The United Kingdom's annual report on worldwide human rights, released on Wednesday, criticizes Colombia as one of 22 nations with a troubling record on the subject.
The report was presented in London by UK foreign minister David Miliband, and singled out Colombia for its problems related to "exclusion, marginalization, poverty, inequality, land ownership, impunity, and lack of access to justice."
A more "cooperative mood" was noted by the report on the part of the Colombian government, which was complimented for its invitation of international observers from the United Nations to measure the country's progress on human rights.
Nevertheless, the British government said that it remained worried about the effects of illegal armed groups within the country, especially the relatively recent return of supposedly disarmed paramilitary groups.
The new report did not prevent the signing of an agreement between the two countries on Wednesday, which aims to guarantee the reciprocal protection of investments made by citizens of both nations.
Under the new agreement, allegations of violated contracts between investors in the two countries can be submitted to a standardized system of international arbitration.
Both governments are hoping that the new agreement will help spur further investment between the two nations.
gringomedellin
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... "lack of access to justice." is there really a lack of access or is it just the system is so overburden it moves at a snails pace? |
Andrewmann552
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... gringomedellin, it means the country is run by right-wing gangsters and thugs. |
tomtom33
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... Not quite. The system is dysfunctional at best. It really doesn't matter if it moves slowly or quickly when the final outcome is far from just. Many people consider the system a joke and wouldn't even attempt to access justice through the system. And that leads to attempts to obtain justice through whatever means are available-murders, paras, etc. |
ColobianGringo
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... tomtom is right on the button....the the major areas of influence such as where the most population is located, the system may be working but very difficult to spread resources everywhere then to factor in a reliable police & military force. In the rural areas, roll over on thy neighbor and see what happens...rely on local police, care to stake family lives on this lack of hope? Desire a much brighter future but until then.... The statement; "The British government said that it remained worried about the effects of illegal armed groups within the country..." They literally talk with one hand and do the complete opposite. Know of a particular well documented deportation case where got higher offices involved and subject was moved to different facilities or certain people of concern were moved to prevent any clashes but later subject was deported stating the Gov't intellegence souces now know for a fact there is no longer a concern for particular armed groups since now pretty much disbanded, can say a major capital BS there.....my two cents worth!! |
Andres Franco
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... Two words: javier florez. Soccer player that pulled out a gun and in cold blood killed a supporter for shouting "maleta" at him didn't have to face any jail time and can now once again continue to play for junior. Great justice in Colombia. The snails speed factor is of course relevant too. It's because of two things 1) corruption, people deliberately slow down the pace so they can keep making more money and stay in power. 2) there aren't enough resources to handle all the petitions. |
Andres Franco
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... Both factors are valid. The lack of justice in Colombia is due to two things. 1) Corruption. The people in power deliberately slow things down in order to remain in power or make money/make benefit from certain situations. It’s not in their interest to seek justice. 2) The system is weak and can’t handle all the petitions, which slows everything down as well until people get tired and pulls out and drops charges. The people loose faith in the system and avoids it at all costs. Two Words: Javier florez. A Colombian footballer who in cold blood killed a supporter for yelling “maleta” at him, not only manage to stay out of prison but is now back playing for his team junior! What kind of signals does a story like that tell the people of Colombia? Colombia is a disgrace when it comes to justice and we can only do something about it if we accept that we have a big problem. |
Kalcu
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... There is always a lack of justice, people don't want to take time to make sense. A lot of people reason that they don't have to see things, to make sense and they know it would belittle their tiny little voices. The fact is, if the UK has a problem with human rights within Colombia...well, they are not cocaine free and I'd say that has everything to do with what caused what is now far more than cocaine. The UK wasn't any better at Colonizes, so it's not like they set the standard of human rights for the Spanish. Countries love to condemn, they think it makes them look better since it distracts. |
