Colombian President Santos arrived in London on Monday to discuss trade and prosperity with the British government among other issues.
CAFOD has issued a statement and briefing paper calling for Colombia to improve its human rights.
"While Santos is making steps towards improvements on human rights, the ‘Colombia is open for business’ PR gloss that is accompanying the visit must not hide the fact that much more needs to be done to protect human rights and human rights defenders," the agency said.
CAFOD is calling on the UK government to put pressure on President Santos to increase the protection of human rights defenders.
One concrete suggestion is that of centralising all of the cases of threats and attacks against defenders in the Human Rights Unit of the Attorney General.
This would help identify patterns of attacks, the perpetrators of these attacks, and facilitate prompter investigations into those responsible.
Tackling impunity will give the message that attacks and killings of defenders will not be tolerated and act to dissuade further attacks.
They also urge the Cameron government to put pressure on President Santos to dismantle paramilitary structures, not only the military structure but also the political and economic structures as well.
There can be no real protection either for defenders or returning communities unless such policies are in place.
And they say the government must ensure that British businesses do not profit from displacement or other human rights abuses by providing detailed advice and support to British businesses and companies listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), to foster understanding of the context in which they would be investing and to ensure that they do not end up benefitting from human rights abuses or legalising stolen lands.
Furthermore the Companies Act 2.006 should be amended to include as an explicit requirement for companies to report in the narrative section on human rights and environmental impacts.
The full CAFOD briefing paper follows :
VISIT OF COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT TO THE UK : BRIEFING PAPER
Juan Manuel Santos became President of Colombia on August 7, 2010.
In his inauguration speech certain important commitments to human rights, poverty reduction, inequality and land restitution were made.
The Santos administration has also pushed through legislative changes which include anti-corruption, judicial reform and land restitution laws.
In terms of concrete actions there have also been some steps forward with positive statements made in favour of human rights and public statements condemning some of the killings of human rights defenders and community leaders.
Santos’s government has introduced a Victims Law that addresses a framework for land restitution and compensation for victims of the conflict; and there has been the restoration of dialogue with human rights defenders regarding their security and a commitment to amend the protection programme for people at risk in Colombia.
Whilst recognising and supporting these significant steps forward, it is important to consider whether these policy changes actually hold up to scrutiny.
Human rights defenders at risk
The positive statements made in favour of human rights and public condemnation of the killings of human rights defenders have sought to distinguish President Santos’ government from that of the former Uribe administration.
However, this change in dialogue has not translated into a safer environment for human rights defenders. In fact the situation has worsened.
During President Santos’ first year in office, 54 human rights defenders and community leaders were killed; and such defenders, community leaders and priests working on the themes of land are being attacked and killed at an even greater rate.
A comparison between the first six months in 2.010 with the same period in 2.011 shows an increase of 129 per cent in violence against human rights defenders.
In fact during the first six months of 2011, one defender was attacked or threatened every 36 hours.
Dangerous work of uncovering the truth
The situation for investigative reporters in Colombia is frightening. In recent months, hundreds have received threats.
On Wednesday 22 June, Mary Luz Avendaño, a Colombian human rights journalist, received threats on her life from drugs traffickers.
Mary Luz has been supported by one of CAFOD’s partner organisations in Colombia, Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular (CINEP) which was founded in 1972 by Jesuits to work for a more humane and equal society.
She has worked tirelessly for 15 years as a journalist covering subjects such as human rights and armed conflict including the impact of armed conflict on women.
She had recently been investigating two dangerous gangs in Medellín, Colombia in their war for control of territory and drugs, and their links with the police.
A source told her that an anonymous caller had warned : “Tell your friend, the journalist Mary Luz, that she should stop publishing stupid things unless she wants to win ‘the big prize’ [to die]”.
According to Ms Avendaño, the Chief of Police was quick off the mark in seeking to obtain appropriate protection from the Ministry of the Interior and Justice (MIJ) but the response from the Ministry (which is responsible for the government’s protection programme for human rights defenders, journalists and trade unionists), was woefully inadequate.
It took one month for the Ministry to send a bullet proof vest and phone. When it arrived, the vest was for a large male; on Mary Luz it reached her knee.
She could not move in it nor drive in it. Due to the seriousness of the threats Mary Luz was forced into exile, and by the time she left the country, the Ministry had still not met to discuss her case.
Many human rights organisations in Colombia have been pointing out the problems with the Ministry of Interior’s protection programme; it is simply too slow moving to save the lives of those most at risk.
People do not usually apply for protection until they reach the stage of being in grave danger.
Furthermore, there is a lack of recognition regarding the differential protection that needs to be offered to women.
Displacement crisis and land theft
Mass forced displacement is perhaps one of the most obvious illustrations of the depth of the humanitarian crisis that exists in Colombia with 5.2 million people internally displaced since 1.985.
Close to 300,000 people were newly displaced last year, the majority by paramilitaries who continue to have links with the security forces.
Between six and ten million hectares of land (roughly the size of Wales and the Republic of Ireland together) have been expropriated by illegal armed groups with indigenous people, Afro-Colombians and campesinos are at the centre of the most devastating land grabs.
Large-scale agro-industry and extractive projects are a rapidly escalating factor driving displacement.
Seeking to uphold personal and community rights in the face of foreign and national investment in Colombia is a dangerous business.
Death threats have been sent to various human rights defenders and community leaders who have publicly contested the rights of mining companies to operate in their territories, with threats like: “You are the ones that will not allow development in this country ... therefore you are on our death list”.
On September 1, 2.011 Father José Reinel Restrepo Idárraga was murdered in Marmato, Antioquia.
Father Restrepo was an outspoken critic of a Canadian-based open-pit gold mining venture.
British businesses investing in Colombia are at risk of benefiting from land where human rights abuses have taken place, thereby assisting in finally legalising the land theft.
CASE STUDY: COCOMOPOCA
COCOMOPOCA is an organisation that represents the Afro-Colombian population in the municipalities of Atrato, Bagadó, Cértegui and Lloró in the Pacific Coastal region of Colombia.
Their territory is located in an important geostrategic region in terms of access to mega-projects and continental investments, minerals and potential hydro-electrical resources.
They have been pursuing their entitlement to collective territorial rights under Colombian Law 70 (introduced in 1.993) since December 1.999.
When they applied for their collective title to 172,000 hectares they numbered 30,000 inhabitants.
Today, nearly ten years later, there remain only 17,000 people; the rest have been forcibly displaced by paramilitary and guerrilla groups with interests in the land, mining or in securing corridors via land or river for transporting coca. In September 2.011, after 11 years of lobbying, INCODER (the Colombian Institute of Rural Development) granted the title deeds to 73,000 hectares of collective territory not the 172,000 hectares that is rightfully their territory.
Furthermore 50,000 of those 72, 000 hectares have already been concessioned to the mining company, Anglo Gold Ashanti, listed on the London Stock Exchange.
“It’s just awful to live with so much fear.
The guerrillas and paramilitaries killed a number of people in my family.
Threats were made against leaders. I’ve had people watching me and following me.
Lots of people have left not because somebody has told them to go, but because the presence of the guerrillas makes them scared and uncomfortable.
Sometimes we can’t carry out our work because of the pressure.
That’s why we want people overseas to put pressure on our government so we can live in peace and enjoy our autonomy.
There is a huge problem.
The company called Anglo Gold Ashanti is not yet in our territory but the government has already given them a concession of 50,000 hectares of land.
This is against the law.
Legally, you can’t give concessions until Afro-Colombian communities have received land titles and given their permission.
We are fighting we have rejected the decision but we haven’t received any answers yet. “If we didn’t have the problem of armed conflict and the mining company, we could live our own culture with enthusiasm.
We want to live in peace, enjoy our natural resources and have a productive, sustainable lifestyle.
Living in peace is the loveliest thing in the world!
Is it too much to ask?”
Mélida Esther Guevara, Cocomopoca community leader
UK Investment in Colombia
The UK is the second largest foreign investor in Colombia, after the USA, with investments in excess of US$18billion.
UK companies are particularly active in the oil and gas, mining, pharmaceutical and insurance sectors.
It will be crucial for the British government to be proactive in preventing British companies from exacerbating the human rights situation in Colombia and benefiting from land that has been illegally expropriated.
Special attention should be paid to investments made on collective territories owned by indigenous and Afro-Colombian groups.
Our requests for the British government
To pressure President Santos to increase the protection of human rights defenders.
One concrete suggestion is that of centralising all of the cases of threats and attacks against defenders in the Human Rights Unit of the Attorney General.
This would help identify patterns of attacks, the perpetrators of these attacks, and facilitate prompter investigations into those responsible.
Tackling impunity will give the message that attacks and killings of defenders will not be tolerated and act to dissuade further attacks.
To pressure President Santos to dismantle paramilitary structures, not only the military structure but also the political and economic structures as well.
There can be no real protection either for defenders or returning communities unless such policies are in place.
Ensure that British businesses do not profit from displacement or other human rights abuses by providing detailed advice and support to British businesses and companies listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), to foster understanding of the context in which they would be investing and to ensure that they do not end up benefitting from human rights abuses or legalising stolen lands.
Furthermore the Companies Act 2.006 should be amended to include as an explicit requirement for companies to report in the narrative section on human rights and environmental impacts.
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