LatinNews Daily Report - 29 October 2013

POLITICS| Petro takes Colombian State to IAHCR. On 28 October Bogotá’s leftist mayor, Gustavo Petro, presented a complaint against the Colombian State before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IACHR) for political persecution. Colombia’s attorney general Alejandro Ordóñez has begun disciplinary proceedings against Petro for various irregularities and alleged corruption relating to the award of public cleaning contracts by the Petro administration. The investigations could result in Petro being barred from holding political office. In his complaint, Petro, who is already facing a recall referendum promoted by his political adversaries, argues that his political rights and the right to judicial guarantees have been undermined by the actions of the conservative Ordóñez, who he claims is acting on the basis  of Petro’s political background. According to Petro’s complaint “The current attorney general Alejandro Ordóñez is well known for his [political] intolerance based on his extreme religious convictions” and it urges the IACHR to call on Ordóñez to cancel the disciplinary procedure and even demands that the Colombian government suspend his ability to ban individuals from holding public office. IACHR executive secretary, Emilio Alvarez, has confirmed that the complaint has been received and said that it will be analysed in the coming weeks.