Colombia issues first conviction for racist remarks; local official faces jail
Colombia issues first conviction for racist remarks; local official faces jail
AFP-JIJI
Nov 29, 2014
BOGOTA – A court has issued Colombia’s first conviction under a racial harassment law after a local official likened black and indigenous people to a “cancer,” prosecutors said Friday.
Councilman Fernando Antonio Delgado made the inflammatory remark during an August 2012 meeting and was the first person to be convicted under a 2011 anti-discrimination law, according to prosecutors.
“Black people, displaced people and indigenous people are a cancer affecting national and global governance,” the official, from the town of Marsella in the western department of Risaralda, had said.
Colombia is home to a diverse mix of ethnic groups, but blacks and indigenous people have long suffered significant discrimination. They are the hardest hit by poverty, marginalization and the country’s decades-long internal armed conflict.
More:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/11/29/world/crime-legal-world/colombia-issues-first-conviction-for-racist-remarks-local-official-faces-jail/#.VHphYGdxnIU
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Councilman Fernando Antonio Delgado[/center]
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