International

The Court of the IADH rules out measures in favor of Gustavo Petro amid investigations into his campaign

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IDHR) considered it “inappropriate” to grant provisional measures in favor of the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, which his representatives requested in the midst of investigations for apparent irregular financing of his political campaign.

The IADH Court explained that Petro’s legal team requested the measures as part of the process of supervising the sentence issued in 2020, in which the court condemned Colombia for the dismissal of Petro from his position as mayor of Bogotá in 2013.

The resolution, published on the website of the IADH Court, determined that the case resolved in 2020 is not related to the provisional measures and therefore rejected them.

“The Court considers that the aforementioned request is not related to the subject of the case (resolved in 2020) or to the implementation of any of the three guarantees of non-repetition of regulatory adequacy ordered in the judgment, which makes it inappropriate,” the resolution indicates.

A “factual” and “legal” situation different from that of 2020

The text adds that the request of Petro’s representatives “is based on a factual and legal situation different from that known to this Court in the Petro Urrego case judgment issued in 2020.”

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“On that occasion, the Court considered it unconventional for an administrative authority to order the cessation and eventual disqualification of popularly elected officials. From the information provided in this request for provisional measures, it does not appear that the administrative body in question has the power to disqualify or restrict the political rights of a popularly elected official,” the Court of Human Rights determined.

Last October, the National Electoral Council (CNE) filed charges for alleged irregularities to the campaign that led Petro to the Presidency of Colombia in 2022.

The investigation found an alleged violation of spending caps of 5.3 billion pesos (about 1.19 million dollars).

In the request for provisional measures before the Inter-American Court, Petro’s representatives affirmed that there is an “irregular attribution of powers to the CNE to investigate President Gustavo Petro Urrego, which contravenes the conventional and constitutional guarantees of the integral jurisdiction enjoyed by the dignity of the office of President of the Republic.”

They added that the responsibility for investigating belongs to the Legal Committee of Investigation and Prosecutions of the Senate House of Representatives.

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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.