I hope to join the protests in front of the Peruvian embassy today to demonstrate against our abusive trade policies that instigated such human rights atrocities in the first place.
As a labor rights activist, why do I care about the Amazonian rainforest and indigenous groups?
- Labor rights abuses are human rights abuses and vice versa. Social activists, indigenous activists, environmental activists and labor activists are often treated similarly by repressive government police forces, militaries and paramilitaries. For asserting their rights to freedom of association, land, or environmental preservation, corporations in collusion with repressive governments consider activists to be enemies of the state--hindering business interests. Social protest is commonly criminalized in some of our most favored trading partners--Colombia, the Philippines, Guatemala and Peru.
- While labor rights clauses in currently implemented and pending free trade agreements have no teeth and are largely unenforceable, it's important to address the roots of exploitation.
- Exploitation of workers often occurs as a result of, or in conjunction with, environmental and social exploitation. The most exploited workers are often indigenous peoples who have been displaced from their lands due to agribusiness or extractive companies and can no longer survive as small farmers--they look for work on plantations or migrate to the cities to work in sweatshops.
- Our current free trade agreements favor the interests of corporations over people or the environment--(Why else would the Obama Administration even be considering ratification of a pending free trade agreement with a country like Colombia, where hundreds are murdered every year for being social activists? Because intense business lobbying in an economic crisis may overtake human rights concerns.)
Obama has a confirmed a meeting in Washington, DC with the controversial President of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe assumedly to talk about benchmarks towards an FTA. Such a step would be suggesting that Uribe is moving in the right direction, while Uribe has been implicated for ties to the paramilitaries who continue to murder Colombian social activists (the situation is only worse.) Click here to read about the labor situation.
Click here to tell your representatives that Colombia is not ready for an FTA!
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re: Human Rights Atrocities, Peru and Free Trade
MJPC Joined HRW in Calling to Hold the Congolese Army Accountable for War Crimes
'Failing to hold accountable soldiers who commit war crimes and crimes against humanity will result in continued sexual violence against girls and women in the DR Congo", says MJPC.
The Mobilization for Justice and Peace in the DR Congo (MJPC) called for a full inquiry into new allegations of continuing rape and sexual violence committed by the Congolese Army after a recent report by Human Rights Watch revealed shocking new evidence. The report documents how the Congolese Army (FARDC) has been committing serious human rights abuses that amount to war crimes in East Congo and calls on the UN Security Council to demand the Congolese Government to immediatly investigate and hold accountable soldiers responsible for war crimes.
The MJPC is gravely concerned at continuing reports of sexual violence in eastern Congo. Makuba Sekombo, MJPC's Community Affairs Director, stresses "paramount importance of sending a clear message to all armed groups in the region - and to the victims of sexual violence in the DR Congo - that rape and other forms of sexual violence are unacceptable and will not be tolerated regardless of the circumstances". "Congolese army officers are not above international criminal law", and "Congo has clear international law obligations to do something effective to protect girls and women from sexual violence" added Sekombo.
Congo has clear international law obligations to do something effective to protect girls and women from sexual violence
Rather than receiving appropriate medical and psychosocial care, women and child survivors of rape and sexual violence in eastern Congo continue to face rejection and stigma while the perpetrators of the crime go unpunished. The MJPC has launched an online petition calling on the Congolese Government to put urgently in place a comprehensive program of compensation for the victims of sexual violence which will encourage victims of sexual violence in Eastern Congo to report perpetrators to police and to express their needs for access to medical treatment, psychological services and other social resources. The petition can be signed at http://www.gopetition.com.au/online/26180.html . "While no amount of money can reverse or address the impact of sexual violence on victims, the MJPC maintains that in this way, society at large, through the government, can acknowledge the humiliation suffered, shock and pain experienced by victims and provide the resources to help victims rebuild their lives.
About MJPC
MJPC is a non-profit organization working to add a voice in advocating for justice and peace in the DRC particulary in the east of DRC where thousands innocent civilian including children and women continue to suffer massive human rights violations while armed groups responsible for these crimes go unpunished.