IFOR stands with human rights defenders and addresses the case of Buenaventura in Colombia, at the 46th Human Rights Council

El 15 de marzo de 2021 el Movimiento Internacional de Reconciliación - International Fellowship of Reconciliation - IFOR ha abordado la situación en Colombia y ha pedido a los Estados miembros del Consejo de Derechos Humanos de la ONU y a la Oficina del Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos que presten atención a las violaciones en Buenaventura.
La declaración ha sido pronunciada en el plenario de la 46ª sesión del CDH por María Eugenia Mosquera Riascos, una defensora de los derechos humanos colombiana que ha recibido recientemente amenazas por su trabajo; María Eugenia colabora con Presencia de Paz Peace Presence y es miembro de Conpaz.
Puedes ver la declaracion grabada aqui.

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On March 15th International Fellowship of Reconciliation - IFOR addressed the situation in Colombia and called on the member States of the UN Human Rights Council and on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights "to give attention to the violations in Buenaventura (Colombia), an area where there are many foreign economic interests and to urge the national government to implement the peace agreement, to dismantle the surviving structures of paramilitarism, to fulfil the Acuerdo del Paro Cívico de Buenaventura and to prioritise social investment and not militarisation."
The statement has been delivered in the plenary of the 46th session of the Human Rights Council, by María Eugenia Mosquera Riascos, a Colombian human rights defender who has recently received threats for her work; María Eugenia collaborates with Peace Presence and is a member of Conpaz.

Human Rights Council, 46th session
Geneva, 15 March 2021
Item 4: Human rights situations that require the Council's attention
Oral statement delivered by the International Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Madam President,

The Final Peace Agreement was an important step towards overcoming the social and armed conflict. However, the government's unwillingness to implement it has made the human rights situation increasingly deplorable.
According to the report presented by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "In 2020, 76 massacres were documented, involving the death of 292 people, and 248 peace signatories have been killed". 1
My name is María Eugenia Mosquera Riascos, family member of a victim, human rights defender and member of the Association of Victims Communities Building Peace in Colombia 2.
In this opportunity we present a situation that requires the Council's attention, the case of Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca, where human rights violations, threats, assassinations, forced disappearances, extortion, displacement, dismemberment, confinement, recruitment, sexual violence and expropriation of collective territories are on the rise. Terror is imposed by paramilitary-type structures that operate despite heavy militarisation.
In this context, in January I received threats 3, which are directly related to my work of accompaniment and defence of human rights in this part of the country.
We call on the Member States and the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to pay attention to these situations of violations in Buenaventura, an area where there are many foreign economic interests; to exhort the national government to implement the Peace Agreement, to dismantle the remaining paramilitary structures; to comply with the Acuerdo del Paro Cívico de Buenaventura 4, to prioritise social investment and not militarisation.

Thank you.

 [Translated from the original in Spanish]

1. https://www.hchr.org.co/documentoseinformes/informes/altocomisionado/HRC46-Informe-anual- 2020_traduccion-no-oficial.pdf

2. CONPAZCOL https://comunidadesconpaz.wordpress.com/

3. FOR Peace Presence y otras organizaciones escribieron una carta pública sobre estas amenazas

4. https://www.mininterior.gov.co/content/gobierno-logra-acuerdos-para-levantar-el-paro-civico-en-buenaventura

• You can download the English version of the statement here

• You can download the original statement in Spanish here

• You can watch the recording of this General Debate of the session of the Human Rights Council here (IFOR's statement is at 02:35:59)

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IFOR collaborates with both organizations for the promotion and protection of human rights and the implementation of peace.

CONPAZ - Comunidades Construyendo Paz en Colombia is a network of 140 victims’ organizations, present in 14 departments where the armed conflict still continues. Apart from its challenging work to strengthen community processes CONPAZ has presented decisive contributions to the peace negotiations in Havana, and is worried about its security situation.

In the framework of the peace negotiations CONPAZ proposed an alternative model of transitional justice, restorative justice, focused on reconciliation and investigation of the truth.

The Fellowship of Reconciliation Peace Presence (FORPP) is a non governmental organization dedicated to providing international accompaniment to communities and individuals at risk in Colombia who are working to promote human rights, peace and justice.

FOR Peace Presence provides physical safety, political visibility and solidarity by accompanying communities and organizations that embrace active nonviolence to defend life, land and dignity. FORPP started as a program of IFOR's U.S.A. branch and then, in 2014, FOR Peace Presence constituted itself as an independent organization.

IFOR addresses SDGs 2030, civil disobedience and conscientious objection at the UN 46th HRC

International Fellowship of Reconciliation - IFOR submitted the following statement to the ongoing 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

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Human Rights Council, 46th Session Geneva, 9th March 2021
Item 3: Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights
Oral statement submitted by the International Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Madam President,

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 2030)[1] are a universal call to action to protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere. There are interconnections between all those goals and there is no way we can achieve them unless member States are willing to address injustice, social injustice, climate injustice and to stop wars.

We would like to highlight the concerning links between climate change, hunger, economic sanctions and exploitation, and armed conflicts.[2]

We hear of wars in too many places such as Syria, for instance, as well of violence against protesters such as in Myanmar, Hong Kong and Belarus.

Civil disobedience is a nonviolent tool to resist to violence and injustice; many groups around the world are engaging in nonviolent actions to ask their governments or regimes to respect and restore their human rights. Protesters cannot be shot.

We would also like to draw the attention of this Council to the protection of the right of those who refuse to kill which is still seriously lacking.

The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO)[3], highlighted in its annual report[4], that in 2020 conscientious objectors to military service continue to be persecuted and imprisoned in various countries.

In Turkey, Eritrea and Singapore, for instance, the right is not recognized. Turkish objectors are facing a situation of “civil death”[5] which excludes them from social, cultural and economic life.

[In other countries, like Turkmenistan, there is no alternative to compulsory military service[6]. 

In some countries where the right is formally recognized, like in Finland, Israel and Greece, the alternative service provided is often punitive in nature and the decision-making procedures are in contrast with the international standards.]

IFOR calls on all member States to protect the right to conscientious objection to military service in all countries. 

Thank you.

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[1] https://sdgs.un.org/goals.
[2] http://www.ifor.org/news/2020/5/19/ifor-open-letter-to-the-un-secretary-general.
[3] https://ebco-beoc.org/.
[4] EBCO’s annual report, covering the region of Council of Europe (CoE), is available at https://ebco-beoc.org/node/491.
[5] The situation of conscientious objectors is defined as “civil death” by European Court of Human Rights. (Ulke v. Turkey, application no. 39437/98).
[6] https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2025552.html.

You can download the complete statement here

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IFOR actively collaborates with EBCO which is the European network for groups and organizations dealing with conscientious objection. EBCO offers support to objectors and engages on advocacy initiatives within the Council of Europe.

IFOR provides assistance at the UN and is currently collaborating with the EBCO's board for related issues.

The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO) was founded in 1979 as an umbrella organisation for national associations of conscientious objectors, with the aim of promoting collective campaigns for the release of the imprisoned conscientious objectors and lobbying the European governments and institutions for the full recognition of the right to conscientious objection to military service.

EBCO, on an yearly basis, releases an Annual Report on the situation of conscientious objection in the Council of Europe geographical area.

You can find details on the 2020 Annual Report here

IFOR has been closely involved in the redaction of such Reports in the past years as part of the ongoing IFOR project on conscientious objection funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust - JRCT.

You can find more information on EBCO here

IFOR at the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council: "immediate and unconditional release of all imprisoned conscientious objectors"

International Fellowship of Reconciliation - IFOR has delivered an oral statement on conscientious objection to military service at the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council during the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of religion or belief which was held on March 4th 2021.

The statement, delivered by the Main representative of IFOR at the UN Z. Zafarana, refers to the need of immediate and unconditional release of all imprisoned conscientious objectors.
You can download the original version of the statement here.

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Human Rights Council, 46th Session

Geneva, 4th March 2021 

Item 2: Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the freedom of religion or belief 

Oral statement delivered by the International Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Madam President,

IFOR thanks the Special Rapporteur for his thematic report[1].

The right to Conscientious objection to military service is inherent to the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. 

However, conscientious objectors continue to be imprisoned in various countries, such as Turkmenistan[2], Singapore[3], Eritrea[4], Tajikistan[5], Israel[6], for instance, and this constitutes a violation of international human rights law.

We encourage and support the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief in his long-standing efforts for the immediate and unconditional release of all imprisoned conscientious objectors.

IFOR urges the respect of international standards for the exercise of the right to conscientious objection.

In Colombia, for instance, the competence to recognise the right to conscientious objection lies with the same authority that carries out military recruitment, which denotes a lack of objectivity and impartiality that delegitimizes its exercise through a process that prioritises evidence over substance. This procedural treatment generates gaps of inequality and discrimination between those who can provide evidence backed by an ecclesiastical authority and those who do not have this possibility. An example is given by the response[7] to the conscientious objector Sergio Sáenz[8], who based his declaration on non-religious beliefs.

Thank you.

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1. Report on Countering Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim Hatred to Eliminate Discrimination and Intolerance Based on Religion or Belief. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/FreedomReligion/Pages/HatredAndDiscrimination.aspx.

2. https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2025552.html.

3. https://www.jw.org/en/news/legal/by-region/singapore/jehovahs-witnesses-in-prison/.

4. ttps://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/NewsDetail.aspxNewsID=26439&LangID=E.

5. https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2629.

6. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-conscientious-objector-released-from-militaryprison/.

7. Response to File No. 531228 dated 26 January 2021. “A través del cual le exigen (i) número de resolución de la entidad emitida por el Ministerio del Interior. (ii) certificado de existencia y representación de la Institución a la que pertenece; (iii) certificado de vinculación del líder religioso que emite certificación, (iv) no se indica fecha ni certificados de sacramentos recibidos en el marco de la religión católica;  (v) sede donde regularmente se congrega, actividades específicas que realiza, horarios, programa de estudios, (vi) números telefónicos de feligreses que indiquen bajo la gravedad de juramento que han sido testigos de sus actividades religiosas (iv)  demás documentos y elementos de prueba (fotos, videos etc..) que acrediten la sinceridad de sus convicciones; es decir, que sean claras, profundas, fijas y sinceras en que fundamenta su solicitud.”

8. His request was not processed because he had to belong to a legally constituted church that would certify it, and he had to have the testimony of two or more members of the congregation who, under oath, would certify his status as a conscientious objector within the church."

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You can watch here the UN interactive dialogue referred to above. IFOR statement is at 02:04:17 [insert the hyperlink http://webtv.un.org/.../id-sr-on-religion.../6237146868001

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IFOR has recently submitted a report on the issue of conscientious objection in Singapore for the 38th UN UPR. You can find it here.

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IFOR follows closely the issue of conscientious objection in Colombia and collaborates with ACOOC - Colombian Collective Action of Conscientious Objectors.

ACOOC works in the field of accompaniment of conscientious objectors; it supports conscientious objectors in their struggle against discrimination and to achieve recognition by the Colombian government, advises young people who are victims of illegal recruitment practices by the military and is working towards the full implementation of the right to conscientious objection by the Colombian government.

IFOR takes the floor at 46th UN HRC during the general debate with the High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms. Michelle Bachelet

IFOR is currently participating in the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council which is in remote modality due to the pandemic. Today program of work included the general debate with the High Commissioner for Human Rights and following the States representatives, NGOs with Consultative Status have been able to take the floor.

IFOR referred to some concerning local situations such as Colombia, Eritrea and Western Sahara and then addressed the issues of criminalization of solidarity and nuclear disarmament

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Human Rights Council, 46th Session

Geneva, 26th February 2021 

Item 2: General Debate

Oral statement delivered by the International Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Madam High Commissioner,

IFOR thanks you and your office for the reports.

We are particularly concerned by the situation in Eritrea and in the region and by the lack of collaboration as also highlighted, yesterday, by the new Special Rapporteur[1] and share a deep concern for the risk and danger faced by young people who refuse to serve in the National Service.

We welcome the recommendations which have been listed in your report on Colombia[2] and highlight the importance to guarantee a comprehensive intervention by the State to reduce the violence and not just an increase in the military presence.

 We are alarmed by the increasing cases of criminalization of solidarity[3] with individual cases of people being charged with aiding and abetting illegal immigration because they provide first assistance to migrants or rescue them, whether at sea, in the mountains or in the middle of forests.

 Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa[4], continues to be a pending decolonization case. International Law needs to be implemented.

IFOR restate the call made a few months ago “on the governments in the region and around the world to contribute to a peaceful  solution of the conflict and the implementation of the fundamental rights of the Saharawi people”[5].

We would like to conclude with a positive note: nuclear weapons are finally banned!

We welcome the enter into force of the UN Treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons (TPNW)[6], on January 22nd 2021[7].

Thank you.

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1. Oral update of Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, at the 46th HRC on February 24th 2021. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26795&LangID=E

2. A/HRC/46/76.

3. In 2019 the Red Cross EU Office released a statement regarding the soaring of the criminalisation of solidarity in Europe. https://redcross.eu/latest-news/the-eu-must-stop-the-criminalisation-of-solidarity-with-migrants-and-refugees 

   Some recent individual cases:
   Gian Andrea Franchi and Lorena Fornasir: https://www.avvenire.it/attualita/pagine/si-preso-cura-dei-migranti-sotto-accusa-nonno-andrea

   Carola Rackete: https://theconversation.com/sea-watch-3-captain-arrested-eu-complicit-in-criminalising-search-and-rescue-in-the-mediterranean-119670

   Sean Binder and Anouk Van Gestel: https://www.ceps.eu/ceps-events/criminalisation-of-solidarity-how-to-protect-the-right-to-help-migrants-and-refugees/

4. It is on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories since 1963.

5. IFOR has released a statement on the situation in Western Sahara on November 13th 2020 http://www.ifor.org/news/2020/11/13/ifor-statement-on-the-current-situation-in-western-sahara. Another one was released on December 14th 2020 http://www.ifor.org/news/2020/12/14/smlf3m85b4eq2r7kexpxd76zzgvoi5.

6. https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/tpnw/

7. https://www.icanw.org/tpnw_enters_into_force

• You can download the original statement here.

• You can watch the recording of the session here. IFOR statements is at 00:46:36.

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IFOR has released a public statement regarding Western Sahara on November 13th 2020, the day before the truce was broken in the region. You can read the original statement here.

A second statement has been published December 14th 2020 on the U.S. recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and on the primacy of fundamental rights and international law. You can read the original statement here.

IFOR has a long standing engagement for nuclear disarmament and on January 22nd 2021 has organized a new Day of Action to join activists worldwide to celebrate the entering into force of the UN nuclear ban Treaty adopted on July 7th 2017 by the UN General Assembly. The Treaty reached its 50th ratification on October 24th 2020, International UN Day.

You can watch here, the video message of the president of IFOR which has been released for the occasion.

You can read more about the Day of Action here and discover some actions from IFOR members published on our Facebook page.

IFOR speaks on the tragedy of the Eritrean refugees in the Tigray region and to the Eritrean indefinite National Service; 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

International Fellowship of Reconciliation - IFOR is participating in the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council which started on February 22nd.

Today, February 24th, IFOR Main representative to the UN in Geneva delivered a statement in the plenary of the Council, during the interactive dialogue with the new Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, who has been appointed in September 2020.

Dr. Mohammed Abdelsalam Babiker, originally from Sudan, is an Associate Professor of International Law, Dean of the School of Law at the University of Khartoum, and founding Director of its Human Rights Centre. He teaches human rights law, refugee law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law among others. Dr. Babiker is also a practicing lawyer and conducted international investigations in many countries in the Horn of Africa in the areas of human rights and international humanitarian law.

In addition to Dr. Babiker’s academic qualifications, he has extensive experience working with international human rights organizations and institutions, including the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU).

In December 2017, he was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General as Humanitarian Expert with the Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group. In December 2018, he was also appointed as the Humanitarian Expert with the Panel of Experts on Somalia. Dr. Babiker also worked as a Legal Advisor and a Human Rights Officer with UN and AU peacekeeping operations, as well as a number of UN agencies.

-Information available at the OHCHR website

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The Special Rapporteur presented to the Council his oral update on the situation of human rights in Eritrea which focused on the human rights of Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers in the context of the ongoing Tigray crisis in Ethiopia and the progress made in relation to the benchmarks set out in the reports of his predecessor. You can find the complete text of the oral update here.

IFOR took the floor after the States statements and referred to the humanitarian tragedy of the Eritrean refugees in the Tigray area and to the issue of the indefinite National Service.

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"Madam President,

 The International Fellowship of Reconciliation thanks the Special Rapporteur for his oral update.

The current situation in the region is dramatic, as reported also from our local partner organizations.

Refugee camps under international protection in the Tigray region, including schools, clinics and residential areas, have been systematically targeted and destroyed with the purpose of hindering their future usage[1]. In particular, the Hitsats and Shimelba refugee camps, which hosted refugees coming from Eritrea, have been under attack. The UNHCR acknowledges that 20,000 refugees are unaccounted for. Only around 3,000 refugees from Shimelba and Hitsats camps found their way to the other two refugee camps in the South of Tigray, Mai-Aini, and Adi-Harush, with an estimated 10.000 refouled to Eritrea. UNHCR warns that thousands of Eritrean refugees are still in need of urgent assistance[2]. 

We restate the concern regarding Eritrean migrants and refugees who often flee from the system of an indefinite National Service which presents practices that in many cases amount to forced labour.

We call on the international community to protect refugees and to withdraw from practices which reinforce such a system.

Thank you."

[1] https://www.vice.com/en/article/93wmbz/refugee-camps-in-ethiopia-appear-to-have-been-systematically-destroyed

[2] https://www.voanews.com/africa/un-eritrean-refugees-tigray-face-humanitarian-crisis
Statement attributable to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on the situation of Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2021/1/600052064/statement-attributable-un-highcommissioner-refugees-filippo-grandi-situation.html"

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The statement can be downloaded here.

You can watch the Interactive Dialogue here.

The UN briefing on the Interactive Dialogue referred to in this article is available here.