ON HUMAN RIGHTS
The People Will Not Forget
“A BANNER CLUNG to the wall under the Guatemala City rain: “NOS VERÁN VOLVER” (You will see us return). Activists had hung the sign on August 31, 2019, on the compound housing the office of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, or CICIG (Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala).”
In Peru’s Brush with Autocracy, Lessons for the United States
"By the time I left the country in late 1996, I had started to realize that the government I had voted for had become an organized criminal enterprise, devoted to perpetuating its hold on power and lining the pockets of its members, while trampling on basic rights. The country maintained a veneer of democratic legitimacy, but it was really a kleptocracy run by a strongman."
U.S.: I was scared of the FBI with Comey in charge. I’m more terrified now that he’s been fired.
"Trump’s firing of Comey risks that independence.... The last thing that the FBI needs is someone in charge who answers to the president."
Deadly Aid
"It's time for USAID to take bold steps, and make sure its aid programs are used to prevent atrocities, not to promote them."
PERU: Our Own Strongman
"Standing in the packed courtroom annex as a Supreme Court panel this week sentenced the former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori to 25 years in prison for two massacres and two kidnappings, I had mixed emotions. As a human rights advocate who has pressed for Mr. Fujimori to be tried, I rejoiced in this once unthinkable moment. Sitting next to me were relatives of massacre victims, listening solemnly to a verdict that took over three hours to read. At the same time, I worried that people would forget how we got here."
COLOMBIA: Testimony before the US House of Representatives
Ms. McFarland testified before the Committee on Education and Labor at a hearing examining workers' rights and violence against labor union leaders in Colombia on February 12, 2009.
PROTECTING DEMOCRACY — BEYOND WHO WINS
Of the 60-some countries holding elections this year, many confront serious authoritarian threats that go beyond the names on the ballot.
Ex-President’s Release Raises a Red Flag on Peru’s Democracy
Nearly 15 years ago, I proudly stood in a packed Peruvian courtroom witnessing the conviction and sentencing of my country’s autocratic former president, Alberto Fujimori, for crimes against humanity and large-scale corruption offenses that for years allowed him to control all branches of government and much of the media.
DEMOCRACY IS ON THE LINE IN PERU
With all eyes on the fight for democratic government in Brazil, with its obvious parallels to events in the United States, it’s easy to miss another equally alarming struggle in the region. Peru has been shaken by protests and violence since the Peruvian Congress removed President Pedro Castillo from office on December 7 following his own attempt to shutter Congress.