SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Colombian police officers arrest a demonstrator during a protest against the government in Cali, Colombia on May 10, 2021. (Photo: Luis Robayo/AFP via Getty Images)
Amnesty Calls on Biden to End 'Outrageous' US Weapons Sales to Colombia Amid Police Repression
"The United States government has been an agonizing party to the killing, disappearances, sexual violence, and other torture and horrendous repression of dozens of mostly peaceful demonstrations."
May 20, 2021
Amnesty International on Thursday urged the Biden administration to immediately halt the sale of U.S. weapons and other law enforcement equipment to Colombia, where protests against the right-wing government's regressive economic policies have been met with violent and deadly attacks by the nation's police forces.
"The United States' role in fueling ceaseless cycles of violence committed against the people of Colombia is outrageous," Philippe Nassif, the advocacy director at Amnesty International USA, said in a statement. "The United States government has been an agonizing party to the killing, disappearances, sexual violence, and other torture and horrendous repression of dozens of mostly peaceful demonstrations."
"The United States government has been an agonizing party to the killing, disappearances, sexual violence, and other torture, and horrendous repression of dozens of mostly peaceful demonstrations."
--Philippe Nassif, Amnesty International
In a press release, Amnesty said it verified visual evidence showing that Colombian law enforcement has used Venom high-capacity grenade launchers and Penn Arms hand-held grenade launchers--both made by the U.S. company Combined Systems--to repress nationwide protests, which erupted late last month in response to a tax reform plan that would have hit working-class households while largely shielding the wealthy.
Though Colombian President Ivan Duque withdrew the unpopular tax proposal earlier this month, the street demonstrations have persisted--a reflection of widespread anger over the nation's persistent poverty, unemployment, and deep inequities.
Colombian police forces have killed dozens of people and injured hundreds more in their efforts to crush the demonstrations, which are now in their fourth consecutive week with no end in sight.
"Several instances of police abuse have been captured on video in recent days, including one in which a young protester is seen kicking a police officer on a motorbike," the New York Times reported earlier this month. "The video shows the officer respond by shooting at the protester as he runs away. The protester was Marcelo Agredo, 17, the ninth grader who went out to march with his brother. He died soon after."
In his statement Thursday, Nassif said the Biden administration must institute a suspension of weapon and equipment transfers to Colombia and keep it in place "until the Colombian security forces fully comply with international law and standards on the use of force, abuses are independently and impartially investigated, and there is full accountability for all human rights violations that have been committed by the Colombian authorities."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken "has the power to stop the fear and terror that Colombian protesters are enduring," said Nassif, "and he must do so immediately."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
unemploymentinequalityjoe bidenarms tradehuman rightspovertytony blinkenamnesty internationalcolombia
Amnesty International on Thursday urged the Biden administration to immediately halt the sale of U.S. weapons and other law enforcement equipment to Colombia, where protests against the right-wing government's regressive economic policies have been met with violent and deadly attacks by the nation's police forces.
"The United States' role in fueling ceaseless cycles of violence committed against the people of Colombia is outrageous," Philippe Nassif, the advocacy director at Amnesty International USA, said in a statement. "The United States government has been an agonizing party to the killing, disappearances, sexual violence, and other torture and horrendous repression of dozens of mostly peaceful demonstrations."
"The United States government has been an agonizing party to the killing, disappearances, sexual violence, and other torture, and horrendous repression of dozens of mostly peaceful demonstrations."
--Philippe Nassif, Amnesty International
In a press release, Amnesty said it verified visual evidence showing that Colombian law enforcement has used Venom high-capacity grenade launchers and Penn Arms hand-held grenade launchers--both made by the U.S. company Combined Systems--to repress nationwide protests, which erupted late last month in response to a tax reform plan that would have hit working-class households while largely shielding the wealthy.
Though Colombian President Ivan Duque withdrew the unpopular tax proposal earlier this month, the street demonstrations have persisted--a reflection of widespread anger over the nation's persistent poverty, unemployment, and deep inequities.
Colombian police forces have killed dozens of people and injured hundreds more in their efforts to crush the demonstrations, which are now in their fourth consecutive week with no end in sight.
"Several instances of police abuse have been captured on video in recent days, including one in which a young protester is seen kicking a police officer on a motorbike," the New York Times reported earlier this month. "The video shows the officer respond by shooting at the protester as he runs away. The protester was Marcelo Agredo, 17, the ninth grader who went out to march with his brother. He died soon after."
In his statement Thursday, Nassif said the Biden administration must institute a suspension of weapon and equipment transfers to Colombia and keep it in place "until the Colombian security forces fully comply with international law and standards on the use of force, abuses are independently and impartially investigated, and there is full accountability for all human rights violations that have been committed by the Colombian authorities."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken "has the power to stop the fear and terror that Colombian protesters are enduring," said Nassif, "and he must do so immediately."
Amnesty International on Thursday urged the Biden administration to immediately halt the sale of U.S. weapons and other law enforcement equipment to Colombia, where protests against the right-wing government's regressive economic policies have been met with violent and deadly attacks by the nation's police forces.
"The United States' role in fueling ceaseless cycles of violence committed against the people of Colombia is outrageous," Philippe Nassif, the advocacy director at Amnesty International USA, said in a statement. "The United States government has been an agonizing party to the killing, disappearances, sexual violence, and other torture and horrendous repression of dozens of mostly peaceful demonstrations."
"The United States government has been an agonizing party to the killing, disappearances, sexual violence, and other torture, and horrendous repression of dozens of mostly peaceful demonstrations."
--Philippe Nassif, Amnesty International
In a press release, Amnesty said it verified visual evidence showing that Colombian law enforcement has used Venom high-capacity grenade launchers and Penn Arms hand-held grenade launchers--both made by the U.S. company Combined Systems--to repress nationwide protests, which erupted late last month in response to a tax reform plan that would have hit working-class households while largely shielding the wealthy.
Though Colombian President Ivan Duque withdrew the unpopular tax proposal earlier this month, the street demonstrations have persisted--a reflection of widespread anger over the nation's persistent poverty, unemployment, and deep inequities.
Colombian police forces have killed dozens of people and injured hundreds more in their efforts to crush the demonstrations, which are now in their fourth consecutive week with no end in sight.
"Several instances of police abuse have been captured on video in recent days, including one in which a young protester is seen kicking a police officer on a motorbike," the New York Times reported earlier this month. "The video shows the officer respond by shooting at the protester as he runs away. The protester was Marcelo Agredo, 17, the ninth grader who went out to march with his brother. He died soon after."
In his statement Thursday, Nassif said the Biden administration must institute a suspension of weapon and equipment transfers to Colombia and keep it in place "until the Colombian security forces fully comply with international law and standards on the use of force, abuses are independently and impartially investigated, and there is full accountability for all human rights violations that have been committed by the Colombian authorities."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken "has the power to stop the fear and terror that Colombian protesters are enduring," said Nassif, "and he must do so immediately."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.