2023-12-04 16:59:53
11:59 AM
In the midst of a hostile environment for Human Rights in Colombia and the world, the director of Human Rights Watch for the Americas, Juanita Goebertus, responded to the main risks in Colombia and the region.
Regarding total peace, he said that Petro still has time to correct course and that this project “cannot be an excuse to fail to comply with the State’s duty to protect the communities.”
In the midst of a hostile environment for Human Rights in Colombia and the world, the director of Human Rights Watch for the Americas, Juanita Goebertus, responded to the main risks in Colombia and the region.
Regarding total peace, he said that Petro still has time to correct course and that this project “cannot be an excuse to fail to comply with the State’s duty to protect the communities.”
You have denounced that Petro is losing territorial control, is it a risk for total peace?
“An essential duty of the State is to seek peace, but also to protect its citizens against threats from others. When the State is not there to prevent organized crime groups from kidnapping, recruiting, and committing homicides against social leaders, against ex-combatants, there is an omission in the State’s duty to protect. In the Colombian case, what we have pointed out is that although we applaud the importance of the search for peace, that cannot be an excuse for failing to comply with the State’s duty to protect communities.”
What is the balance of this increase in violence?
“What we are seeing in Colombia is a very worrying growth in forced recruitment of minors, in kidnappings. We have seen that the homicides of leaders remain at a very high rate. “We come from 2022 from the highest rate of homicides of social leaders”
And, what do you think of the ceasefires with armed groups?
“We have seen ceasefire announcements in which in several cases the Public Force stops acting while the damage to the civilian population by several of these groups continues.”
Regarding diplomatic relations, has Petro failed in his statements to condemn violations of Human Rights?
“What we try to monitor is the importance of Latin American countries observing in their foreign policy a commitment to the defense of human rights, that they do so in a coherent manner regardless of ideologies. And we have seen in some cases a foreign policy of the United States, of Colombia, more coherent in terms of human rights and other times less. I think that in general it is important and perhaps in that, in Latin America, President Boric has been the best example.”
Speaking of the region, the situation now is the election of Javier Milei as president of Argentina, what risks do you see?
“This idea of reviewing how many were missing, who was responsible. This idea that there were simply some errors and not really what is historically known in Argentina, which is a macabre dictatorship in which forced disappearances, torture, among others, were committed. That worries us.
We are also concerned about several of the statements regarding women’s rights, particularly sexual and reproductive rights, access to abortion, voluntary interruption of pregnancy, which has been an achievement of the women’s movement and human rights movement in Argentina, which could be at risk under this mandate.”
That brings me to another question about the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele. Some talk about the Bukele effect in the region, do you think there is a turn to the right? And how do the DDs go there. H H.?
“More than a turn to the right, we see pendulum turns. Several academics in Latin America have already identified a phenomenon in which those in power are defeated. That is, there is a favoring of change. Regardless of whether it is to the left or to the right.
There is a general exhaustion, a feeling of lack of control. A Bukele government arrives that offers security at the cost of restricting human rights. What we have reported are more than 70 thousand people detained within the framework of the state of emergency, people who have been detained without guarantees of due process, public hearings of more than 500 people without access to lawyers, judicialization of minors under 18 years of age as if they were of legal age.
We have documented torture, forced disappearances, more than 170 cases in prisons of people who have died without any explanation from the government. “We have documented the establishment of quotas by the police to capture people, regardless of whether or not there is evidence of their relationship with the gang.”
Let’s talk about migration. HRW recently published a report criticizing some US and regional policies…
“More than half a million people are crossing the Darién annually, mostly Venezuelans, followed now by Ecuadorians and Haitians who have been expelled from their countries precisely for this type of human rights violations.
When you look at United States policy, even under the Biden government, what you find is that there have been negotiations with countries like Mexico, like Guatemala, to seek to establish obstacles that prevent more migrants from reaching the United States border. One of these measures has been the imposition of visas.
We interviewed many people and many told us that they would have had the resources to pay for a flight to get to Mexico, to get to Guatemala, but that with the imposition of visas on Venezuelans and Ecuadorians, that journey has become impossible.
We invite you to create a safe corridor for these migrants.”
The United States said it was going to implement family reunification centers here in Colombia, have they worked?
“The United States has negotiated these with several countries, including Guatemala and Colombia. The spirit is positive, it is to be able to apply for refuge, for asylum from other countries for certain nationalities that want to arrive in the United States and to have it verified previously.
What we have been able to comment on in the case of Colombia is that in the first one, 10,000 places were opened and they were immediately sold out. They are being prosecuted and the system collapsed. After this there have been no new openings.”
What worries you most about the Petro government?
“I already said it, the loss of territorial control and what that means in terms of omission by the Colombian State in the protection of its citizens at the territorial level.”
And, in that sense, what would be the recommendation for this government that still has time to correct things in total peace?
“Let him implement a security policy for the protection of citizens, because without that his peace policy will not be successful.”
What do you think of the dialogues in Mexico to solve the situation in Venezuela?
“Venezuela today is a dictatorship. But it is evident that the strategy promoted by former President Trump and several former Latin American presidents, including former President Iván Duque, of creating this diplomatic siege, failed. In the case of Latin democracy, under the leadership of several governments, including President Petro, there is a different vision of resuming bilateral relations and seeking a transition to democracy through diplomatic channels (…) At HRW we believe that this is the desirable path.”
What is the litmus test for Maduro to demonstrate that he is interested in leaving power and getting out of the conflict? And what should happen if he doesn’t comply?
”One of the first acid tests is that the government complies with what it promised in the last agreement: enable the candidates chosen by each of the parties, in particular María Corina Machado, who was chosen as the opposition candidate . If she is not authorized, the regime would fail to comply with what was agreed and the United States would have to reimpose some of the sanctions.
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