(TODAY COLOMBIA) Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos ignored a ruling of an international court Wednesday and signed off on the controversial impeachment of Bogota’s embattled mayor Gustavo Petro.
Following the signing of the decree Wednesday night Santos issued a press release saying that the removal of Petro was consistent with all Colombian laws and then announced that Rafael Pardo, the current Labor Minister would take Petro’s place as mayor of Bogota.
With his decision, Santos ignored a clear ruling ordering him to keep Petro in office or break international law regarding citizens’ right to elect and be elected.
According to the president, “the Colombian justice system has acted in a transparent, efficient and timely manner.”
“The Colombian government understands the importance and defends the inter-American human rights system,” said Santos.
However, “I consider its role complementary and alternative, for which it should only operate in the event of a malfunction or failure of the internal system.”
According to Santos, the Colombian authorities operated successfully and in accordance with its own laws and consequently “does not accept the request for precautionary measures” imposed by the IACHR.
Santos went on to announce Labor Minister Rafael Pardo as the second non-elected mayor of the capital in four years.
Santos lied: Petro
Immediately after being notified his impeachment had taken effect, Petro took to the balcony of the mayoral palace to speak before gathered supports.
The leftist former mayor said that his impeachment was a “coup” bought with the “blood and money from cocaine” before adding that President Santos had “lied” about respecting the IACHR’s precautionary measures.
“The president publicly and privately promised … that if the precautionary measures came out positive, he would respect them,” said Petro.
Petro went on calling Pardo an “imposter,” reported newspaper El Tiempo.
IACHR crystal clear in support for Petro
Earlier Wednesday, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued an injunction warning Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos against signing the decree.
MORE: Not So Fast: International Court Rushes To Bogota Mayor’s Aid And Demands Petro Stay In Office
It is not clear what path — if any — the IACHR will take to enforce its protection measures for the now-former Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro.
The IACHR sent a clear message to the Colombian Constitutional Court and Santos on its stance regarding the status of the Bogota’s mayoral office.
“The commission orders that Colombia immediately suspend the effects of the decision of December 9 2013, emitted and ratified by the Inspector General’s office January 13, 2014, in order to guarantee the exercise of political rights of Mr. Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego and allow him to complete the period of time, for which he was elected to serve as the mayor of Bogota on October 30 2011,” said the IACHR in a communication released Tuesday.
Prior to this announcement, Colombia’s State Council rejected the final set of appeals made by the former guerrilla turned politician, ultimately ruling in favor of the decision of Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez to have Petro removed from his elected position and face a 15 year ban from serving public office.
Colombia’s OAS seat at risk
If Santos chooses to ignore the IACHR, this could seriously jeopardize the membership of Colombia in the parent organization, the Organization of American States.
As described by former Constitutional Court magistrate Alfredo Beltran in the above article , “The Constitutional Court says that when precautionary measures by the IACHR, or provisional measures by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights are dictated in order to protect a fundamental right, these are obligatory for all [member] states.”
“They’re not mere suggestions or requests that might or might not be fulfilled. They have a binding force,” Beltran concluded.
In December 2013, Inspector General Ordoñez ordered the dismissal of Petro from the second most important elected position in Colombia due to “irregularities” while reforming the capital city’s garbage collection system in 2012. In trying to change the system to a public one from a privately contracted service, allegedly 9,920 tons of uncollected garbage were left on the streets. This prompted Ordoñez to announce his decision to remove Petro from office and ban him from serving public office for 15 years.
