Colombia: intensified violence against labor leaders
The campaign of violence against organized labor in Colombia intensified in 2013, with 26 unionists assassinated—a 15% jump over the figure for 2012.
Tag: paramilitaries
The Andes
Colombia: campesinos mobilize for land, water
Campesinos across Colombia continue to press demands for return of lands usurped by paramilitaries—despite conitnued death threats and legal persecution.
The Andes
Colombia: kingpin named in Trujillo Massacre
Colombia's prosecutor charged notorious drug kingpin "Don Diego" with masterminding several massacres between 1988 and 1994 in which hundreds of peasants were killed.
North Africa
Beyond Benghazi: Libya faces converging crises
The death of a US national in Benghazi thrust Libya briefly into the news—as lawless militias, ethnic conflicts and labor strife daily claim lives across the country.
The Andes
Colombia: threatened indigenous group leader slain
Two gunmen assassinated Juan Álvaro Pai, traditional governor of the endangered Awá indigenous people, in an incursion into their reserve in Colombia’s Nariño department.
Africa
Congo: Katanga next for mineral boom —and war?
Following defeat of the M23 rebels in the war-torn east, the DRC is touting an imminent mineral boom in southern Katanga—despite a spreading separatist insurgency.
The Andes
Colombia: Cauca campesino leader assassinated
Sergio Úlcue Perdomo, a campesino leader who brought a case to the OAS human rights body over paramilitary terror in Cauca, was killed at his home by unknown gunmen.
The Andes
Colombia court strikes down military justice law
Colombia’s Constitutional Court struck down a new law that would allow human rights cases to be heard before special military tribunals rather than the civil courts.
The Andes
Colombia: mine opponents assassinated
Cesar García and Adelinda Gómez, two campesino leaders who opposed the operations of AngloGold Ashanti in Colombia, were assassinated just weeks apart.
The Andes
Colombia: river defender assassinated
Nelson Giraldo Posada, a spokesman for campesinos forcibly relocated to make way for the HidroItuango hydro-electric project, was slain by unknown gunmen in Ituango, Colombia.
The Andes
Colombia: injured GM workers continue fight
Injured GM workers are still trying to get compensation and new jobs, while Chiquita continues to deny any responsibility for murders by the paramilitaries it paid off.
The Andes
Colombia: ex-senator wanted for para links
Colombia's high court issued a an arrest order for Luis Alfredo Ramos, former senator and current presidential candidate, on suspicion of collaboration with paramilitaries.