The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) would like to share these documents recently published by WOLA and/or organizations we work with in Colombia on labor rights and human rights issues.
We are sad to announce that Anthony Dest will be leaving WOLA in August after more than two and a half years. We are very happy that he will continue working in defense of land rights in Colombia with WOLA’s partner organization the Inter-Church Commission for Justice and Peace (Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz).
Reports:
- WOLA’s Gimena Sanchez for the Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Center (NOREF): Stopping Irreparable Harm: Acting on Colombia’s Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Communities’ Protection Crisis, June 2012
- WOLA: Hostages in Our Own Territories: Afro-Colombian Rights under Siege in Chocó, April 2012
- WOLA, MINGA, CIP and INDEPAZ: “Consolidation,” land restitution, and rising tensions in Montes de María, January 2012
Statements and Letters:
Statements from WOLA-Sponsored Delegations to Washington, DC
- WOLA, SINALTRAINAL and SEIU: Violence, Threats, and Attacks Aim to Undermine SINALTRAINAL for Defending Labor Rights, March 2012
- WOLA, Senator Maya, and CUT: Impunity Reigns in Cases of Labor Rights Violations in Colombia, January 2012
- WOLA, PCN, Community Council of La Toma, and ASOM: Illegal Mining and Paramilitary Violence in Afro-Colombian Territories: A letter to the U.S. Congress on Continued Attacks on Afro-Colombians’ Rights, January 2012
Human Rights
- WOLA: Colombian Human Rights Defenders Exposed to Grave Dangers, June 2012
- WOLA: State Department’s Human Rights Report Downplays the Severity of Colombia’s Human Rights Problems, June 2012
- WOLA et al.: U.S. Organizations Applaud Appointment of Hollman Morris as Director of Canal Capital, March 2012
- WOLA, AFRODES USA et al: Letter to Fiscal Morales regarding human rights cases of concern, January 2012
- WOLA, FOR, et al.: Declaration on the Death Threats Received by Grassroots Organizations and Human Rights Defenders in Barrancabermeja, December 2011
US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, Labor Action Plan and Labor Rights
- National Union School (ENS): Evaluation of the First Year of Implementation of the Labor Action Plan, June 2012
- WOLA: Statement for Senate Hearing on Port Sector in Buenaventura (only in Spanish), April 2012
- WOLA: Paramilitaries Send Unionists an Invitation to Their Own Funeral, April 2012
- FISCH et al.: Letter to President Obama from Chocó Groups Expressing Concern About US-Colombia FTA and Afro-Colombians, April 2012
- Letter from 30 Colombian communities to President Obama regarding Colombia’s lack of implementation of the labor action plan (only in Spanish), April 2012
- WOLA: Obama’s Opportunity to Publicly Express Support for Trade Unions in Colombia, April 2012
- WOLA, LAWG, CIP, USOC and US LEAP: Progress on Labor and Human Rights Must Come before Colombia Free Trade Agreement Goes into Force, April 2012
- WOLA: Take Action to Protect Unjustly Fired Workers in Colombia, January 2012
- WOLA: WOLA Applauds Exoneration of Labor Rights Defenders in Colombia, January 2012
- WOLA: With FTA Secured, Colombia Takes Steps Backwards on Human Rights, December 2012
Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Communities
- National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC): Evaluation of the Implementation of the Victims’ and Land Restitution Decree Law for Indigenous Peoples, June 2012
- ACSN: ACSN Concerned about the criminal allegations against Afro-Colombian human rights defender Felix Banguero, June 2012
- WOLA: Tenth Anniversary of Bojayá, Colombia Massacre, May 2012
- WOLA, USOC, LAWG et al: Letter to Minister Lleras on murders in Curvaradó, March 2012
- WOLA and NOMADESC: Protect Indigenous and Afro-Descendant Communities in Northern Cauca, March 2012
- Dioceses of Quibdó: Death and Impunity Increase in Chocó, March 2012
- WOLA: Afro-Colombian and Displaced Persons Advocate Passes: Remembering Representative Payne’s Commitment to Defending Human Rights, March 2012
- WOLA: Dangerous Precedent Set by Consultation Process for Colombia’s Victims’ Law, December 2012
- ACSN: Afro-Colombian Victims Ignored in Development of Victims’ Law, November 2012
- Diocese of Quibdó, FISCH, and WOLA: Letter in Opposition to Fumigations in Chocó, October 2011
In the News:
- BBC Mundo: La tecnología del Gran Hermano avanza en América Latina (only in Spanish), May 2012
- The Huffington Post: The Empire Strikes Back, May 2012
- Al-Jazeera: Inside Story Americas: Have trade unions lost their clout?, May 2012
- Bloomberg News: Obama Certifies Colombia Labor Plan Clearing Trade Pact, April 2012
- Sojourners: Mission Not Accomplished, April 2012
- Counterpunch: Obama Poised to Give Presidential Seal of Approval to Gross Labor Rights Violations in Colombia, April 2012
- Ebony: How Will New Colombian Drug Laws Impact the War on Drugs, March 16, 2012
- Sojourners: Forget the Firm—Meet Francia, January 2012
Recommended Videos:
- PBS: Women, War and Peace: The War We are Living, November 2011
PBS Frontline documentary on Afro-Colombian women’s struggle for land rights featuring our Afro-Colombian partners and WOLA Senior Associate Gimena Sanchez - Hollman Morris, NED Fellow: Intercepting Democracy Colombia’s Intelligence Service vs Civil Liberties, February 2012
- Al Jazeera: Colombia’s Emerald Tsar June 2012
