Recommendations to the Council of the European Union regarding Guatemala
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MH: Colombian military's bounty program went wrong, human rights groups say
16 June 2009
A secret rewards program aimed at eliminating rebels has been horribly perverted, rights groups say.
GRANADA, Colombia -- Fabio Rodríguez Benavides, 23, a cheerful young man known as Little Horse because of the size of his teeth, said goodbye to his mother at about 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 24, 2007, to meet his girlfriend and have some drinks.
BBC: 'Hidden cost' of Colombian biofuel
Colombia's government proudly claims that it is the biggest producer of biodiesel and ethanol in Latin America after Brazil, but human rights groups do not share that enthusiasm.
Critics warn that the cultivation of palm trees to produce biodiesel is a threat to Colombia's indigenous groups and other minorities, including Afro-Colombians.
In rural areas, there is evidence that some people have been forcibly displaced to make way for biofuel production.
SF: Der Palmölkrieg - Energiepflanzen vertreiben Kolumbiens Kleinbauern
In Kolumbiens Regenwäldern spielt sich eine Tragödie ab. Für den Anbau von Palmölplantagen werden in der Provinz Chocó Zehntausende Kleinbauern vertrieben und massakriert. Christliche Missionare versuchen die Bedrohten zu schützen, jedoch mit mässigem Erfolg. Unter den Missionaren ist auch der Schweizer Pater Josef Schönenberger. Der Filmemacher Frank Garbely ist mit ihm in den Regenwald gereist und zeigt die Hintergründe dieser Vertreibungstaktik auf.
Lawgazette: Hundreds of Colombian lawyers murdered but no one prosecuted, report reveals
More than 400 Colombian lawyers have been murdered since 1991 but no one has been prosecuted for a single killing, a devastating report from 42 British lawyers who visited Colombia last year has revealed.
Guatemala: Alert on extreme vulnerability of democratic institutions and increased risk of attacks and threats
The political and social instability of Guatemala has grown worse with the murder of Guatemalan lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg on 10 May and the broadcast the next day of a video in which he accuses high-level government officials of plotting his assassination, including President Álvaro Colom and his wife. He accuses the latter of being the intellectual authors of his murder, or at least of authorizing it, in order to cover up other alleged killings and acts of corruption at a bank which manages a large amount of State funds.
Guatemala: Alert on extreme vulnerability of democratic institutions and increased risk of attacks and threats
The political and social instability of Guatemala has grown worse with the murder of Guatemalan lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg on 10 May and the broadcast the next day of a video in which he accuses high-level government officials of plotting his assassination, including President Álvaro Colom and his wife. He accuses the latter of being the intellectual authors of his murder, or at least of authorizing it, in order to cover up other alleged killings and acts of corruption at a bank which manages a large amount of State funds.
CCAJAR: Ongoing Nightmare at the DAS
It was recently learned that over the last years the Administrative Department of Security (DAS) has been illegally intercepting communications (wiretapping), carrying out surveillance, and gathering information on persons and organizations this institution considers to be “enemies” of the government. For instance, its scrutinizing eye has been set upon the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, members of the opposition, trade unionists, and human rights defenders, among other unfortunate “chosen ones.”