International

Colombia allows sexual assault victims to denounce alleged attackers online

AFP

Sexual abuse victims in Colombia will be allowed to publish accusations against their alleged attackers on social media following a decision by the country’s top court published on Friday.

The constitutional court deemed that dozens of posts on Facebook and other social media platforms using the hashtag #acosadorsexual (sexual aggressor), posted alongside photos of the alleged perpetrators, can remain in place.

The court ruled that any harm “potentially suffered” by an alleged aggressor due to the publication was “inferior to the harm suffered” by a victim if rendered silent due to fear of being sued over the post.

The ruling came following a complaint by a man who was accused of abuse by his partner.

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The young woman said on Facebook that her partner, a university classmate, abused her, taking advantage of the “state of weakness” she was in after consuming “alcohol and other psychoactive substances.”

In the post, the woman said the incident was “very difficult for me and my mental health” and that she took two months to report it out of “fear.”

The post has been shared more than 200 times and liked almost 500 times.

The man denies the accusations and claims their encounter was “consensual.”

Denouncing what he said was an attack on his “honor and reputation,” the man requested the “deletion of the publication in question, the retraction of the information in it and a public apology.”

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But the court rejected his complaint and said that “victims of crime have the right to freely and publicly denounce the events they suffered.”

The court added that it considered those claims to be based on “personal experience” and done in “good faith.”

The court said the “condition of a woman who allegedly has been the victim of sexual violence” deserves “special” protection.

The decision overturned a ruling by a lower court in June 2020 that had sided with the man.

In 2020, more than 18,000 people, including almost 15,500 women, turned to Colombia’s medical investigation body over alleged instances of sexual abuse.

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International

Iran Reports 201 Dead, 747 Injured After U.S. and Israeli Strikes

The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported Sunday night (local time) that at least 201 people were killed and 747 injured following attacks carried out by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic.

A spokesperson for the humanitarian organization said more than 220 rescue teams have been deployed across affected areas and that relief operations are continuing without interruption. The official highlighted the difficulty of treating the large number of wounded and the urgent need for additional resources in impacted provinces.

Out of Iran’s 31 provinces, 24 have reported damage, according to a statement carried by the Isna news agency. This marks the first overall casualty toll released by Iranian state-affiliated media since the launch of the offensive.

Among the dead are 85 schoolgirls from a school in the southern city of Minab, according to the country’s judiciary. “The number of martyrs at the Minab girls’ school has risen to 85,” the local prosecutor’s office said, as quoted by the judiciary’s website, Mizan Online.

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian described the attack as a “savagery” that “constitutes a new black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors.”

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Meanwhile, the international community continues to monitor the situation closely amid concerns about possible further reprisals and the broader impact on Middle East stability, energy markets, and global security.

AFP noted that it was unable to independently verify the casualty figures or the circumstances surrounding the events.

International

Pope Leo XIV Urges End to ‘Spiral of Violence’ in Middle East

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an end to the “spiral of violence” in the Middle East, following military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran and subsequent retaliatory bombardments in the region.

“Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I urge the parties involved to assume their moral responsibility and stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” the pontiff told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Speaking during the Angelus prayer, the U.S.-born pope said stability and peace cannot be achieved through threats or weapons. “Stability and peace are not built with reciprocal threats or with arms that sow destruction, suffering and death, but only through reasonable, sincere and responsible dialogue,” he declared.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics also called for diplomacy to “regain its role” amid escalating tensions.

In addition, the pope urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to urgently resume dialogue after several days of clashes between the two countries.

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International

Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting on Middle East Crisis

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday condemned the “military escalation in the Middle East” following attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, just hours before an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.

“I call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation,” Guterres said in a statement.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet on Saturday at 21:00 GMT (4:00 p.m. in New York) to address “the situation in the Middle East,” the United Nations announced.

The meeting, during which Guterres will deliver remarks, was convened at the request of France, Bahrain, Colombia, Russia and China, according to a diplomatic source.