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WOLA Newsroom  October 16, 2009 U.S. human rights organizations and activists wish to celebrate Peace Brigades International's Colombia Project on its 15 year anniversary. Without the presence and hard work of PBI Colombia's hundreds of volunteers over the past 15 years, much of the important work on human rights in Colombia would not have been possible.  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 15, 2009WOLA submitted written comments to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in response to a formal request to the public for opinions on the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, also known as the Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). In this letter, WOLA will re-iterate concerns about the U.S.-Colombia FTA. 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 7, 2009WOLA Executive Director sent a letter to administration officials expressing concerns regarding the pending agreement between the US and Colombia over the US military's use of military facilities in that country. Click to read her letter.  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.  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 10, 2009Executive Director, Joy Olson recently participated in a panel discussion on U.S. foreign policy towards Latin America under the Obama Administration at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.  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  December 8, 2008According to reports WOLA received on, December 2, 2008, the day of the incident, at 9:30 in the morning two unknown men, believed to be from the Black Eagles (Aguilas Negras), approached Martha Diaz as she was walking. One of the men bearing a revolver ordered her into a nearby taxi, where the other man stood holding the door ...  November 24, 2008WOLA, USOC and the RFK Center express their concern in a letter to Carolina Barco, Ambassador of Colombia to the U.S., regarding the disproportionate use of force on the part of Colombia’s public forces to peaceful protests in Valle del Cauca and Cauca in recent weeks, reports of increase paramilitary activity throughout the country and the alarmingly high rates of ... Download  September 18, 2008United States economic assistance to Colombia in 2008 includes at least 80 million dollars for alternative development programs administered by USAID to support production of coffee, cacao, fruits, and “African” palm oil (APO). In approving this money (H.R. 2764), Congress placed restrictions on the program stating that the funds could not be used to finance palm oil projects that contribute ... Download | |
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