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.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

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.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

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

Iran Reports 201 Dead, 747 Injured After U.S. and Israeli Strikes

The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported Sunday night (local time) that at least 201 people were killed and 747 injured following attacks carried out by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic.

A spokesperson for the humanitarian organization said more than 220 rescue teams have been deployed across affected areas and that relief operations are continuing without interruption. The official highlighted the difficulty of treating the large number of wounded and the urgent need for additional resources in impacted provinces.

Out of Iran’s 31 provinces, 24 have reported damage, according to a statement carried by the Isna news agency. This marks the first overall casualty toll released by Iranian state-affiliated media since the launch of the offensive.

Among the dead are 85 schoolgirls from a school in the southern city of Minab, according to the country’s judiciary. “The number of martyrs at the Minab girls’ school has risen to 85,” the local prosecutor’s office said, as quoted by the judiciary’s website, Mizan Online.

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian described the attack as a “savagery” that “constitutes a new black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors.”

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Meanwhile, the international community continues to monitor the situation closely amid concerns about possible further reprisals and the broader impact on Middle East stability, energy markets, and global security.

AFP noted that it was unable to independently verify the casualty figures or the circumstances surrounding the events.

International

Pope Leo XIV Urges End to ‘Spiral of Violence’ in Middle East

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an end to the “spiral of violence” in the Middle East, following military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran and subsequent retaliatory bombardments in the region.

“Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I urge the parties involved to assume their moral responsibility and stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” the pontiff told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Speaking during the Angelus prayer, the U.S.-born pope said stability and peace cannot be achieved through threats or weapons. “Stability and peace are not built with reciprocal threats or with arms that sow destruction, suffering and death, but only through reasonable, sincere and responsible dialogue,” he declared.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics also called for diplomacy to “regain its role” amid escalating tensions.

In addition, the pope urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to urgently resume dialogue after several days of clashes between the two countries.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

International

Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting on Middle East Crisis

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday condemned the “military escalation in the Middle East” following attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, just hours before an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.

“I call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation,” Guterres said in a statement.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet on Saturday at 21:00 GMT (4:00 p.m. in New York) to address “the situation in the Middle East,” the United Nations announced.

The meeting, during which Guterres will deliver remarks, was convened at the request of France, Bahrain, Colombia, Russia and China, according to a diplomatic source.