Colombian civil society reveals the vulnerability of indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant communities, campesinas, and social leaders victimized by the armed conflict

Colombian civil society reveals the vulnerability of indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant communities, campesinas, and social leaders victimized by the armed conflict

Bogotá, October 5, 2020.- At a thematic hearing of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Colombian civil society organizations presented reports on the vulnerability of indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant communities, campesinas, and social leaders who were previously victimized by Colombia’s armed conflict to human rights violations. The presenting organizations asked to IACHR to deepen its efforts to support the implementation of the Colombian Peace Accords, especially Chapter 6.2 on ethnic minority groups, known as the “Ethnic Chapter,” and the Collective Reparations Program established by Law 1448 (2011) and Decree 4635 (2011).

The hearing, entitled “Reports of vulnerability among Colombian armed conflict victims: indigenous, Afro-descendant, and campesino communities and social leaders,” was requested by a coalition of organizations, including the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality). Representatives from the State of Colombia also took part in the hearing.

The Ethnic Chapter at risk

Together with Race and Equality, the Ethnic Commission for Peace and Defense of Territorial Rights presented an analysis on Colombia’s failure to implement the Ethnic Chapter, emphasizing that serious human rights violations have resulted from this failure. “The current government has been sabotaging the implementation of the Peace Accords and preventing the consolidation of peace and territorial rights to which ethnic groups are entitled,” stated Pedro León Cortés, an advisor to the Race and Equality office in Colombia.

Participants pointed out that, according to a recent report by the Kroc Institute (an international organization monitoring the Peace Accords’ implementation), barely 8% of the Ethnic Chapter’s commitments have been implemented, while other guarantees in the Accord, including mechanisms for protecting ancestral territories, have seen backsliding.

The organizations denounced disputes between illegal armed groups for control of land that rightfully belongs to Afro-descendant, indigenous, and campesino communities. These disputes, which the authorities have been unable to check, have resulted in the forced displacement of 30,000 people between November 2019 and June 2020. “Regarding the National Program for Substituting Illicit Crops, there is evidence of a strategy to undermine the voluntary eradication and crop substitution programs,” they added.

For Colombian civil society, these delays and omissions represent a failure to act on the fundamental principal of the Ethnic Chapter: the right to free, prior, and informed consent. However, they applauded efforts to apply an ethnic-sensitive approach in some areas of the peace process, particularly the Truth Commission and the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (the transitional justice mechanism trying conflict-related abuses).

Collective Reparations

Luz Marina Becerra, secretary general of the National Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians (AFRODES) and president of the Coordination of Displaced Afro-Colombian Women’s Resistance (Las Comadres), brought up official data on the implementation of the Collective Reparation Program established by Law 1448 (known as the Victims’ Law) in 2011. She pointed out that as of March 2020, 755 approved recipients of collective reparations were recorded in the official registry, of which 482 were ethnic communities. Despite this predominance of ethnic minorities among conflict victims, however, 78% of ethnic communities who have applied for recognition are still in the initial phases of the process and only 10% have actually begun to have their reparations implemented.

“To date, no applicant from an ethnic community has completed the process of reparations. We consider this lack of implementation to be a grave problem that is compromising the effective enjoyment of conflict victims’ rights,” she said.

Becerra mentioned weaknesses in inter-agency and federal-local cooperation, technical delays in developing reparations plans, long delays, and budgetary shortfalls as institutional barriers to reparations. In the post-conflict period, she stated, 392 cases of forced displacement affecting 130,079 people have taken place. 47% of these victims belong to ethnic communities. Meanwhile, 1,203 attacks against social leaders have taken place.

Crisis in Chocó

The Afro-descendant rights defender Luis Ernesto Olave submitted a report on the humanitarian crisis in Chocó department, reporting that President Iván Duque’s Peace and Legality program “has impeded the search for peaceful coexistence and a negotiated end to the conflict, allowing dissident FARC members to continue illegal activity while the ELN [an armed rebel group] and the Gaitanista Self-Defense Group [a paramilitary group] also remain present.”

Olave stressed that in Chocó’s Afro-descendant and indigenous communities, illegal groups confine people to their homes, forcibly displace them, and recruit young people through forced recruitment or promised rewards. Illicit coca cultivation and trafficking in drugs, weapons, and people are all on the rise, as are murders of social leaders. This year alone, 350 families have been forcibly displaced from the community of Alto Baudó, 66 from Medio Baudó, and 10 from Baja Baudó.

Recommendations

Implementation of the Ethnic Chapter

The organizations recommended that the State of Colombia immediately take steps to ensure the effective implementation of the Ethnic Chapter. These steps include strengthening the High-Level Special Board of Ethnic Peoples (a body made up of community representatives that coordinates with the government) and complying with pending Constitutional Court orders to respond to violence in ethnic territories. They also recommended that the IACHR prioritize efforts to monitor implementation of the Peace Accords.

Collective reparations

Participants recommended that the government develop a comprehensive plan to strengthen the  Collective Reparations Program, expand its capacity, increase the speed of its processes, and counteract existing barriers. They also called for mechanisms to supervise development policies and ensure their compliance with the Reparations Program and with the territorial rights of minority communities. Finally, they recommended developing a special strategy to accompany conflict victims and ensure that they benefit from post-pandemic economic stimulus efforts.

The participants requested that the IACHR dedicate some of its monitoring efforts in Colombia specifically to the monitoring of the right to reparations for conflict victims.

Regarding the situation in Chocó

Participants asked the IACHR to pressure Colombia to increase state presence in Chocó; re-start peace talks with the ELN; develop a humanitarian response incorporating all stakeholders, including armed groups; hasten responses to requests for protection by vulnerable people and groups; and investigate situations of vulnerability to rights violations. They also demanded full compliance with the Chocó ceasefire agreement of 2007 and with the court order of case T622 in 2016, protecting the vital Atrato river from degradation.

IACHR Reaction

The IACHR’s commissioners expressed concern at the slow pace of implementation; the violation of the right to free, prior, and informed consent; rural violence; attacks on social leaders; and the lack of federal-department-local coordination to address these crises.

Commissioner Margarette May Macaulay emphasized the continuity of violence that minority communities have faced during the armed conflict, transitional peace period, and today the COVID-19 pandemic. She also emphasized the need for the State to offer clear and specific information about the impacts of violence on Afro-descendant communities and about the reasons for delays in implementing the peace framework.

Interim Executive Secretary María Claudia Pulido stated that follow-up on peace implementation will be included in the section on Colombia of the IACHR’s 2020 annual report. The week before, she said, the IACHR had sent an official communication informing the State of this intention and requesting information.

The State’s response

On behalf of the State of Colombia, Ambassador to the OAS Alejandro Ordoñez referred to President Duque’s Peace and Legality program rather than respond directly to the issues being raised. When asked by IACHR President Joel Hernández about the issue of recruitment of minors by illegal armed groups, Ambassador Ordoñez declined to answer, stating that the question was outside the topic of the hearing.

Emilio Archila, Adviser on Stabilization and Consolidation, offered information about the Territorial Development Plans, an official instrument to prioritize state projects in areas most affected by violence and poverty. The Plans are currently active in 170 municipalities across the country.

Three more representatives from the Victims’ Unit, the Ministry of the Interior, and the National Protection Unit presented information about several governmental activities, but without explaining them in terms of their contributions to preventing human rights violations.

Race and Equality Launches Manual on Report-Writing for Human Rights Advocacy

Washington D.C., September 21, 2020.– The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) is pleased to announce the publication of our manual for civil society organizations interested in writing human rights reports. The goal of this manual is to strengthen organizations’ ability to engage in advocacy at the national, regional, and international levels by preparing them to produce their own human rights documentation and analysis.

The manual is available in the Publications section of Race and Equality’s website. The manual is available in two verions: one that is primarly text-based and one with illustrations to accompany the text. The illustrated version is intended to assist civil society organizations in sharing the manual’s content with human rights defenders.

Through the manual, Race and Equality hopes organizations interested in producing human rights reports will also learn the necessary concepts for using these reports as part of over-arching advocacy strategies to influence international human rights bodies.

“Our experience shows us that human rights reports prepared by victims of rights violations and in-country organizations themselves are essential in pushing governments to respond,” said Pedro León Cortés from Race and Equality.

Content

The manual consists of two parts. The first communicates essential basic knowledge about human rights instruments, the role of civil society in protecting and promoting human rights, and the purpose of human rights documentation. The second includes a step-by-step guide for producing human rights reports, from recording incidents of rights violations all the way through drafting and publishing the report. It also compiles resources for organizations seeking to develop their human rights documentation capacities.

The manual was prepared in order to compile and systematize Race and Equality’s years of experience offering technical assistance and accompaniment to Afro-descendent, LGBTI, and Afro-LGBTI organizations across Latin America as they defend and promote their rights. Race and Equality’s capacity-building approach aims to prepare these organizations to develop their own advocacy strategies and materials.

Race and Equality invites civil society organizations and human rights activists to consult, download, and share the manual so that it can contribute to their efforts for the structural changes that will truly fulfill human rights.

Access the manual (In Spanish only):

Illustrated version – http://oldrace.wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Manual-IDH_-web_ilustrado.pdf

Text-only version – http://oldrace.wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Manual-IDH_-web_texto.pdf

Social leaders, government representatives, and regional institutions make proposals for justice and violence prevention after the Llano Verde killings

Bogota, September 4, 2020.- The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) held a virtual roundtable discussion with social leaders, government representatives, and Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IACHR) member Margarette May Macaulay, who is the IACHR’s Rapporteur on the Rights of Afro-descendants and Against Racial Discrimination. The discussion was convened in order to discuss proposals for truth, justice, and non-repetition following the killing of five young Afro-Colombians in the Llano Verde neighborhood of Cali on August 11.

The webinar, titled Llano Verde Killings: Analysis and Proposals for Truth, Justice, Reparations, and Non-Repetition, was co-organized with the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). The panelists discussed the particular experiences of Afro-Colombians in Colombia’s armed conflict and the post-conflict context, in which many Afro-Colombians have been forced to leave their ancestral territories and now reside in urban areas where they face discrimination and structural racism.

The discussion generated the following proposals to ensure that the Llano Verde massacre does not fall into impunity and that the Afro-Colombian population does not remain vulnerable to such violations in the future.

The IACHR should pressure the Colombian government to give answers

Erlendy Cuero Bravo, coordinator of the Cali chapter of the Nacional Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians (AFRODES), asked Commissioner Macaulay to make an official visit to Llano Verde, an area that the Commissioner visited once before in October 2018 along with Commissioner Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño. Such a visit would allow the Commissioner to make recommendations to the Colombian State regarding truth, reparations, and reforms to guarantee non-repetition in her official capacity. “Peace cannot be built starting at the national level – it has to be built from within Afro-Colombian territories to be in line with the communities’ needs,” said Erlendy.

Listening to Afro-Colombian youth and ensuring their right to education

Yeison Tobar, coordinator of AFRODES’ youth initiative Semillero (Seedbed), discussed the need for both the Colombian government and civil society organizations to strengthen ties with young Afro-Colombians, listen to their concerns, and involve them meaningfully in development projects. “Many times, the response is ‘young people don’t want to do anything,’ but there’s not enough effort to look into the lives of young people or their beliefs and emotions,” said Yeison.

Yeison also said that young people in Colombia need greater access to education, including higher education and technical education, along with assistance to finish their studies. According to Yeison, “the best bet for young people is education.”

Improve living conditions and ratify the Convention Against Racial Discrimination

Commissioner Macaulay expressed her willingness to accompany an official truth and justice process for the Llano Verde killings, emphasizing the need for “comprehensive reparations,” that go beyond monetary compensation and address the living conditions of Afro-Colombian communities, including schools, universities, health centers and hospitals, and public transportation.

The Commissioner also called on the government to examine all acts of violence against Afro-Colombians thoroughly and bring those responsible to justice. She reminded the government that the Colombian State is obligated to guarantee the rights of Afro-descendants and indigenous people, which includes the duty to combat discrimination against these groups. She also reminded the audience that Colombia is one of the countries which has not yet ratified the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance.

Economic opportunity and institutional presence

Cali city councilmember Fernando Tamayo stated that the Llano Verde massacre should not be viewed as an isolated incident, highlighting that community members had reported the presence of criminal groups and insecurity before the crime. For Tamayo, increased economic opportunity is a key step towards preventing such crimes. He highlighted two projects in the city’s development plan: a supply center in the eastern portion of the city and the proposed building of the District University of Cali. He also called for increased investment in institutions so that they are present and accessible throughout the city.

Respect for the Peace Accords

Luz Marina Becerra, secretary general of AFRODES, agreed with the previous speakers about the lack of educational and job opportunities that makes young Afro-Colombians “easy prey” for criminal groups, especially drug-dealing networks, and fosters violence. Luz Marina called for the Colombian Peace Accords to be fully implemented, including through improved living conditions for Afro-Colombians to reduce their vulnerability to crime. She also spoke about the importance of peace-building efforts led by Afro-Colombian women and efforts to apply traditional Afro-Colombian knowledge to healthcare and family well-being. She offered AFRODES’ Mujeres que Sanamos Mujeres project (Women Making Women Healthy) as an example.

Implementation of Law 70 and the Anti-Discrimination Law in urban areas

Alí Bantú Ashanti, an Afro-Colombian lawyer and member of the Racial Justice Collective, insisted on the need to develop specific implementation plans for Law 70 (which governs Afro-Colombians’ and indigenous people’s collectively held land) in urban areas, given that it was formulated with rural land in mind. Likewise, he argued that Law 1482, known as the Law Against Discrimination, has not had the expected impact, in part because it is not integrated with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

Rejecting the efforts of some Colombian media outlets to downplay the Llano Verde killings by linking the five victims to criminal activities, Alí spoke of the role of structural racism in de-valuing Black lives: “The capitalist system has positioned Black people as subjects who can be killed, as lives that don’t matter, as mere criminals.”

International Accompaniment

Colombian Senator Alexander López closed the webinar by stating that international accompaniment is necessary for truth, justice, and non-repetition processes, including in Llano Verde. He affirmed that Law 70, the “Ethnic Chapter” that addressed Afro-Colombians’ rights in the Peace Accords, and all other legal instruments must be respected and fully implemented in the fight against structural racism and discrimination.

Senator López mentioned the fact that 9 million conflict victims are listed in the official registry, of which 14% are Afro-Colombian. He also alluded to the controversy about the 2018 Colombian census, which counted nearly 1.4 million fewer Afro-Colombians than the 2005 census due to failures in the National Statistics Office (DANE). “This has important implications, because the more that the Afro-Colombian population is reduced in official counts, the fewer public policies and resources will be devoted to them,” he reminded the audience.

To see a full recording of the webinar, click here.

Race and Equality launches informational material to increase knowledge about and advocacy before human rights protection mechanisms

Washington D.C., August 28, 2020. The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) shares today with civil society and activists in Latin America and the Caribbean informational material about the Organization of American States (OAS) and its respective organs, as well as about the United Nations (UN). The objective of this material is to contribute to the increase in knowledge about and advocacy before these bodies for the defense and protection of human rights.

“As an organization which seeks to strengthen the capacities of civil society in the region in the defense and protection of human rights, Race and Equality presents this material that addresses the functioning of human rights protection mechanisms in the Inter-American System as well as in the United Nations, with the hope of generating greater access to these on the part of our partners,” stated Christina Fetterhoff, Senior Legal Program Officer at Race and Equality.

The material consists of three videos that speak about the functioning of the OAS, the Inter-American System, and the UN, respectively. Through the presentations of four animated characters and with the help of illustrations, the videos explain the work that each of these bodies carries out, as well as indicating the advocacy spaces and mechanisms available for civil society for the defense of human rights.

Each video is reinforced with a didactic material which, in an approachable way, offers more details about those advocacy spaces and mechanisms for civil society participation. Furthermore, they include the links to the official websites of the OAS and UN where people can find more information.

All of this informational material is in addition to the guide titled “Precautionary Measures of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Procedure and Function” (in Spanish only) which Race and Equality launched in May 2020 with the goal of orienting lawyers and human rights activists on the process to request precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

You can access the videos (in Spanish only) at the following links:

OAS: https://bit.ly/2QdZzTc

Inter-American System: https://bit.ly/2FIp90O

UN: https://bit.ly/31hwddc

The didactic materials are available here (in Spanish only).

Race and Equality condemns the murder of five young Afro-Colombians in Cali and issues recommendations for ensuring truth and preventing future killings

Bogotá, August 14, 2020.- The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) condemns the killing of five young Afro-Colombians, whose families had been previously victimized by Colombia’s armed conflict, in the Llano Verde neighborhood of Cali. As an organization working to protect and promote human rights, Race and Equality expresses our solidarity with the mourning families and community. We stand alongside the community to demand that this crime not fall into impunity and that the government adopt the necessary measures to prevent such tragedies from reoccurring.

The five victims have been identified as Jean Paul Cruz Perlaza, 15; Leyder Cárdenas Hurtado, 15; Juan Manuel Montaño, 15; Álvaro José Caicedo Silva, 14; and Jair Andrés Cortez Castro, 14. The five had left their homes on the morning of Tuesday, August 11 for a community activity; their bodies were discovered at the end of the day in a nearby sugarcane field, showing signs of torture and execution-style gunshot wounds.

Just two days later, on August 13, another person was killed and fifteen more were injured in the same neighborhood when an unidentified person set off an explosive device. According to local media, the bombing was an attempt to attack the local police division.

Contextualizing the events

 Race and Equality calls for full reparation of the victims’ families and community, along with measures to ensure that such tragedies do not reoccur. To be effective and to comply with Afro-Colombians’ human rights, these measures must take into account the particular circumstances of Afro-Colombians who were displaced by the armed conflict. These communities suffered grave rights violations and the loss of their ancestral territories; today, they continue to suffer further incidents of displacement, threats, attacks, murders and assassinations, forced recruitment by illegal groups including drug traffickers, sexual exploitation, and a lack of educational and work opportunities.

“Stopping the violence against Afro-Colombian communities requires us to recognize and confront the factors that underly it: historical patterns of structural racism and racial discrimination that deny Afro-Colombians the conditions to ensure equality and to claim their rights as Afro-Colombians,” according to Pedro Cortes, Race and Equality’s advisor in Colombia who leads the organization’s work accompanying Afro-Colombian organizations in denouncing rights violations and advocating for justice before the national government and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)

Race and Equality has issued a set of recommendations to Colombian authorities, designed to ensure that the government’s response to the killings take into account the victims’ experiences as Afro-Colombians, address the particular impact of violence upon young Afro-Colombians, and protect the rights and safety of the victims’ families and community.

Race and Equality has also requested that the IACHR, United Nations human rights treaty bodies, and United Nations special procedures all take action to ensure that the government’s response brings justice.

Read our statement and the recommendations here.

IACHR grants Race and Equality’s request for precautionary measures for Cuban political prisoner Silverio Portal Contreras

Washington, D.C.  July 23, 2020.- The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) is pleased that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has granted our request for precautionary measures for Silverio Portal Contreras. The request was submitted on June 5, 2020 and was granted this Wednesday. Portal Contreras is in a situation of grave risk and the Cuban government should follow the IACHR’s recommendations to take measures necessary to protect his life and personal integrity.

Silverio Portal Contreras is a Cuban political prisoner who was arrested in July 2018 while participating in a public protest. He is an independent activist who has supported various movements in Cuba, including the Ladies in White and the Opposition Movement for a New Republic. While in prison, his health has suffered significantly. He has suffered from thrombosis and consecutive ischemic attacks and transient ischemic attacks (TIA) that have left him partially paralyzed and with reduced eyesight because he did not receive adequate treatment for the conditions. His eyesight is also affected by a cardiac condition and because he was beaten in prison by prison authorities.

In a resolution in October 2019 denying Portal Contreras medical parole, the Provincial Tribunal of Havana recognized that Portal Contreras suffers from health conditions that put his health and life at risk, such as hypertension, ischemic cardiovascular disease, hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia, and that he therefore requires “specialized follow-up to maintain his illnesses.” However, the judges decided that his state of health is “compatible with the penitentiary regime.”

Race and Equality filed for precautionary measures on Portal Contreras’ behalf after his wife, Lucinda Gonzalez Gomez, informed us that she had stopped receiving her scheduled telephone calls with Portal Contreras after he reported experiencing another TIA. Gonzalez Gomez also received several calls from other prisoners reporting that Portal Contreras had been severely beaten by prison authorities and placed in an isolation cell. The prisoners also told her that Portal Contreras was losing his eyesight because of the beating and lack of medical attention. At the time the precautionary measure request was submitted at the beginning of June, Gonzalez Gomez had had no communication with her husband for several weeks and feared for his life.

In the resolution granting the precautionary measures, the IACHR recognized the extreme situation of risk Portal Contreras is in, noting the “special severity” of the allegations given that the perpetrators are the same state authorities responsible for his care as a prisoner. The IACHR also noted the damaging and permanent effects the failure of the State to provide Portal Contreras with medical care can have, given his condition. The context faced by human rights defenders in Cuba was also a significant factor, which the IACHR described as being “characterized generally by a climate of hostility, persecution, and harassment, particularly with respect to those who have manifested opposition to the government.”

Although the granting of precautionary measures is an important step in drawing international attention to Portal Contreras’ case, he is still very much at risk. Prison authorities continue to deny Portal Contreras the medical care he needs. On Wednesday, Gonzalez Gomez received a call from her husband informing her that he is not receiving the medication he needs for a heart condition, and as a result is losing sight in both eyes. The prison doctor denies that Portal Contreras has a heart condition.

Race and Equality calls on the Cuban government to implement the recommendations the IACHR made in the resolution granting precautionary measures to Portal Contreras, including conducting an investigation to avoid repetition of similar events. Race and Equality is open for dialogue with the Cuban government to help implement these measures. We also urge the international community to follow Portal Contreras’ case and pressure the Cuban government to provide him with the medical care he needs and to release him from prison.

Read the Resolution (in Spanish) here.

Race and Equality hosts discussion on the fight against systemic racism in the Americas

Washington D.C., July 9, 2020.– The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) held the webinar “International Response to Racial Injustice and Police Brutality in the Americas” on July 7th. The webinar highlighted the need to use a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary approach to combat racism and racial discrimination against Afro-descendants across the region.

Costa Rican Vice President Epsy Campbell Barr; Margarette May Macauley, Rapporteur on the Rights of Afro-descendants and on the Rights of Women at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR); and Tendayi Achiume, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenofobia and Related Forms of Intolerance, all offered reflections during the webinar, with Race and Equality’s Executive Director Carlos Quesada serving as moderator.

After several African Americans in the U.S. were killed by police officers and white civilians during April and May, and particularly after the killing of George Floyd on May 25th in Minneapolis, protests against racism and discrimination have emerged across the Americas and the world. The panelists agreed that governments, civil society organizations and multilateral organizations must take advantage of the moment to make real change by ensuring societal buy-in and implementing tangible reforms.

Ms. Achiume applauded the United Nations Human Rights Council’s rapid adoption of a resolution that energetically condemned racist and violent practices by police and security forces against Afro-descendants. “This time, there was a different way of thinking about the nature of the problem,” she said, “it wasn’t just because of a few bad apples, but this time there was recognition that we have a systemic problem and that racism is endemic.”

Vice President Campbell, who began her intervention by declaring her solidarity with George Floyd’s family and friends, pointed out that silence and complicity have allowed too many human lives to be lost for no reason other than the color of people’s skin. She applauded the Black Lives Matter movement and celebrated the fact that its message is being heard and carried worldwide, predominantly by young people who are no longer willing to tolerate injustice.

Commissioner Macaulay reminded the audience that one of the key objectives of the IACHR has been to shine a light on the reality of discrimination, speaking forcefully of a “genocide” against Afro-descendants. “I have asked a lot of people in the region about the situation of Afro-descendants in their countries, and a lot of them tell me, ‘we don’t have Afro-descendants’ when they certainly do – they don’t even know that they are there,” she said. For Commissioner Macaulay, the unforgettable image of a police officer with his knee on George Floyd’s neck and his hands casually in his pockets was a “wake-up call” for the international community.

Proposals for change

The three panelists made several proposals for combatting racism and discrimination. Ms. Achiume pointed out that the Human Rights Council resolution calls for the High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate systemic racism and report on her findings, proposing that this mandate represents an opportunity for civil society to feed into high-level processes and keep the discussion alive.

Meanwhile, Vice President Campbell called for five concrete steps: a global campaign against racism coordinated among the major multilateral organizations; training and education programs for media, taking advantage of its power to educate the public; the creation of a private-sector network to share best practices for diversity and inclusion; a special session of the Organization of American States’ Permanent Council to discuss racism and racial discrimination in the region; and the formation of a permanent organization to monitor racism and discrimination.

Commissioner Macaulay called for civil society organizations in the Americas to continue pressuring the IACHR for more proactive and creative actions to defend Afro-descendants’ rights. She agreed with Vice President Campbell’s suggestion for more efforts to educate the media sector, saying, “the media publicizes the arrests of African Americans – how many arrests of white people do we see? Very few, which puts into society’s minds that it is Black people who are the problem.” She also called for more training and reform within police forces and national justice systems, highlighting that far more African Americans than white Americans are imprisoned in the U.S. She put special emphasis on the role of lawyers in the justice system, expressing concern at the frequency with which prosecutors and defense attorneys negotiate guilty pleas even when clients profess their innocence.

Commissioner Macaulay also lamented the “shameful” fact that only five countries (Antigua & Barbuda, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Uruguay) have ratified the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance.

During the event’s question-and-answer period, audience members wondered how to keep discussions of racial discrimination in the spotlight. Others asked how the UN and Inter-American systems can support activists who are denouncing rights violations and working for change.

To close the event, Carlos Quesada reiterated Race and Equality’s commitment to continue working alongside grassroots activists to win more ratifications of the Convention against Racism.

Re-live the discussion through our Facebook page, or below:

Race and Equality expresses its concern and calls the IACHR to publicly denounce the serious situation of violence and discrimination the LGBTI population is facing in Colombia during the COVID-19

Bogotá, june 25, 2020 – The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) addresses the honorable IACHR to express its deep concerned regarding recent incidents of violence and discrimination against LGBT people across Colombia. These incidents raise an alarm about rising human rights violations against LGBT Colombians during the COVID-19 pandemic. LGBT Colombians are suffering not only disproportionate negative impacts of the deadly disease, but also high levels of violence because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

Sharp increase in violence and killings

In Colombia’s Caribbean coastal region, 15 homicides against LGBT people have already been recorded in 2020, the highest rate ever recorded by Caribe Afirmativo, a local LGBT rights organization and partner of Race & Equality.[1] Ariadna Barrios Ojeda, a trans woman living in the city of Santa Marta (Magdalena department), was discovered dead in her home on June 13th with multiple stab wounds.[2] The next day, Brandy Carolina, a trans woman in Barranquilla (Atlántico department), was also found dead with stab wounds. The neighborhood where Brandy lived had already seen the murder of Paloma, a trans woman, and Lidia Gamero, a lesbian woman, on April 16th and March 26th of this year, respectively.[3], [4]

 LGBT Colombians have also suffered many attempted murders, such as an attack on March 24th in which two sex workers in Bogotá were stabbed in an attempt to mutilate their breasts and buttocks and chased by their attackers through the streets.[5] The two women were denied assistance by the police and were later unable to obtain any public health services or police protection.[6] On April 18th, also in Bogotá, a trans woman named Daian Nikol Villalobos was attacked with a sharp weapon as she shopped for groceries.[7] This attack took place while Bogotá was under an order of pico y género, a quarantine measure that allowed women and men to leave the house on alternating days.

Increased police abuse

 Many LGBT Colombians also suffer violence at the hands of the police. On June 22nd, police officers chased and tasered a trans woman living on the street in Tunja (Boyacá department).[8] On June 20th, members of the National Police attacked a group of trans sex workers in Bogotá, insulting them verbally and brandishing their guns.[9] These episodes evidence the historic discrimination and violence perpetrated by the National Police, who have also been extorting sex workers, physically and psychologically abusing those who refused to pay during the pandemic.[10] On May 2nd, with pico y género still underway, National Police officers were also denounced for evicting a Black trans sex worker from her home; the National Police did not offer any justification for the act.[11]

Institutional violence and an insufficient state response

Although many Colombian governmental institutions have denounced anti-LGBT violence and announced initiatives to support the LGBT population, the national response to COVID-19 has revealed ongoing exclusion of LGBT Colombians. On May 29th, the Trans Community Network reported that Alejandra, a trans sex worker who had called for an ambulance due to symptoms of COVID-19, was refused ambulance service when the crew learned that she was HIV-positive and died shortly thereafter.[12] To this date, no investigation or review of the incident has been announced.

The neglect of LGBT Colombians is also clear in the case of Estefany, known as “Chispita,” a trans woman who lived on the street in Cartagena and was HIV-positive. A disturbing video was recorded on June 13th showing Estefany lying on the ground and calling for help as she suffered a health crisis. After four hours without help and despite several calls from neighbors to the authorities, Estefany was finally brought to a hospital, but died shortly after arriving.[13]

Colombia has also neglected people’s needs and human rights within jails and prisons. On June 8th, Daniel Osorno Márquez, a 22-year-old gay man known as “Pupileto,” was found dead in an isolated cell in Bosque detention center in Barranquilla. In announcing his death, authorities stated that Daniel had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Daniel’s family and lawyer announced that they had never been informed of this diagnosis. Daniel had repeatedly reported violence, sexual abuse, and discrimination during his incarceration.[14]

These cases illustrate the urgent need for effective measures by the Colombian government to protect the LGBT community. Race & Equality calls on the State of Colombia to:

  1. Provide additional support for civil society’s and local authorities’ human rights monitoring activities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  2. Take the necessary actions to accelerate the investigations of violent crimes against LGBT people, particularly trans women, and accelerate the legal processing of these cases to combat impunity.
  3. Ensure that public health policies, particularly emergency medicine policies, do not stigmatize, criminalize or discriminate against LGBT people, especially trans people, LGBT sex workers and people with HIV.
  4. Strengthen measures to educate and train members of the National Police and INPEC (the national penitentiary system) on human rights, particularly LGBT rights, and ensure that all human rights complaints against these bodies are thoroughly investigated.
  5. Involve affected communities, including the LGBT population, in the design and implementation of COVID-19 response measures in order to collect necessary information, ensure buy-in, avoid unintentional harms and guarantee effectiveness.
  6. Implement public policies and COVID-19 response measures that respect diversity, acknowledge LGBT people’s self-identification and incorporate intersectional analysis. We particularly urge local authorities to explore alternatives to policies such as pico y género that separate people by gender in order to avoid the risks generated for LGBT people’s rights.

Race and Equality urgently calls on the IACHR to strengthen its monitoring mechanisms on the general situation of human rights of the LGBT population in Colombia in the context of the pandemic and asks it to reiterate to the State its obligation to respect human rights, even in emergency situations, recalling that States have an obligation guarantee the rights to life, integrity and identity of its population, especially those in the highest state of vulnerability which is intensified in emergency contexts such as the one we are experiencing.

[1] https://www.elheraldo.co/lgtbi/preocupa-aumento-en-2020-de-homicidios-de-personas-lgbt-734830

[2] https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/alerta-por-crimen-de-mujeres-trans-en-costa-caribe-pese-a-cuarentena/

[3] https://caribeafirmativo.lgbt/asesinan-mujer-trans-suroriente-barranquilla/

[4] https://caribeafirmativo.lgbt/asesinato-brandy-seis-las-personas-lgbti-asesinadas-area-metropolitana-barranquilla-marco-del-aislamiento-social/

[5] https://pares.com.co/2020/03/28/a-todos-los-que-bajen-les-damos-de-baja/

[6] https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/burlas-discriminacion-y-punaladas-la-violencia-que-revela-el-pico-y-genero-articulo-917657/

[7] https://www.colombiainforma.info/entrevista-pico-y-genero-o-la-vigilancia-del-genero/

[8] https://www.facebook.com/RedLGBTIdeBoyaca/photos/a.255356325169408/577495662955471/?type=3&theater

[9] https://twitter.com/redcomunitariat/status/1274290767964581888

[10] https://www.noticiasuno.com/politica/personas-trans-de-barrio-santa-fe-en-bogota-denuncian-crueldad-y-ataques-policiales/

[11] https://twitter.com/redcomunitariat/status/1256652501996240896

[12] http://oldrace.wp/es/espanol/raza-e-igualdad-lamenta-la-muerte-de-alejandra-monocuco-mujer-trans-trabajadora-sexual-en-colombia-y-condena-actos-de-discriminacion-y-violencia-institucioan-basados-en-su-identidad-de-genero/

[13] https://caribeafirmativo.lgbt/abandono-prejuicios-del-estado-hacia-mujeres-trans-continuan-evidenciandose-cartagena/

[14] https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/muere-pupileto-en-barranquilla/

Race and Equality organized a webinar with activists to discuss the role of the IACHR in the crisis generated by COVID-19 with the Special Rapporteur for LGBTI Rights of the IACHR

The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) held a webinar with the Special Rapporteur for the Rights of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Trans and Intersex Persons (LGBTI) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Flavia Piovesan, as well as LGBTI activists and civil society members from Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Nicaragua to discuss the role of the IACHR and the impact of COVID-19 on the lives of LGBTI people in Latin America.

The event entitled, “The role of the IACHR in the crisis generated by COVID-19: Threats to the rights of LGBTI people in Latin America” was held on Thursday, May 21. It began with a statement by Flavia Piovesan, who focused her speech on understanding the impact of the pandemic from a human rights view, its specific threats to LGBTI people and the IACHR strategies to confront them.

According to the Rapporteur, it is necessary to bear in mind three structural challenges in the region that the pandemic aggravated and accentuated: profound inequality, historical discrimination and violence, and dilemmas related to democratic institutions. She explained that the historical statistics on poverty and extreme poverty in Latin America deepened inequality and the lack of guarantees of rights such as health, work, and housing has meant that the effects of the pandemic are differentiated for the most vulnerable populations. “The virus is not discriminatory, but its impact is,” said Commissioner Piovesan, quoting Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). This situation is accentuated when the State response includes an arbitrary and abusive use of force. The Rapporteur also noted that the IACHR published resolution 1/2020 on April 20, 2020. This resolution created the Rapid and Integrated Response Coordination (SACROI COVID-19, for its acronym in Spanish), which focuses on addressing these three structural challenges “from the perspective of Inter-American standards, endorsing the language of human rights, on the one hand, that of state duties and obligations on the other.” Using a gender perspective, the IACHR invited states to guarantee access to housing, safe havens, and economic recovery for trans people. It also asked States to publish health protocols and make complaint mechanisms available for LGBTI people, as well as launch campaigns against LGBTIphobia. The Rapporteur’s intervention ended by pointing out that in face of the threats to the LGBTI population, the IACHR’s four priorities focus on: protection against discrimination; the social exclusion and historical poverty of LGBTI people; barriers in access to health and the barriers imposed by religious groups and gender based-violence, with a special focus on children. Wilson Castañeda, Director of Caribe Affirmativo, reaffirmed the importance of understanding the structural challenges the Rapporteur pointed out and emphasized that “there is a narrative that is developing which indicates that the most vulnerable people facing the pandemic are dangerous to society and among them are LGBTI people”. According to Castañeda, the state response in Colombia has been insufficient to address the job, food, housing and emotional health insecurity of LGBTI people, especially those most vulnerable, such as transgender sex workers, LGBTI migrants, people with HIV, and people deprived of liberty. Castañeda also noted his concern about the implementation of measures such as the “pico y género,” the high homicide rates and episodes of violence and discrimination against LGBTI people in the midst of the crisis. For this reason, he recommended that the IACHR strengthen its actions to monitor the situation of LGBTI people, especially in those States with measures to restrict mobility; urged governments and humanitarian agencies to have a differential and a human rights perspective in their assistance efforts and to promote follow-up meetings in the region with a broad participation of the most vulnerable populations.

In Nicaragua, the socio-political and economic crisis, ongoing since 2018, has exacerbated the consequences of the pandemic, according to Victoria Obando, a member of Deigeorsex and the Nicaraguan LGBTIQ National Board. “Our representatives are not telling the truth regarding the situation we are experiencing in the country,” says Obando, who points out that the situation is worse for the LGBTI population. For example, she presented the case of Celia Cruz, a trans woman detained in Managua with symptoms of COVID-19. The government does not allow her to have visits and prohibits family members from bringing her medical products. Victoria called on the IACHR and international organizations to put pressure on the State to tell the truth about the statistics of the pandemic in her country.

Maria Ysabel Cedano, a Peruvian lawyer representing DEMUS, focused her intervention on the discrimination and violence lesbian women and non-binary people suffer. Cedano drew attention to the high rates of violence within the home which are increasing in the face of the pandemic. She emphasized that the pandemic has exacerbated barriers in access to justice because cases have been suspended to prioritize other requests such as the release of people deprived of liberty. This has meant that cases such as that of two lesbian women fighting to be recognized as the mothers of their child are put on hold. She also highlighted that “the fear of being punished means there is no social demand,” referring to why lesbian women are left out of public policies and made invisible by a heteronormative society. In addition to this, universal family relief aid, a measure the Peruvian State took to alleviate the economic burden of the pandemic on the most vulnerable, did not have a differential approach to protect LGBTI people, especially the indigenous, Afro descendant or rural LGBTI people who were left without any aid.  Isaac Porto, Race and Equality’s Consultant in Brazil, emphasized the need to pay special attention to the situation in Brazil and recommended that the Brazilian government implement the measures recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to contain the pandemic. He also recommended that the State adopt a differential approach[1] to prevent infections and deaths of the Afro-Brazilian population, especially AfroLGBTI people, who are the most impacted and vulnerable. After a round of commentary and questions from different activists from around Latin America, the event was closed with Race and Equality’s commitment to continue working with the IACHR and our partners to better the lives of LGBTI people in the region. Race and Equality joined the call of the IACHR and our partner organizations to build bridges and collective strategies in the region to shed light to these violations against LGBTI people. This is a time of reinvention and transformation and a time to demand better institutional responses to the needs of people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. We must also create a post-COVID-19 agenda to ensure Afro-LGBTI and LGBTI people are included in post-COVID responses.

[1] Include programs and public policies that take into account the needs of specific groups such as afro-descendant and indigenous people in combination with other factors that will increase discrimination such as sexual orientation and gender identity. For example, economic programs that include trans workers and training for public officials on LGBTI standards and rights.

Race and Equality and the National Association of Travestis and Transexuals of Brazil (ANTRA) ask the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to publicly denounce the increase in murders of transgender people in Brazil in 2020

Washington, D.C. and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. May 13, 2020. The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) and the National Association of Travestis[1] and Transsexuals of Brazil (ANTRA) sent a letter to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) expressing their deep concern over the increase in murders of transgender people in Brazil. According to a bulletin recently published by ANTRA, there were 48% more murders of transgender people in Brazil during the first four months of the year than during the same period in 2019. Many of these murders have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

From January to April 2019, 43 transgender persons were murdered in Brazil; while during the same period in 2020, there have been 64. When isolating the months of March and April, to compare specifically with the beginning of the pandemic, there was an increase of 13% in these murders. This demonstrates the extreme violence the Brazilian State and the Brazilian public commits against trans persons, who are even more unprotected in the current context. The Brazilian State has taken no action to address the needs of this population during the health crisis and its resulting socioeconomic impacts.

The situation is intensified by the serious political crisis that the country is also facing at the moment, aggravated by a president who has constantly made threats against Brazilian democracy, even recently participating in demonstrations[2] that called for the closure of the National Congress and the Federal Supreme Court (STF). One of the groups responsible for organizing these demonstrations has publicly proclaimed itself a paramilitary group. According to the group’s leader, the group’s purpose is to “make the STF ministers understand, if necessary, coercively, that there are 11 demigods.”[3]The participation of the president in the demonstration alongside this extreme group is very worrisome.

The coronavirus has aggravated the political crisis in Brazil. President Jair Bolsonaro has shied away from his responsibility as the head of the executive branch and has encouraged noncompliance with the recommendations for social isolations given by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNAIDS, and the IACHR itself. Meanwhile, the death toll continues to rise, reaching 12,484 deaths in the most recent count at the time of this statement.[4] At the same time, consistent with Brazil’s extreme inequality, data confirms that the most vulnerable populations, Afro-descendants and the impoverished, are being killed at higher rates by the virus.[5]

Race and Equality and ANTRA are greatly concerned about the social disparaties that have been exacerbated during the coronavirus pandemic, which becomes clear when we look at the travesti and transsexual population. Given that about 90% of travestis and transsexual women in Brazil use sex work as a primary source of income[6], these women are not able to comply with social isolation guidelines without giving up their livelihood. There have been several reports of groups that exploit them and force travesti prostitutes and transsexual to continue working.[7]

With this in mind, we request that the Honorable Commission make a public statement regarding the situation of transgender people in Brazil. We also call upon the Brazilian State to take the steps necessary to guarantee the right to life, integrity, and dignity of travesti and transsexual persons in Brazil. Most of these people are Black and continue to be the most vulnerable group, subject to the most cases of physical and lethal violence during the pandemic.

[1] Far from being a pejorative term, according to ANTRA (National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals of Brazil), “travesti” is an identity in Brazil, claimed by those who, despite having been identified as belonging to the male gender at birth, recognize themselves as belonging to the female gender and have a female gender expression, but do not claim themselves as women. https://antrabrasil.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/dossic3aa-dos-assassinatos-e-da-violc3aancia-contra-pessoas-trans-em-2019.pdf

[2] BBC. Bolsonaro participates once again in an act criticizing the Supreme Court and Congress. May 3, 2020. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/brasil-52518123

[3] Diário do Centro Mundo.

Paramilitary group created by Sara Winter is in the sights of the PGR. May 8, 2020. Available at: https://www.diariodocentrodomundo.com.br/essencial/grupo-paramilitar-criado-por-sara-winter-esta-na-mira-da-pgr/

[4] News Google. Coronavirus cases and number of deaths in Brazil on May 13. May 13, 2020. Available at: https://news.google.com/covid19/map?hl=pt-BR&mid=%2Fm%2F015fr&gl=BR&ceid=BR%3Apt-419

[5] O Estado de São Paulo.

In SP, risk of death of blacks by covid-19 is 62% higher compared to whites. May 4, 2020. Avaialble at: https://saude.estadao.com.br/noticias/geral,em-sp-risco-de-morte-de-negros-por-covid-19-e-62-maior-em-relacao-aos-brancos,70003291431

[6] Associação Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (ANTRA). Dossier of murders against Brazilian transvestites and violence and transsexuals in 2019. 2020, p. 69. Available at: https://antrabrasil.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/dossic3aa-dos-assassinatos-e-da-violc3aancia-contra-pessoas-trans-em-2019.pdf

[7] RD News. Exploration of cafetinas forces trans to break quarantine and continue on the street. March 22, 2020. https://www.rdnews.com.br/cidades/exploracao-das-cafetinas-obriga-trans-a-descumprir-quarentena-e-continuar-na-rua/125737

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