Call to protect Colombian human rights defender
On 10 October 2012, a man pushed a gun into the chest of Alfamir Castillo and told her that both she and her lawyer were going to die.
Alfamir Castillo’s son was murdered by the Colombian army on 8 February 2008. Darvey, at just 23 years old, was killed along with his friend Alex, in a ‘false positive extra-judicial execution’. This term is used in Columbia when the army kills civilians and then falsely claims them as fallen guerilla fighters to seek reward.
Berenice Celeita, Director of human rights charity Nomadesc, explains ‘The more high ranking the military officer, the higher the level of danger to the victims. That is one aspect of the mechanisms of impunity in Colombia: the intimidation and murder of witnesses.’
Last year, seven soldiers were convicted of the murders. Since the court case began in 2010, Alfamir, President of the Women Sugar Cane Cutters Committee, and her family have been subject to persecution, attacks and repeated death threats. This situation has left them in a permanent state of terror.
War on Want is campaigning for the Colombian government to take immediate action to protect the lives of Alfamir and her family and they urge you to write to the Colombian embassy in the UK.
Read the update from War on Want following recent death threats.
Red Pepper in print
Subscribe to get the latest issue of the magazine
#232: Rue Britannia ● The legacy of the British Empire ● An interview with Priyamvada Gopal ● The People’s Olympics ● An interview with Neville Southall ● Agribusiness in India ● Deliveroo’s disastrous IPO ● Latest book reviews ● And much more!
And you choose how much to pay for your subscription...
Red Pepper by email
Get the latest articles and updates in your inbox
The Socialist Olympics of 1936
Radical workers’ sporting organisations and the 1936 People’s Olympiad illustrate the role of sport in fighting oppression, writes Uma Arruga i López.
Review – You’re History: The Twelve Strangest Women in Music
Lesley Chow argues for a new kind of music criticism that re-evaluates women musicians and "meaningless" music, writes Rhian E Jones
Lying through their legacy-speak
Olympic ‘legacy’ has greased the path for enormous, upward transfer of wealth to the global propertied classes, writes Jules Boykoff
SWexit: What are exit schemes for sex workers missing?
If earning money is a fundamental reason for entering the sex industry, it is also essential to leaving it, writes Marin Scarlett
Failure to deliver
Major financial institutions have cited Deliveroo’s employment practices for its disastrous public share launch. Alice Martin and Tom Powdrill look at what went wrong and what it might mean for workers’ rights
Power on the picket line: remembering the Burnsall Strike
Almost 30 years on, Sarbjit Johal recalls supporting the strike, which consisted of mostly Punjabi women workers
