As a doctoral student at the GC-CUNY who offers administrative support to the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, I vehemently condemn Colombia’s governmental actions against civilians who protest measures that harm the most vulnerable in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic. NGOs and activists have reported physical violence, arbitrary detentions, sexual violence, and 37 murders at the hands of Colombia’s National Police.
I call on President Duque to stop incentivizing police violence against protesters, renounce his announced intention to declare a state of internal disturbance, and lift the current ban on social media and internet access. I call on President Duque to convene different sectors of society to discuss ways to stop the violence.
And I call on all persons of good will to pay close attention to the situation in Colombia and to increase international pressure on its government. Through your solidarity, the eyes of the world will be on Colombia, deterring President Duque’s government from committing atrocities and violating human rights.
Juan Acevedo, Doctoral Student
Debórah Dwork, Center Director
Center Advisory Board:
Elissa Bemporad, Ungar Chair in East European Jewish History and the Holocaust, Professor, Department of History, Queens College, and Graduate Center-CUNY
Francesca Bregoli, Joseph and Oro Halegua Chair in Greek and Sephardic Jewish Studies, Associate Professor, Department of History, Queens College, and Graduate Center-CUNY
Dagmar Herzog,Distinguished Professor of History, Graduate Center-CUNY
Benjamin Carter Hett, Professor, Department of History, Hunter College and Graduate Center-CUNY
Eli Karetny, Deputy Director, Ralph Bunche Institute
Steven Remy, Professor, Department of History, Brooklyn College and History Program, Graduate Center-CUNY
Victoria Sanford, Professor of Anthropology, Lehman College; Founding Director, Center for Human Rights & Peace Studies; Doctoral Faculty, Department of Anthropology, Graduate Center-CUNY
John Torpey, Presidential Professor of Sociology and History, Director of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, Graduate Center-CUNY
Eric Weitz, Distinguished Professor of History, City College and Graduate Center-CUNY
