Document #1190129
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Information on government actions against
artistic expression opposed to it could not be found among the
sources currently available to the DIRB.
In a letter sent to the DIRB, a researcher
at the Colombian Section of the Andean Commission of Jurists states
that artistic expression is not a means commonly or frequently used
to criticise or oppose the government and if it does occur, it is
an isolated case and not a political current or a widespread form
of political protest (30 June 1994). The source did not have
information on cases in which the government had taken action
against persons who used artistic expression as a means to
criticise or oppose the government.
Please find attached two articles, the
result of a search through the DIRB's on-line service on the
question of artistic freedom and possible reprisals against persons
practising political artistic expression in Colombia since 1990.
One of the articles refers to a 1991 open letter to the president
from a group of writers and artists (Newsday 11 May 1991).
The report discusses the notion that areas of Colombia are "off
limits" or dangerous because they lack, in practice, the rule of
law (ibid.). The other article refers to a group of leading
intellectuals, many of them former supporters of rebel causes, who
have now openly called on guerrilla groups to end their violent
actions (Notisur 15 Dec. 1992).
This response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum.
Comisión Andina de Juristas,
Seccional Colombiana, Bogot . 30 June 1994. Letter received by
DIRB.
Newsday. 11 May 1991. City
Edition. Peter Eisner. "Political Violence Resumes in Colombia's
Tug of War." (NEXIS)
Notisur-South American and Caribbean
Political Affairs. 15 December 1992. "Colombia: Leading
Intellectuals Call on Rebels to Abandon Armed Violence."
(NEXIS)
Newsday. 11 May 1991. City
edition. Peter Eisner. "Political Violence Resumes in Colombia's
Tug of War." (NEXIS)
Notisur-South American and Caribbean
Political Affairs. 15 December 1992. "Colombia: Leading
Intellectuals Call on Rebels to Abandon Armed Violence."
(NEXIS)
Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices. Yearly. U.S. Department of State. Washington: U.S.
Government Printing Office.
Critique: Review of the Department of
State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Yearly. New
York: Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.
L'Etat du monde. Yearly.
Montréal: Editions du Boréal.
Humana, Charles. 1985. Guide mondial
des droits de l'homme. Translated by Daniel Lemoine. Editions
Buchet/Chastel.
Human Rights Watch. Yearly. Human
Rights Watch World Report. New York: Human Rights Watch.
Encyclopedia of the Third World.
1992. Edited by George Thomas Kurian. New York: Facts on File
L'état du tiers monde.
1989. Montréal: La Découverte.
International Handbook on Human
Rights. 1986. Edited by J. Donnelly and R.E. Howard. New York:
Greenwood Press.
World Human Rights Guide. 1986.
London: The Economist.
Amnesty International. Yearly.
Amnesty International Report. New York: Amnesty International.
Article 19 World Report: Information,
Freedom and Censorship. 1988. Edited by Kevin Boyle. Toronto:
Random House of Canada.
L'information dans le monde.
1989. Paris: Seuil.
Index on Censorship [London].
Monthly. Writers and Scholars International Ltd.
News From Americas Watch [New
York]. Monthly.
Andean Newsletter [Lima].
Weekly.
Latinamerica Press [Lima].
Weekly.
Note on oral sources:
Oral sources are usually contacted when documentary sources have
been exhausted. However, oral sources must agree to be quoted in a
publicly available Response to Information Request. If they
refuse, the Response will read "no information currently
available." Contacting oral sources is also subject to time
constraints; for example, there are periods of the year when
academics are unavailable.
Note:
This list is not exhaustive. Country-specific books available in the Resource Centre are not included.