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WOLA Newsroom  October 16, 2009WOLA's Coletta Youngers and John Walsh wrote an article published in America's Quarterly today, Drug Decriminalization: A Trend Takes Shape. They explain how harsh anti-drug laws have failed to stem apparently rising drug use, and incarceration rates are climbing-up 40 percent on average in Mexico and South America over the last decade-with more drug users and low-level dealers behind bars. ...  September 17, 2009WOLA, TransAfrica Forum and AFRODES USA sumbitted comments on behalf of the Network for Advocacy in Solidarity with Grassroots Afro-Colombian Communities (NASGACC) and partner organizations in Colombia concerning the Free Trade Agreemeent with Colombia to the Office of the United States Representative on September 15, 2009. Download  September 9, 2009Read USOC, WOLA and LAWGEF's memo on a scandal far worse than watergate which is unfolding featuring Colombia's presidential intelligence agency, the Administrative Security Department (DAS). Exposed by the Colombian news weekly Semana and the subject of an Attorney General's office investigation, the DAS is revealed to have been illegally spying on many of the varied forces of Colombian democracy: ... Download  August 11, 2009President Obama’s June decision to maintain Bolivia’s suspension from ATPDEA trade benefits repeated distortions from the Bush administration. The September 15th drug control certification decision provides the Obama administration a chance to get it right. The attached memo reviews the June decision and provides accurate information about Bolivian drug control efforts. Download  August 5, 2009On April 30, 2009, experts on Colombia's IDPs and refugees, U.S. NGOs, international institutions and affected governments came together to participate in a pioneering conference, entitled A Solution Oriented U.S. Policy to Address the Colombian Forced Displacement Crisis organized by Refugees International and the Washington Office on Latin America with the support of twenty one other U.S. non-governmental and faith-based ...  July 14, 2009The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) recently sent President Obama and Members of the U.S. Congress a letter highlighting their opposition to the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Colombia and the U.S. under its' present guidelines. ONIC's position to the FTA is important to consider because this entity represents 102 indigenous peoples that recognize trade an essential element for ...  July 14, 2009President Uribe met with President Obama recently to primarily promote the trade agreement between the United States and Colombia. As the 111th Congress debates the agreement, they should take into consideration the structure of the sugarcane industry in Colombia which is of particular concern from a human rights and environmental perspective.  June 12, 2009The Washington Office on Latin America along with 12 other human rights organizations wrote a letter today, June 12, 2009, to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton requesting that the United States Government take immediate, concrete and public action to help resolve the escalating social and political crisis in Peru.  May 5, 2009Jo-Marie Burt, Associate Professor of Political Science at George Mason University, and Coletta Youngers, WOLA Senior Fellow, were in Lima in April 2009 to observe the conclusion of the trial of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who was charged with ultimate responsibility in four notorious human rights cases. The following is a report on their observations of the unprecedented trial, ... Download  April 1, 2009In an effort to assess the significance of the Fujimori trial for Peru and for global efforts to achieve accountability for atrocities, the Center for Global Studies (CGS) at George Mason University, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), and the Lima-based Instituto de Defensa Legal (IDL) convened an international symposium entitled, "Human Rights Tribunals in Latin America: The ... Download  March 16, 2009Sister Janete Ferreira, an expert on internal displacement, migration, refugee, and trafficking issues, presents on the increasing number of Colombians fleeing into Ecuador to escape the armed conflict.  February 24, 2009In a letter to the U.S. Congress, WOLA, LAWG, CIP and USOC express concern regarding the continuous killings of civilians by Colombian soldiers despite actions taken by the Colombian government. Such shocking behavior, by members of a military that receives hundreds of millions of dollars per year in U.S. government funding, is just one example of hundreds of cases of ...  February 11, 2009This "Blue Ribbon" commission presented its findings on February 11, 2009 in its statement, Drugs and Democracy: Toward a Paradigm Shift.  January 23, 2009The waning days of the Bush administration saw the breakdown of U.S.-Bolivian relations. The Obama administration and Bolivia’s President Evo Morales should now seize the moment to repair the bilateral relationship, to the benefit of both countries.
Click below to read a memo written by John Walsh (WOLA) and Kathryn Ledebur (AIN) on the latest in U.S.-Bolivia relations. Download  January 15, 2009Concerned for the critical situation of Afro-Colombian communities, Senator Oscar Suárez Mira and the Colombian Senate Commission on Human Rights and Hearings summoned a public hearing on November 13, 2008 to evaluate the last 15 years of Law 70 of the black communities and its level of implementation.  December 12, 2008The Compass for Colombia Policy, written by some of Washington's top Colombia experts, offers a better way forward for one of the main foreign policy challenges that the next administration will face. This report makes a detailed, persuasive case for a new U.S. strategy that would achieve our current policy goals while ending impunity and strengthening respect for human ... Download | |
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