TODAY COLOMBIA – A Colombian court ruled Thursday against holding a referendum on bullfights in the capital city of Bogota.
“The Mayor of the District Capital does not have the power to prevent bull fighting, therefore it does not have the ability to create a norm of this kind. Consequently this constitutes an infringement on personal freedoms and poses a limitation on fundamental rights,” the court declared.
The vote was scheduled to take place on Oct. 25, alongside the country’s general elections.
The court ruling backed a 5-4 legal decision issued earlier this year by Colombia’s Constitutional Court, which ordered Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro to once again allow the city’s bullring to be used for its original purpose.
The practice was banned in Bogota by Mayor Petro in 2012, after organizers refused to introduce more humanitarian practices, including not killing the bulls.
However, Colombia’s Constitutional Court overturned the ban on the grounds that it violated bullfighters’ rights to artistic expression.
In response to the decision, the Bogota city council approved a referendum last June to ask citizens whether they want to continue hosting bull fights.
If allowed, the referendum would have aimed to established whether bullfighting is indeed a tradition supported by the people of Bogota or not.
In Latin America, traditional bullfights remain seasonal events in Mexico, Venezuela, Peru and Colombia. Ecuador banned them in May 2011, only permitting the non-fatal variety.
The vote was scheduled to take place on Oct. 25, alongside the country’s general elections.
The court ruling backed a 5-4 legal decision issued earlier this year by Colombia’s Constitutional Court, which ordered Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro to once again allow the city’s bullring to be used for its original purpose.
The practice was banned in Bogota by Mayor Petro in 2012, after organizers refused to introduce more humanitarian practices, including not killing the bulls.
However, Colombia’s Constitutional Court overturned the ban on the grounds that it violated bullfighters’ rights to artistic expression.
In response to the decision, the Bogota city council approved a referendum last June to ask citizens whether they want to continue hosting bull fights.
If allowed, the referendum would have aimed to established whether bullfighting is indeed a tradition supported by the people of Bogota or not.
In Latin America, traditional bullfights remain seasonal events in Mexico, Venezuela, Peru and Colombia. Ecuador banned them in May 2011, only permitting the non-fatal variety.
This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Colombian-Court-Rules-Against-Bullfighting-Ban-20150925-0024.html
