International
Colombia police sexually abused at least 28 during protests: Amnesty
| By AFP |
At least 28 people were sexually abused by police during Colombia’s mass anti-government protests last year, Amnesty International said Thursday.
Having received hundreds of reports of gender-based violence during that upheaval, the international rights NGO documented 28 cases in seven cities, including the South American country’s capital Bogota.
The cases detailed in Amnesty’s 68-page report, entitled “The police does not care for me: Sexual violence and other gender-based violence in the 2021 National Strike,” occurred between April 28 and June 30, 2021.
During that time, hundreds of thousands of people enduring economic strife caused by the pandemic took to the streets to protest against a proposed tax hike by then-President Ivan Duque (2018-2022), which he ultimately withdrew.
Police brutally cracked down on the unprecedented youth-led social uprising, with the UN reporting at least 46 deaths and accusing security personnel of serious human rights violations.
Erika Guevara, Amnesty’s director for the Americas, said at a Bogota event presenting the report that “state violence faced by the population… was part of a generalized pattern against the protesters.”
The Amnesty report details multiple instances of police, after deploying tear gas and other dispersal measures on peaceful gatherings, taking women aside and assaulting them.
The report also describes police insinuating to detained male protesters that they would be punished through sexual violence, before placing them in rooms where they were sexually assaulted.
“The common factor in all cases is the intention behind this use of violence: the perpetrators sought to punish the victims for contravening social gender norms and going out onto the streets to claim their rights,” the report says.
Deploring the lack of convictions for the sexual violence, Amnesty secretary general Agnes Callamard said: “The violence of the street translated into the violence in the judicial system translated into the violence of the system altogether.”
International
Afghan man sentenced to life in prison for deadly Munich vehicle attack
A German court on Thursday sentenced an Afghan man to life imprisonment for a 2025 attack in which he drove a vehicle into a trade union demonstration in Munich, killing two people and injuring around 40 others.
The Munich Higher Regional Court ruled that the 25-year-old man, identified only as Fahrad N. under German privacy laws, committed a particularly serious crime.
Presiding judge Michael Höhne said the court was convinced that the defendant deliberately drove his vehicle into the protesters from behind. He described the scene of the attack as a “real field of destruction.”
The verdict followed the request of federal prosecutors, while the defense had sought a 15-year prison sentence and admission to a psychiatric hospital.
Fahrad N. was convicted of two counts of murder and 23 counts of attempted murder, one more charge than prosecutors had requested. He was also found guilty of 19 counts of serious bodily harm and three counts of intentional injury.
The attack occurred on February 13, 2025, as Munich prepared to welcome international leaders attending the Munich Security Conference, while Germany was entering the final stage of its parliamentary election campaign.
That morning, around 1,400 people were marching through the city center in a demonstration organized by the services union Verdi. According to investigators, the Afghan national drove a BMW Mini past police officers escorting the march before intentionally crashing into the crowd.
The vehicle traveled approximately 23 meters before coming to a stop.
Fahrad N., who was interested in bodybuilding, arrived in Germany at the age of 15 as an unaccompanied minor and had his residence permit renewed. Authorities had previously considered him “well integrated” into local society.
Investigators said he later became radicalized under the influence of Afghan clerics he followed on social media in the months before the attack.
According to prosecutors, the defendant believed Western countries were responsible for the suffering of Muslim populations in Afghanistan and the Middle East, and concluded that he should “kill randomly selected people in Germany.”
International
Mexican TikTok Influencer Shot Dead While Livestreaming in Sinaloa
A Mexican influencer was shot dead Tuesday night while livestreaming on social media outside a restaurant in the violence-plagued state of Sinaloa, in northwestern Mexico.
César Gastelum, who had more than 500,000 followers on TikTok, was broadcasting live with two friends while taking part in a challenge in which they dressed as food delivery workers. During the livestream, a motorcycle carrying two individuals stopped beside them, and the driver shot Gastelum in the head.
The broadcast was interrupted immediately after the attack and was later removed by the platform. However, several news outlets preserved parts of the footage and shared images of the incident.
Initial reports from local police indicated that a delivery worker had been killed. However, after reviewing the recording and gathering witness statements, authorities identified the victim as Gastelum, who was approximately 25 years old, according to local media reports. The influencer was known for sharing lifestyle-related content.
The attack took place in a busy shopping area near the Sinaloa Attorney General’s Office in Culiacán, the state capital. Military and police forces were deployed to the scene, while forensic experts collected evidence and removed the victim’s body, according to local television reports.
Sinaloa has been experiencing a wave of violence for the past two years due to internal disputes within the powerful local drug cartel.
Local media have reported that around a dozen influencers, some allegedly linked to criminal groups, have been killed in recent years in the state.
International
Iran Rejects Negotiations With U.S. as Strait of Hormuz Remains Blocked Amid New Attack
Tensions remained high in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday after a vessel was hit by a projectile, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims that negotiations with Iran were moving forward and that the strategic maritime route could reopen as early as Tuesday.
Tehran denied that direct talks were taking place, but Trump insisted that discussions were underway and described the situation as a final opportunity for Iran to reach an agreement.
“This is the last chance they have to sign a good document,” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz could happen “literally tomorrow” Tuesday.
The comments came after another escalation in rhetoric from Washington. Last week, Trump threatened Iran with military strikes before unexpectedly changing course on Sunday and announcing that negotiations with Tehran would resume.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqai rejected the U.S. president’s version of events, stating that Tehran was not holding negotiations with Washington.
“At this moment, we are not negotiating with the United States. We are negotiating with Oman to guarantee safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” Baqai said.
Earlier, the Iranian official said that Tehran was close to reaching an agreement with Oman, which lies across the Strait of Hormuz, to reopen the crucial waterway that plays a key role in global energy trade.
The maritime route has remained blocked by Iran since the outbreak of hostilities following U.S. and Israeli strikes against the Islamic Republic on February 28.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced Tuesday that they had launched an attack against an airport in Saudi Arabia. The Iran-backed group had previously disrupted the passage of Saudi vessels through the Red Sea, an alternative route used for crude exports by the world’s largest oil producer.
The continued instability in the region has raised concerns over global energy supplies, as the Strait of Hormuz remains one of the most important chokepoints for international oil shipments.
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