Carlos Guevara, Colombia & Ruth Mumbi, Kenya
“There are dozens of groups responsible for the war in Colombia. A peace agreement between two of them is the first step.”
Carlos Guevara is a Colombian human rights defender with more than a decade of experience fighting for justice in one of South America’s most dangerous countries for HRDs. Last month, the Colombian government signed a ceasefire with FARC rebels, with the aim of ending five decades of war.
In an interview with Front Line Defenders just five days after the signing of the treaty, Carlos explained that the agreement was a necessary but not sufficient step towards peace in Colombia.
Last week, the government signed a ceasefire with the rebels. Some people are calling it a peace treaty, others are calling it ‘The End of the War.’ I’m just calling it a ceasefire. - Carlos Guevara, Colombian HRD
Does the accord deserve the title ‘The Last day of the War’?
No. Absolutely not. It does not include other rebel groups, paramilitaries, criminal groups, which all pose a huge threat. The government and FARC are only fifty percent of the problem. It’s an important step, of course, but only one step.”
The “fifty percent” of the problem that you think has been addressed – will this fifty percent end violence in most Colombians’ lives? Is this the most important fifty percent?
In some respect, it depends on where they lives. In many regions, this ceasefire will mean less homicides. Already over the past decade, through various attempts at ceasefires, homicides have decreased from 70000 to 12000 per year. This is a radical change, and the new accord will contribute to lessening this sort of violence.
A second benefit is that people will feel more free to speak out without being afraid of being murdered or kidnapped. So we will see a decrease in violence, but possibly a more polarized political environment, because not everyone is happy about the accord.
The phrase “human rights defender” was written into the accord. Is this a nominal inclusion, or do you think it will have an impact on the protection of HRDs in Colombia?
HRDs in Colombia have received many promises in the past 10 years. One of these promises was to be protected effectively. In fact, we've had in place a policy for 5 years that explicitly mentions protection of HRDs, but we know that it has not been fulfilled. It's not a coincidence that in the last 5 years there have been at least 365 assassinations of HRDs in Colombia even though there was a peace process underway. The inclusion of HRDs in the agreement is an important inclusion, but for now it is protection only in name. We have a long way to go.
What are the key practical steps that would help to protect HRDs in Colombia?
First, we need to identify properly the risks we face. And it shouldn't be somehting that only government is allowed to identify. Civil society needs to be consulted about what the actual risks are.
The second is to combat impunity. Because when HRDs are killed and no one is punished – and this is what happens – it sends a message. The message sent by unpunished killings and attacks over the past few decades is that this is the status quo. That killing us is normal. And this cannot continue.
Does the accord include the parties who are primarily responsible for violence against HRDs?
The FARC and the army have a really big responsibility for attacks against HRDs, but in recent years - in the last 10 years specifically - official talks and even media reports usually don't include paramilitary groups and groups formed after the demobilisation of the paramilitares. We believe this accord is an important advancement, as two of the three main actors of the conflict have signed an accord to stop killing each other and generating more conflict. But it is going to be really complex if in the investigations, paramilitary groups are not included, because in the past 10 years these are the parties responsible for 90 percent of the killings and threats to HRDs.
Extra-judicial killings in Kenya: amplifying the voices and struggles of women - on the Front Line in Kenya with Ruth Mumbi
Lawyer Willie Kimani and two other Kenyan human rights defenders were killed this month advocating for justice and human rights in our country.
Their murders have brought the issue of extra-judicial killings in Kenya to international attention. It has united Kenyan grassroots activists, civil society, and the larger public around a single issue in a manner unseen in recent years. Despite the relatively large public outcry, the killing of the young lawyer was not an isolated incident. Extra-judicial killings have been perpetrated in Kenya for a long time with high levels of impunity, especially in low income neighborhoods. Particularly at risk are community activists who document social injustice and help victims of police brutality to access support groups. In many instances, these human rights defenders are threatened and forced to relocate away from their friends, community and relatives.
Every year, hundreds of Kenyans are killed by the police. According to the Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), a non-profit that assists victims of torture and police brutality, 53 Kenyans were killed by the police between January and April of 2016. IMLU reported 125 killings by the police in 2015, and 199 killings in 2014. However, these figures only represent cases that have been documented. Real figures are likely to be much higher because many such cases go undocumented.
The victims of extra-judicial killings appear to be predominantly men, but these murders affect women economically, socially and psychologically. Their struggles in the aftermath of these killings do not however receive the same level of support or media amplification as the killings themselves.
The Burden of Survival: Families of Killed HRDs
Culturally, Kenya is largely a patriarchal society. Men ultimately have more access to opportunities, including employment. In most instances, the men act as breadwinners while their wives stay at home to take care of the family.
The lawyer killed this month, Willie Kimani, was killed alongside his client Josephat Mwenda who had migrated from his rural home to Nairobi to eke a living. He worked as a boda-boda (motorbike taxi) driver to support his young family. He was shot and injured by a rogue administration police officer in the course of his work, and his attempts to pursue justice through the courts led to the police bringing trumped-up charges against him. Mwenda and Kimani were determined to pursue the case to its conclusion, and their fight for justice led to their brutal killing. This act was ike many others in Kenya: young men from low-income neighborhoods are harassed, arbitrarily arrested, maliciously prosecuted and sometimes killed by the police, and later labeled as gangsters who are a security threat. Their deaths represent the criminalization of poverty by the Kenyan state.
The burden of taking care of Mwenda’s family now falls on his young widow.
As such, these young women are also affected socially. Sometimes, the deceased are slandered by the state, (e.g. ‘thugs’) in an attempt to justify their killings. The women are then viewed as accomplices of the alleged crimes by segments of society, and are ostracized in some instances.
Many young widows have similarly been forced to take up duties formerly performed by their husbands, forcing them to fill the roles of the father and the mother. This greatly burdens them economically, and many are forced to resort to other means of survival including prostitution.
The combination of these things takes a psychological toll on them, and some drift to a state of depression. Some widows have passed away shortly after their husbands’ deaths, with close friends and family attributing their deaths to the turmoil, stress, and violence experienced by Kenyan widows of extra-judicial killings. This forces their children to grow up under very difficult circumstances; some drift into the streets joining another vicious cycle for survival.
Support for the Families of Killed HRDs
The current pressure on the Kenyan government needs to be sustained, and it must be broadened beyond making appeals to those in power and calling for the resignation of office/duty bearers. Government systems and agencies such as Kenya Police Service, Independent Police Oversight Authority, and Director of Public Prosecutions must be held accountable as this can build trust and confidence that our constitution works to protect us all.
But in the midst of our advocacy, we should not forget the family members of the murdered HRDs. The future of the families must be guaranteed, given that the bread winner is no longer there. The government must ensure that these marginalized widows and children have access to food, shelter, education and health care.
Civil societies must keep the fire lest their voice get lost. Injustice against HRDs might be sidelined, and we must fight to keep its primacy. To aid this process, we hope to build ‘south to south’ alliances and connect our struggle to that of other movements across the world. And critically, we must work to better support families of HRDs, for they are a pillar of support for HRDs themselves, or are those left behind when HRDs have given everything to the cause. We must embrace and empower them.
