Human Rights Observers Present at Monkey Wrench Tonight

Trish Abbott of the Fellowship for Reconciliation will be on hand at Monkey Wrench Books this evening for a presentation and slide show about the current human rights situation in Colombia and the role of the US in said.

Since the early 90s, Colombia has received more than $1 billion in US military aid. This money goes to a military that is the worst human rights abuser in the hemisphere and has been implicated in the murder of thousands of Colombian civilians. The armed conflict fueled by this military aid has resulted in the internal displacement of more than 4 million Colombians and exacerbated a situation which the UN describes as 'desperate.’ In this context a number of communities in Colombia have decided to take themselves out of the war by declaring themselves "Peace Communities" and refusing to participate in the conflict in any way. Amongst these communities is the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado, which declared itself neutral in 1998 and has lost over 160 of its members since making that decision.

[From the Release]

Living in the rural Peace Community of San José de Apartadó in a conflict zone and working with other peace initiatives throughout the country, Trish Abbott has been witness to both horrific violence carried out by legal and illegal armed actors and to remarkable and diverse initiatives by campesinos, women, indigenous people and youth striving to forge a nonviolent and peaceful path in Colombia's conflict. Originally from Newcastle, England, Trish has also worked in the US on campaigns to abolish the death penalty. Come join Trish as she speaks about international accompaniment, why it works and why we need to know what's happening in Colombia.The FOR project provides permanent assistance to this community and other civilian peace initiatives in Colombia.

FOR Colombia Peace Presence Program
Monkey Wrench Books [map]
Tonight @ 8pm
Suggested donation: $3 (all proceeds go to FOR's Colombia Peace
Presence)