By Susana Pimiento April 9th marked the seventeenth anniversary of the killing of Manuel Cepeda Vargas, a Colombian Senator with the left-wing political party Union Patriotica (UP). For the first time, this year there was formal recognition of the wrong that occurred...
News
New Video: Demilitarize Your Life!
By Liza Smith Daniel Serna Henao is one of four conscientious objectors to be recognized by a court in Medellín, Colombia. Here, he tells his story. Liza Smith's blog
The Hike That Kills
By Liza Smith Friday, December 3, 2010, 12:19pm by Jon Patberg, current Accompaniment Team Member in Colombia I recently came back from a six day accompaniment journey to a remote village called Mulatos about 16 miles to the northeast of La Union. Mulatos is the site...
New Video Blog: The Radio Is the Military’s Biggest Rifle
By Liza Smith “I was in my bed when an explosion rocked our house.” FORColombia Peace Team member Isaac Beachy tells of combat on the edge of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, and analyzes how the Colombian military reported on it. Meanwhile, community kids...
Join us at SOA: International Solidarity Can Make the Difference!
By Susana Pimiento Starting Thursday, November 18th, the Fellowship of Reconciliation will again be at Fort Benning, Georgia, at the annual vigil in front of the School of the Americas. We invite participants to explore ways that international solidarity can make the...
Report: Military Assistance and Human Rights: Colombia, U.S. Accountability, and Global Implications
U.S. military aid flowing to Colombia is having a direct, negative effect on the human rights of Colombians. Though the “Leahy Law” prohibits aid to military units that have committed gross violations, the United States continues to support such units in Colombia....
Monument to Impunity: Medellín Judge Acquits Officers Involved in Massacre
By Susana Pimiento Disregarding recent Supreme Court precedents on command responsibility, a judge in Medellin acquitted 10 officers investigated for the February 2005 massacre in which Peace Community members, including 3 children were brutally murdered. The ruling...
Our Planet of Tranquilandia
By Liza Smith It’s the eleventh day of the tour and we’ve introduced a new word to both the Spanish and English languages — it is a cross between “tranquila” which means “relaxed” and is a pop cultural reference to Transylvania: the place in Romania where vampires...