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Press Release: Más Vida Menos Armas, Comunicado A La Opinión Pública

27 February 2018

Lunes, 26 de febrero de 2018

MÁS VIDA MENOS ARMAS

COMUNICADO A LA OPINIÓN PÚBLICA

 Con ocasión del tiroteo del pasado 14 de febrero cuando Nikolas Cruz, de 19 años, asesinó a 17 personas con un fusil AR-15 en una escuela secundaria de Parkland, Florida, en los Estados Unidos, en Colombia no se hicieron esperar los políticos en campaña electoral para promover el acceso y compra de armas. Si bien es cierto que las cifras de violencia en el Valle son preocupantes, región de la que es Christian Garcés, candidato del Centro Democrático a la Cámara de Representantes, considerada como la región más violenta del país en 2017; promover el acceso a la tenencia, el porte y el transporte de armas de bajo calibre para la población civil, NO es una solución al problema de la violencia, como se esta demostrando en los Estados Unidos, sino que potencia la cultura armada de violencia de la cual queremos salir después de la firma del Acuerdo de paz con las FARC-EP. Los argumentos de Garcés desconocen la verdadera situación de la proliferación de armas en el país, la cual pasa por encima del monopolio de las armas que debe tener en Estado para garantizar la seguridad de ciudadanas y ciudadanos, según lo dictamina la Constitución.

En 2016, de 2.262 homicidios reportados en el Valle, el 80% fueron cometidos con armas de fuego. En Colombia, durante el periodo 2014–2016, 16.665 delitos se cometieron con armas que tenían salvoconducto. Esto se suma a la existencia de aproximadamente 800.000 armas legales en el país y de 2 a 4 millones ilegales. La proliferación de armas pequeñas y ligeras en la población civil aumenta la violencia considerablemente, la muerte de niñas y mujeres, así como potencia la violencia sexual, psicológica, la trata de personas, entre otros crímenes. En 2016, según datos de Medicina Legal, el mecanismo más usado en Colombia en homicidios contra mujeres fue el arma de fuego, con 527 casos.

Como lo ha reportado la Liga Internacional de Mujeres por la Paz y la Libertad (LIMPAL), la población civil cuenta con facilidades de acceso a armas legales e ilegales por lo cual reafirma la importancia de la necesidad de un estricto control sobre el porte y tenencia de armas pequeñas y ligeras para la prevención de la violencia armada y la escalada de nuevos conflictos locales, hace un llamado a la responsabilidad del Estado en este control para garantizar la vida y la seguridad de todas las personas que habitan en el territorio, y pide al Estado colombiano que ratifique el Tratado de Comercio de Armas (ATT, por sus siglas en inglés) que ya firmó ante las Naciones Unidas, para regular la comercialización de armas, que representan un riesgo, especialmente para las mujeres.

LIMPAL alerta y rechaza las campañas políticas que inciten a armar a la población civil, con consecuencias violatorias de los derechos humanos, que aumenten la percepción de inseguridad en una sociedad militarizada y armada. Como parte del Colectivo de Pensamiento y Acción “Mujeres, Paz y Seguridad” y de la Cumbre Nacional de Mujeres y Paz, LIMPAL defiende una política de seguridad humana, que no se enfoca en el uso de las armas sino en la garantía y respeto de todos los derechos. #MujeresPorElDesarme  #GunControlNow.

Para mayor información por favor comunicarse con comunicaciones (a) limpalcolombia.org

Download the press release as PDF: Comunicado RECHAZO A LAS ARMAS limpal 26 Feb 2018

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Melissa Torres

VICE-PRESIDENT

Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.

Jamila Afghani

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.

Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.

WILPF Afghanistan

In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region. 

IPB Congress Barcelona

WILPF Germany (+Young WILPF network), WILPF Spain and MENA Regional Representative

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Demilitarisation

WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.

Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.

Militarised masculinity

Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.

WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.

Feminist peace​

In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.

In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.

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