International
UN says Peru resorted to excessive use of force in protests that left more than 60 people dead
May 19 |
The United Nations rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, Clément Voule, said Wednesday that the Peruvian government used excessive force that led to the deaths of more than 60 Peruvians during three months of demonstrations calling for the resignation of President Dina Boluarte.
In early May, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reported in a report that the Peruvian army and police allegedly committed massacres, extrajudicial executions, serious human rights violations, as well as disproportionate and lethal use of force during the protests.
“The excessive and disproportionate use of force led to the death and injury of protesters and bystanders during the protests that began in December,” Voule told reporters at the end of a 10-day working visit that included meetings with the president, protesters and victims’ families.
Voule, a Togo-born lawyer and diplomat, added that Peru must “guarantee access to justice, remedies, reparations and compensation to the victims, including assuming the cost of medical treatment for the injured.”
He indicated that after visiting prisons, talking to government ministers, police, military, prosecutors and judges he has received no evidence that the protesters “are terrorists.”
“They are protesters,” he added. The Peruvian justice system confirmed in May 18 months of preventive imprisonment for four protesters while they are investigated for the alleged crime of affiliation or membership in a terrorist organization.
“This stigma of being a terrorist should not be used,” he commented. Four other protesters in the city of Cusco were sentenced in January to nine months in pre-trial detention for the crimes of rioting and hindering the functioning of public services.
The rapporteur said he received “no evidence” that the protesters had used firearms.
The demonstrations against Boluarte began on December 7 when he assumed power after Congress dismissed his predecessor Pedro Castillo, now imprisoned for three years while under investigation for corruption and rebellion. The protests that culminated in February left 49 civilians killed by security forces, according to the Ombudsman’s Office. Another 11 civilians died in traffic accidents or road blockades by protesters. Seven uniformed officers were also killed.
Voule said that in trying to find the causes of the protests in the southern Peruvian Andes he met people who “feel overwhelmed by the corruption in the country and are asking for a real fight against corruption”, precisely in areas where Peru’s wealth is produced, including copper mining, a metal that goes to China and of which the country is the second largest exporter in the world.
The UN official indicated that his full report will be presented in 2024.
International
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Monday requested that the Supreme Court restore his freedom while he appeals the historic 12-year house arrest sentence he received for bribery and procedural fraud.
Uribe, the most prominent figure of Colombia’s right wing, was convicted last week by a lower court for attempting to bribe paramilitary members into denying his ties to the violent anti-guerrilla squads.
Since Friday, the 73-year-old has been under house arrest at his residence in Rionegro, about 30 km from Medellín. The judge justified the measure by citing a risk of flight.
However, Uribe’s defense team rejected that argument and formally petitioned the court to immediately lift the detention order, claiming it lacks legal basis.
Uribe, a dominant force in Colombian politics for decades, is now the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted and placed under arrest, found guilty of witness tampering and obstruction of justice to prevent links to paramilitary groups.
He has repeatedly denounced the trial as politically motivated, blaming pressure from the leftist government currently in power.
His political party, Centro Democrático, has called for nationwide protests on August 7 in support of Uribe, who remains popular for his hardline stance against guerrilla groups.
Uribe has until August 13 to submit his written appeal. The case will then move to the Bogotá High Court, which has until October 16 to uphold, overturn, or dismiss the sentence. If the deadline passes without a decision, the case will be archived.
International
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
The poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean is currently engulfed in a deep political crisis and a wave of violence driven by armed groups — a situation that an international security mission led by Kenya is attempting to stabilize.
Due to the worsening security conditions, the U.S. government has suspended all official movements of embassy personnel outside the compound in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. State Department announced Monday in a security alert posted on social media platform X.
“There are intense gunfights in the Tabarre neighborhood, near the U.S. Embassy,” the alert reads, urging the public to avoid the area.
Tabarre is a municipality located near Port-au-Prince International Airport, northeast of the Haitian capital.
According to a July report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 3,141 people were killed in Haitibetween January 1 and June 30 of this year.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
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Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction