a meeting in Wrexham where the leader read moreRegime Initiates Witch Hunt Against National Opposition Figures
News from Colombia | on: Saturday, 24 May 2008
Colombian authorities have announced plans to open legal proceedings against senior opposition politicians from the 'Democratic Pole' and Liberal parties in a crude attempt to silence opposition and divert attention away from a growing scandal that has seen over 30 pro-government Congress members jailed for links to paramilitaries and drugs read moreColombian Fire Fighters Visit UK
Justice For Colombia News | on: Saturday, 24 May 2008
Two Colombian fire fighters have ended a very successful speaking tour around the United Kingdom. Arranged by Justice for Colombia, the two guests participated in the conference of the British Fire Brigades Union (FBU) as well as the annual congress of the Welsh TUC during their visit. Whilst read moreIndigenous Leader Killed, Afro-Colombians Disappeared
News from Colombia | on: Friday, 23 May 2008
One person has been murdered and at least five others disappeared in a heavily militarised area of Choco department on Colombia's Pacific Coast. Though only one body has been found, reports from the remote Bajo San Juan region where the crimes took place, suggest that the disappeared individuals may read moreLaw Firm Pledges Backing for JFC
Justice For Colombia News | on: Friday, 23 May 2008
Wales-based 'Walker Smith Way Solicitors' has become the latest legal firm to pledge their support to the Justice for Colombia campaign. The company, which employs over 180 staff and has close links with trade unionists in Wales, wants to show its "support and solidarity for Colombian trade unionists who read morePhysios Protest Ongoing UK Military Aid to Colombia
Justice For Colombia News | on: Thursday, 22 May 2008
The Chartered Society of Physiotherapists (CSP) representing Britain's 47,000 physiotherapists has protested to the UK Government over the policy of continuing to provide military assistance to the Colombian military – even as the military continues to abuse human rights.The CSP has outlined why they are protesting in a special section read moreFurther Education Trade Union Attacked in Colombia
News from Colombia | on: Thursday, 22 May 2008
A raid on the headquarters of the further education workers' trade union in the Colombian capital Bogota has been described by the union as "not an isolated incident, but rather the product of a policy of anti-trade union persecution overseen by the Government." The union, known as SINDESENA, also read moreHuman Rights Watch, Amnesty International Slam UK Military Aid to Colombia
Justice For Colombia News | on: Wednesday, 21 May 2008
In testimony before the Foregin Affairs Select Committee of the British Parliament, Kate Allen, the Director of Amnesty International, and Tom Porteous, the London Director of Human Rights Watch, told MPs that the UK should freeze military assistance to Colombia. They also pointed out that "the military aid the read moreKey Witness Murdered in Colombia
News from Colombia | on: Wednesday, 21 May 2008
A demobilised paramilitary who had been testifying to investigators about links between senior politicians and paramilitary death squads and drugs traffickers has been assassinated in the Colombian capital Bogota. Jose Raul Mira Velez, who was supposedly receiving special protection, was shot and killed on May 17th.Mr Mira Velez, a read moreColombian Troops Seen in Venezuela
News from Colombia | on: Monday, 19 May 2008
Venezuelan authorities have sent an official note of protest to the Colombian regime after a Colombian military unit illegally crossed the border into Venezuela. In a bizarre response to questions about what the troops were doing in the neighbouring state, Colombian Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos claimed that "I read more‘Polo Democratico’ Opposition Member Assassinated
News from Colombia | on: Saturday, 17 May 2008
An active member of the 'Polo Democratico' opposition political party in Colombia has been shot dead by unknown assassins shortly after publicly denouncing the links between a Colombian Congressman and a well-known drugs trafficker. Andres Felipe Llano, who was also a community leader in the town of Cartago, was read moreVenezuela Warns Colombia on US Military Base
News from Colombia | on: Friday, 16 May 2008
Recent comments by US officials that they may establish a military base in the Colombian region of La Guajira have been angrily rejected by the Venezuela Government. La Guajira borders Venezuela and Venezuela President Hugo Chavez has told the US-backed Colombian Government that he will consider it an act read moreBritish-Trained Colombian Soldiers Working with Paramilitary Death Squad
News from Colombia | on: Thursday, 15 May 2008
A statement from Colombian trade union ASOINCA-FECODE, which representing teachers in the region of Cauca in southwest Colombia, says that High Mountain Battalion soldiers, which the British Government has admitted to training, have been collaborating with a paramilitary death squad in the municipality of Argelia. The soldiers have allegedly read moreColombian Civil Society Leaders Conclude Successful London Visit
Justice For Colombia News | on: Thursday, 15 May 2008
A visit arranged by Justice for Colombia for five senior civil society leaders to London has ended successfully after two days of meetings. As well as meeting with government officials and trade unionists the group gave several Members of Parliament detailed briefings about the situation in Colombia and spoke read moreHuman Rights Experts Condemn Extradition of Paramilitary Leaders
News from Colombia | on: Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Human rights experts have condemned the Colombian regime for yesterday's out of the blue extradition of fourteen paramilitary leaders to the United States. The paramilitary leaders, in Colombian prisons following a supposed demobilisation of the right-wing groups under a 2005 "Justice and Peace Law", had been testifying about crimes read moreParamilitaries Threaten Journalists
News from Colombia | on: Sunday, 11 May 2008
Six journalists working for the 'Sarare FM' radio station in the Colombian region of Arauca have received a death threat from rightwing paramilitaries warning them not to report on "issues that don't concern them". The threat also said that they or their families could suffer if they did not read morePolice Violence Caught on Camera in Cauca – WARNING, includes graphic images
News from Colombia | on: Saturday, 10 May 2008
A video posted on YouTube by human rights activists in the southern Colombian region of Cauca shows the police response to recent protests by peasant farmers in the area. The video, which is entitled 'State Terrorism in Cauca', contains graphic images of police violence and can be seen at read moreColombian Regime Seeks British PR Agency
Justice For Colombia News | on: Friday, 9 May 2008
The Colombian Government is looking for a UK public relations company to assist it in a bid to promote the image of the country. Andelfo Garcia, the deputy head of mission at the Colombian Embassy in London, told PR week magazine that "We need someone to help us reach read moreTake Action: Human & Environmental Consequences of Biofuel Production in Colombia
News from Colombia | on: Thursday, 8 May 2008
The German environmental NGO 'Rainforest Rescue' is asking supporters to protest to the Colombian Government about their policy on expanding Biofuel/Agrofuel plantations in the region of Choco. According to a report by the NGO the policy is leading to human rights violations, destroying lives and communities and causing massive read morePresident Attacks Human Rights Defenders
News from Colombia | on: Wednesday, 7 May 2008
In the latest in a long line of angry attacks against those working to defend human rights in Colombia, President Alvaro Uribe has again lashed out at human rights NGOs generally and leading Colombian human rights campaigner Ivan Cepeda specifically. His comments, in which he repeatedly accuses and insults read morePublic Meeting with Colombian Civil Society Leaders
Justice For Colombia News | on: Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Justice for Colombia (JFC) and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Human Rights are pleased to invite the public to attend a meeting in Parliament on Tuesday 13th May with senior Colombian civil society leaders.The event, at 4pm in Room 17 of the House of Commons, London, will be a chance read moreThis Week I Visited Monteria
News from Colombia | on: Monday, 5 May 2008
The leader of Colombia's National Movement of Victims, himself the son of an assassinated politician, has written the below piece for the Colombian press. In it Ivan Cepeda talks about a visit he carried out to the city of Monteria, the capital of Cordoba department in northwest Colombia. read moreArmy Offensive Ends in Disaster
News from Colombia | on: Sunday, 4 May 2008
An operation by the Colombian Army against the presumed headquarters of a senior Colombian guerrilla commander has ended in embarrassment after numerous soldiers were killed in combat with the rebels and the army was forced to pull out of the area near the Venezuelan border. Both Colombian and Spanish read moreFormer Trade Union and Political Leader Visits UK
Justice For Colombia News | on: Saturday, 3 May 2008
Aida Avella, the only surviving member of the leadership of the leftwing 'Patriotic Union' political party in Colombia, has returned to exile in Switzerland after a three day visit to the UK arranged by Justice for Colombia. Ms Avella, former President of the 'Patriotic Union' party who also led read moreChavez best hope for Colombia's Betancourt
News from Colombia | on: Friday, 2 May 2008
Reuters has reported on comments made by the husband of Ingrid Betancourt, a politician being held by the FARC guerrilla group in Colombia, in which he claims that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is the best hope for successfully negotiating her release.For the full article see: http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN0228728720080502In a seperate development read moreOver a Hundred Detained During May Day March in Bogota
News from Colombia | on: Friday, 2 May 2008
The May Day march in the Colombian capital Bogota has ended in violence with 115 people being arbitrarily detained by the police according to a report from the Committee for Solidarity with political Prisoners (CSPP). Some of those detained were beaten in custody whilst many hundreds of other participants read moreColombian Regime Providing Bogus Statistic
News from Colombia | on: Friday, 2 May 2008
An article in the April 29th edition of El Espectador newspaper in Colombia has derided the statistics being provided by the Colombian Ministry of Defence to the press and public. Some of the statistics, which have been regularly repeated by Colombian Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos, are clearly fabricated read moreUN Calls on Colombia to End Killings
News from Colombia | on: Thursday, 1 May 2008
Senior United Nations officials have protested to the Colombian authorities about the recent increase in killings, harassment and intimidation of human rights activists and trade unionists. In a joint statement Hina Jilani, the UN's special investigator on the situation of human rights defenders, Philip Alston, the special investigator for read moreColombia Condemned for Treatment of Journalists
News from Colombia | on: Thursday, 1 May 2008
A new report has named the Colombian Government as the fourth worst in the world when it comes to protecting journalists and prosecuting those that murder journalists. Released yesterday by the New York City-based Committee to Protect Journalists, the new report places Colombia behind only Iraq, Sierra Leone and read more
