ACTION ALERT The following actions give you an opportunity to get directly involved with Amnesty International's ongoing work. Please write appeals on these cases within a month of receiving this magazine. All letters should be courteous and accurately specify the facts of each case. Under no circumstances should you write to any prisoner mentioned. For our most current actions and to sign up for email action alerts, visit the Online Action Center. You can make a difference. takeaction.amnestyusa.org »COLOMBIA
Protect Human Rights Defenders n Oct. 6, 2004, less than a month after Colombia’s official Human Rights Day, paramilitaries shot to death human rights defender Teresa Yarce in front of one of her daughters near their home. Yarce and her peers at the Asociacíon de Mujeres de las Independencias (AMI), a non-governmental organization in Medellín, had been actively denouncing paramilitary forces for killings and other gross human rights abuses in areas of army control, especially in the Communa XIII district of Medellín. Human rights activist Teresa Yarce was killed In retaliation, security forces promptly detained by a paramilitary in Yarce along with her colleagues, Maria del Sorocco October 2004. Mosquera and Mery del Sorocco Naranjo on Nov. 12, 2002. Authorities soon released them but initiated numerous criminal investigations, alleging that the women were involved in guerilla activities. Yarce, a vocal critic of local corruption that siphoned off funds earmarked for public services, was due to testify against a paramilitary leader just hours
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before she was killed. Other AMI human rights activists, especially Yarce’s AMI colleagues, have been receiving constant threats, and Amnesty International considers them to be in grave danger.
ACT » Write to the Colombian government, urging officials to ensure the safety of human rights defenders in Medellín and initiate full investigations into the killing of Teresa Yarce and threats against AMI members. Appeals to: President of the Republic of Colombia/ Presidente de la República de Colombia/ Dr. Álvaro Uribe Vélez/ Palacio de Nariño/ Carrera 8. No 7-26/ Bogotá/ Colombia and Minister of Foreign Affairs/Ministra de Relaciones Exteriores/Dra.María Carolina Barco Isakson/ Calle 10 No.5-51/Palacio de San Carlos/ Bogotá/Colombia. Postage: $0.80.
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Support Treaty for the Rights of Women through National Week of Student Action arch is Women’s History Month in the United States, a time to consider the gains American women have made and the obstacles they still face. The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) represents both victory and challenge; the United States has signed the treaty, but the current administration has it under “review” and the Senate has not moved to ratify it. Most of the rest of the world has ratified this treaty—180 countries in all. The Treaty for the Rights of Women, as it is known, is a “women’s bill of rights.” The treaty provides effective reporting and review mechanisms to ensure equal access to educational, economic and political opportunities. It also lends muscle to global efforts to stop trafficking, slavery, honor killings and other forms of violence against women. In the United States, CEDAW could help improve conditions for women and families, especially the 3 million women who suffer from domestic violence each year. While some indicators—such as literacy rates—place U.S. women near the top of the charts, others reveal that progress has been wildly inconsistent. Women comprise only 15 percent of elected officials in the United States, a figure that puts it far below many developing nations, including Rwanda, Viet Nam and Pakistan. U.S. ratification would help address such inequities and give CEDAW an added boost around the world. Amnesty International’s National Week of Student Action will mobilize thousands of activists across the country to help educate communities and officials about the Treaty for the Rights of Women. Working in coalition with more than 170 other organizations, Amnesty is part of the movement to seek U.S. ratification of CEDAW.
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ACT U.S. women would also benefit from the ratification of the treaty.
» To join students in the National Week of Student Action: amnestyusa.org/nwsa
spring 2006
amnesty international 21
