Permitted to Prohibit Mining
The question that everyone asks here in Salento, Quindío is the same I have heard from mayors and social leaders in many municipalities: can the mining titles given by the National Government supercede local decisions to privilege other activities, like tourism, agriculture, or the conservation of water sources.
Read MoreThe heroic act of guarding death
It was a sunny day in February and the entrance to the family’s house was decorated with a purple ribbon. In a room, Juanse’s photos and the paintings his friends had given him were visible. We talked for hours with his parents and sister, we got to know Juanse through his family. Two weeks ago, they had had to say goodbye to their 14 year-old son and brother.
Read MoreCulture and Its Intangible Benefits
We should take advantage of this moment when Colombia begins to question the role of culture in peace building to consider its contributions more broadly.
Read More5 Ideas to Improve the Peace Accords’ Popular Vote
This past Thursday, the Constitutional Court held a public hearing about the statutory bill that authorizes a plebiscite to put the peace accords to a popular vote.
Read MoreAlthough imperfect, peace should also arrive to rural areas
Throughout the 20th century, Colombia passed a series of agrarian laws that regulated ownership and exploitation of the land, one of the most important causes of armed conflict. The most important were Law 200 of 1936, Law 135 of 1961, Law 1 of 1968, and Law 160 of 1994. All were ambitious proposals. Nonetheless, the implementation of these laws has been a failure.
Read MoreKidnapping and Peace
There are ways of fighting that are so atrocious that there is no ideal, no matter how noble it may be, that can justify them. Kidnapping of civilians is one of them and for this reason it is almost unanimously condemned by all Colombians. These kidnappings are also war crimes in international law, and, if they are committed in a generalized or systematic way, are also a crime against humanity.
Read MoreThe Country’s Map
In Colombia we lie to ourselves a lot, but perhaps the most candid of all is to believe that we have a country as big as our national map suggests.
Read MoreSantos and IACHR’s Bankrupcy
It is known, because the news traveled like wildfire, that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is in financial crisis.
Read MoreThe Political Map of IACHR’s Crisis
Two days after that media and social networks go viral with IACHR’s crisis, we started to learn OAS member states’ reactions.
Read MoreThe Peace that Excludes Afro-Colombians
To not support the negotiations it not a viable option, because the real cost of this alternative could be disastrous for Black communities; but to accept a peace without participation isn’t an optimal situation either.
Read MoreMain Difficulties for Human Rights Advocates in the Global South
Dejusticia asked Global Action-Research Workshop participants what the biggest difficulties are for human rights advocates.
Read MoreYoung Human Rights Activists Reflect on their Work
Dejusticia asked participants of the First Global Action-Research Workshop to reflect on their human rights work.
Read MoreThe Role of the Global South in the Future of Human Rights
Dejusticia asked participants of the First Global Action-Research Workshop what role the Global South will play in the human rights movement.
Read MoreEffects of the Global Action-Research Workshop
Dejusticia asked participants of the First Global Action-Research Workshop what effects they think the workshop will have.
Read MoreCan the Inspector General remove Petro from office?
Two reasons why the answer would be “no”. It is practically a done deal the the Inspector General will apply disciplinary sanctions in Gustavo Petro’s case. The mayor will not only be removed from office, he will also be unable to hold public office for a good amount of time (10, 15, 18 years).
Read MoreScholars and Journalists
It is regrettable that the debate about academic fraud in Colombia has broken out surrounding the case of the scientist Raúl Cuero. But it would be even more regrettable if the debate turned against the researcher Rodrigo Bernal, who did nothing more than what his job demands: to rigorously investigate and publish what he finds (in this case, Cuero’s real record).
Read MoreA Court Scandal?
Is it, as several analysts have pointed out, an abuse, an excessive formalism or cowardice that the Constitutional Court decided to strike down the reform that broadens military jurisdiction because of a procedural problem?
Read MorePrison for Protesting?
It had been a long time since such an objectionable, anti-democratic and unconstitutional piece of legislation, like the one presented by the Minister of Defense, meant to punish with jail time those who go out in to the streets to protest, was presented in Congress.
Read MoreThe Inspector General’s Office: Unnecessary or Dangerous?
The Constitutional Court´s approval of the disciplinary measures against Piedad Córdoba shows the Inspector General´s enormous power. It is an unchecked power, since not even the Court can impose clear limits on it.
Read MoreThe Tea Party without a State
An article in the New Yorker from last weeks tells the story of how members of the Tea Party – the radical branch of the American Republican Party – began to doubt their decision to block the passage of the federal budget as a way to oppose the implementation of Obamacare, when they saw that this lead to fewer police officers on duty and the closure of the World War II monument.
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