The Canadian government’s human rights report tabled in Parliament Tuesday regarding implementation of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement might as well have been a comic strip of three monkeys: “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”
Its substance is summed up in the first three pages of the eighteen-page report (that’s counting the title page and two annexes that occupy twelve pages). In essence: there will be no human rights report this year because only nine months have passed since the agreement was implemented.
News - Colombia
Profiting from Repression: Canadian Investment in and Trade with Colombia
The report, commissioned by CUPW and authored by Asad Ismi, details the impact of Canada’s trade policies with and investment in Colombia. The author reports shocking human rights abuses linked to prominent Canadian companies. The report alleges that at least six Canadian owned companies are linked with military and paramilitary repression in Colombia and two companies in particular are linked to at least eight murders of trade unionists and human rights activists.
Colombia is Canada's new best friend
It was just after daybreak on a hazy January morning in Bogota and the 300 bankers were bleary. Summoned at dawn to the auditorium at the foot of their 50-storey office tower, most of them had guessed that their employer—Eduardo Pacheco, owner of Banco Colpatria—was about to confirm the closing of a deal. And no small deal. Canada’s Scotiabank, they understood, was taking a controlling stake in Colpatria. But how did this explain the monstrous transgression against bankers’ hours?
Amazonian Indigenous Visit Parliament, Demand Talisman Leave Territory
Ottawa, Canada – Talisman Energy is creating environmental damage in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest and operating in Achuar indigenous territory without consent, a group of Achuar leaders claimed today during a press conference on Parliament Hill. The press conference was sponsored by New Democratic Party MP Hélène Laverdière, who offered introductory comments, and was also attended by NDP MP Craig Scott.
Red Cross Annual Report : violations increasing in forgotten areas
Bogota (ICRC) – Violations of humanitarian law, including forced displacement, threats of violence, rape and damage to civilian objects, have increased in Colombia, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has found. In presenting its report today on its activities in Colombia in 2011, the ICRC seeks to remind all parties to the conflict of the importance of strictly respecting the rules of international humanitarian law.
Red Cross Report : people deprived of their liberty in Colombian state detention facilities
The ICRC visits more than 70 detention facilities in Colombia to check that the conditions of detention comply with international humanitarian law and other minimum standards. The findings of those visits are shared with the authorities in confidence with a view to improving the detainees' situation. Extract from Colombia report 2011.
Harper's Third-World Environmental Policies for the First World
The French historian, Jules Michelet, when asked to give a brief lecture on English civilization, said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, England is an island." And with that, he walked off the podium.
Small-Scale Miners in Nariño Face Crackdown as Foreign Companies Set Sights on Colombia
Police arrived at the Santa Isabel mine in Colón-Génova on February 21, 2012. The officers asked these local miners to attend a meeting to see if they could sort out their licensing request; However, when the roughly twenty-five miners arrived, they were read their rights and arrested.
Colombian Congress Passes Bills to Implement U.S. Trade Accord
Colombia’s Congress last night passed bills to implement a free-trade accord with the U.S., advancing the agreement ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit this weekend for the Summit of the Americas.
Chiquita Banana To Face Colombia Torture Claim
Chiquita, the global banana producer, was ordered this week to face a federal court over their role in paying off right wing death squads in Colombia. Villagers allege that the death squads used “random and targeted violence in exchange for financial assistance and access to Chiquita’s private port for arms and drug smuggling,” according to a lawsuit filed on their behalf by EarthRights International and Cohen Milstein.