Colombia: New President-Elect, Same Old Story http://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/2552-colombia-new-president-elect-same-old-story

Seven human rights defenders and rural leaders were killed in May. Four of them were demanding the return of their land, occupied by far-right paramilitaries, who are accused of the most atrocious human rights crimes committed in the last 20 years in Colombia. And death threats were received by more than 100 rural, labour, human rights, women's, black and indigenous organisations in May and the first week of June.

"If he truly aims to respect the autonomy of the judiciary, he should eliminate his proposal to annex the attorney general's office to the executive branch," Cepeda said, referring to an announcement by Santos. This month, Uribe called for an expansion of the jurisdiction of the military courts, which, under a Constitutional Court ruling, do not have jurisdiction in cases of members of the armed forces accused of human rights abuses

Santos "will have to respond to the country with respect to his role in the killings of 2,279 people presumably by the security forces" while he was defence minister (2006-2009), cases that are under investigation by prosecutors, the MOVICE spokesman said. In the last few days, threats have been stepped up against the Mothers of Soacha, a group of women seeking justice in the murders of their sons, whose bodies were passed off by the military as guerrillas killed in combat in the years when Santos was defence minister.