Public Prosecutor’s Office and Gender
How necessary is a gender perspective in the Public Prosecutor’s Office?
Read MoreWhat’s Next: Justice for Peace
The historic cease fire agreement brings to the fore the final agreement between the Government and the Farc.
Read MoreMeasuring What Matters: a Key Challenge in Human Rights and Business
Five years in, we still lack data and methods to measure how and whether States’ and business commitments to the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are actually improving conditions on the ground. It is time to focus on measuring what matters, and zeroing in on how affected communities have experienced the GPs.
A Code for Police Arbritariness
The National Police scandals have shown that the institution has serious problems of arbitrariness and corruption.
Read MoreColombia and Its Outrageous Paradox
It is commont o hear about the Colombian paradox of the coexistence of a stable democracy with endemic violence.
Read MoreA nation, half men and half women: feminists demand justice
“Colombia has the face of a man” were the words of Colombian feminists when they showed that despite being half of the population, women are virtually absent from political appointments. In 2002, the government approved the “Quota law” which requires that at least 30% of public office positions are held by women. In 2011, Law 1475 reinforced this measure by requiring political parties that at least 30% of participants in their electoral lists are women.
Read MoreWhat Type of Public Prosecutor?
Néstor Humberto Martínez’s response to the Supreme Court about how to confront intra-family violence raises worries about his lack of sensitivity regarding gendered violence.
Read MoreHow Much Does Antipathy Cost?
Last week I wrote an op-ed about the law to allow citizens in Bogotá to avoid the alternate-day travel system for a fee. Few times have I received so many messages in favor and against what I said.
Read MoreOrlando: Equality and Violence
In the years I have been writing this column, I have never received such vicious comments as when I talk about the rights of the LGBTI population: when the homophobia of his school extinguished Sergio Urrego’s life, or when same-sex couples stopped being second-class citizens and were able to marry in civil unions or marriage.
Read MoreThe New Police Code’s Mistakes
This bill currently under review in Congress does not seem to prevent actions against peaceful coexistence, but does legalize the stigmatization of some populations.
Read MoreDo Bulls have Rights?
While the Constitutional Court is deciding a case about bullfights in Bogotá, an excellent decision by the State Council makes it clear that animals do have some rights and that bulls are not the exception.
Read MoreRe-election, Peace and Democracy
A closer look at the dates when high-level government officials will be chosen reveals the enormous concentration of power that the re-election of President Santos could bring. The balance of power must be re-established and there are concrete ways of accomplishing this.
Read MoreThe Statue of Liberty… Chained
The Statue of Liberty has traditionally been a symbol for immigrants to the United States, representing their arrival to a free country. But considering how rapidly the prison population has grown, the Statue of Liberty should now be displayed in chains.
Read MoreThey Have the Right, but It’s Forbidden
The government recognizes certain rights of the indigenous peoples of the Cauca and of the Afro-Colombians in the islands of the Caribbean. But at the same time, they are enforcing laws that forbid the exercise of these rights.
Read MoreWho Would Want to be a Public Official?
The removal from office of the Financial Superintendent is yet another sign of the excessive power of the Inspector General’s Office.
Read MoreThe United Nations Debates Business and Human Rights
A gathering organized by the UN Working Group may promote international regulation of business and human rights.
Read MoreThe 25th Anniversary of the Comission of Colombian Jurists
The CCJ is the Comission of Colombian Jurists, one of the most important and respected organization of human rights in Latin America. Last thursday it celebrated 25 years of admirable and unstoppable work for democracy and rights in Colombia.
Read MoreAre the Five Eyes being Short-sighted?
A new United Nations resolution could put a brake on the large scale espionage carried out by countries like the United States.
Read MoreIn Search of a United, Yet Institutionalized Left
Ivan Cepeda’s proposal of creating a broad alliance with a presidential candidate and a roster of congressional candidates is the Left´s best bet, not only for it’s future, but for the country.
Read MoreLand Reform in Colombia: One step Forward Two Steps Back
Land reform in Colombia, while politically sensitive, is necessary to stabilize the country and end a violent conflict that has plagued Colombians for more than half a century. Colombia’s internal fighting has deprived millions of their land and livelihood. Adopted in June 2011, Colombia’s Victims and Land Restitution Law, also known as Law 1448, is an important advance in providing restitution for those displaced by the conflict.
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