International

Colombia police sexually abused at least 28 during protests: Amnesty

Photo: DANIEL MUNOZ / AFP

| 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.

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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.

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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

Ecuador’s Noboa vows to continue “war” on criminal groups

Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa said on Sunday that his government will continue the “war” against criminal organizations and warned that he will not yield to criminal gangs operating in the South American country.

During his state-of-the-nation address before the National Assembly, Noboa stated that criminal structures “will tire first” before his administration abandons its fight against violence and drug trafficking.

The president reaffirmed his hardline security strategy amid ongoing concerns over organized crime and drug-related violence in Ecuador.

International

Iran says agreement with U.S. to end Middle East conflict is in final stages

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baqai, said Saturday that Tehran and the United States were in the “finalization phase” of a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the conflict in the Middle East.

Speaking to Iranian state television Irib, Baqai explained that Iran had initially sought to draft a memorandum consisting of 14 clauses as part of the negotiations.

“We are currently in the phase of finalizing these memorandums of understanding,” he stated.

Shortly before Baqai’s remarks became public, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was “a possibility” that Iran could agree to a deal to end the conflict as early as Saturday.

“There is a possibility that later today, tomorrow, or within the next couple of days, we may have something to announce,” Rubio told reporters in New Delhi, adding that he hoped for “good news.”

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Despite acknowledging progress in the negotiations, the top U.S. diplomat warned that President Donald Trump could still decide to resume military strikes against Iran if talks fail to produce a final agreement.

International

WHO Warns Ebola Outbreak Is Spreading Rapidly in DR Congo

The World Health Organization on Friday raised the risk level of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from “high” to “very high,” the highest alert category used by the organization.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the outbreak is spreading rapidly across the country, particularly in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu.

“The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is spreading rapidly,” Tedros stated during a press conference.

He explained that the WHO had previously classified the risk as high at both the national and regional levels, while maintaining a low risk assessment globally.

“We are now revising our risk assessment to classify it as very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at the global level,” he added.

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A WHO spokesperson told AFP that “very high” represents the organization’s highest risk category.

The outbreak has expanded across North Kivu and South Kivu, regions divided by the frontline between Congolese government forces and the armed group M23, which is reportedly backed by Rwanda and has seized large areas of territory since 2021.