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Summary

The political discourse o Juan Manuel Santos government has centred, in the rst six monthso his presidency, on two principal themes. On the one hand, it has started discussions about themillions o victims o Colombias armed conict. To that end, a law is being debated in Congress thatproposes a legal basis or reparation, including the restitution o two million hectares o stolen land.On the other hand, the Government is pushing a development agenda based in the exportation oprimary materials and the creation o inrastructure or this purpose, as established in the NationalDevelopment Plan 2010-2013, which ocuses on the development o the mining and hydrocarbonsectors.

The so-called Victims Law tackles the plunder o the land o victims o orced displacement,one o the most severe crises in Colombia in recent years. Around 5.4 million hectaresa territorylarger than Switzerlandwere abandoned due to violence between 1998 and 2010. And althoughthe initiative would mean a considerable advance o rights, many questions remain or the victims oorced displacement. It is worthwhile to note that during just the past year, 40 human rights deendersand representatives o displaced communities paid or the struggle or their rights with their lives.Many more have been and continue to be threatened, and sufer various orms o repression, as thearticle in this newsletter about the social movement in Barrancabermeja demonstrates.

Through the project Vision 2019, Colombia Mining Country, the Colombian Government seeksto convert the country into a worldwide reerence or mining extraction, under the legal rameworko the recently reormed Mining Code. This law promotes oreign investment in mining, permitsland expropriation or mining development, and declares small-scale mining illegal. The alreadyestablished laws or the protection o ancestral cultures and the environment have been violated inthe past by mining companies, as seen in the case o Muriel Mining Corporation in the Choc, or inthe current discussion about mining in the moorland o Santurbn, Santander.

The question thereore remains: will the demands o victims be incorporated in the Law beingdebated in Congress, and will this government be capable o guaranteeing respect or the rights oancestral peoples and environmental law or sustainable economic development?

3Victims law and land restitution

5Alirio Uribe: There have been serious dueprocess violations

7Leonardo Jaimes Marn: The grounds orarresting Carolina Rubio are absurd

8Where are the disappeared?

1 0

Economic interests: Gold ever in Northeast

Antioquia

1 2Economic interests: Mand Norte Projectcontinues

1 5Peace pilgrimage

1 7Hip-hop in Medellins District 13: Rapperspromoting happiness

1 9Political repression and peaceul resistanceor human rights

2 2PBI Alliance or Lawyers at Risk

2 3Sandra Gamboa: PBIs international accom-paniment is absolutely necessary

2 4Judith Madonado recognises, admires andrespects the victims in this country

2 5

Leonardo Jaimes Marn: The best way to re-

spond to a threat is to just continue working

2 6Liliana vila: Our work ocuses on thestructural aspects o impunity

2 7The support o our Country Groups is agreat advantage

PBI ColomBIa fundIng agenCIes

Broederlijk Delen Canton Vaud /PBI Switzerland

Catalan Agency or Development Christian Aid (with Irish Aid)

Civil Peace Service/PBI Germany Diakonia SwedenDiakonisches Werk

Government o Cantabria Government o Navarra

ICCO/Kerk in Actie Individual donations Intermn-Oxam (EU)

Mensen met een Missie Misereor

Norwegian Ministry o Foreign Afairs/PBI Norway

OPSEU/PBI CanadaOverbrook Foundation/PBI USA

Palencia City Hall Pamplona City Hall

PBI Italy PBI UK

Project Counselling Service (EU) Sigrid Rausing Trust/PBI UK

Spanish Agency or InternationalDevelopment Cooperation

Swiss Ministry o Foreign Afairs/PBISwitzerland

The Law Society/PBI UK Vitoria City Hall

Zivik/PBI Germany

edItorIal

Newsletter no. 17PBI Colombia, March 2011

News design: Communications Area,PBI Colombia

Investigation and writing: PBI ColombiaPrint: Editorial CDICE Ltda.Tels.: 2177010 - [email protected]

On the cover Magdalena Medio River

The opinions and positions expressed herein donot necessarily reect the views o Peace Brigades

International or its unding agencies.


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Mara Ligia Chavera is a72-year-old Afro-Colombianwoman who has struggled the

last 14 years to recover her land in theChoc. She was displaced in 1997 alongwith her community of Curbarad. Wewalked suffering, passing up work, eatingwithout salt, washing without soap, sleep-ing in the mountains, literally lying on topof snakes,1 she tells, remembering those

years of forced displacement. Theft fromdisplacement victims is one of the gravestscourges in Colombia.2 According to theProgram of Land Protection, 5.4 millionhectaresan area larger than Switzer-landwere abandoned as a result of theviolence just between 1998 and 2010.3According to Marco Romero, director ofthe Consultancy for Human Rights andDisplacement (CODHES), in many cases[C]oercion was used to buy lots at lowprices and people were forced to sign

away deeds.

4

In the face of this situation, the Gov-ernment of Juan Manuel Santos has pro-posed an initiative for land restitution tovictims that is currently making its waythrough the Colombian Congress as a uni-

ed law.5 The proposal seeks to createmechanisms and strategies for the hando-ver of land to the displaced population.6The return of two million hectares of landto those from whom it was stolenabout250.000 hectares per yearis one of theprincipal pieces to begin what the Gov-ernment considers integrated reparationfor the victims of the violence.7

the Challenges of theProPosed law

The proposal has garnered wide-spread support among the parties of theGovernment coalition. However, al-though some civil society organisationsbelieve that the victim and restitutionlaw is a fundamental contribution becauseit recognises, from the Government, thatthis plundering does exist,8 organisationslike the National Movement of Victimsof State Crimes (MOVICE) have certain

reservations, to the point of rejecting theproposed law.9For Jorge Luis Garay, director of the

Commission of Public Policy for Dis-placement Monitoring,10 the proposed

law is lled with challenges and obstacles

that will take a long time to be workedout.11 Ivn Cepeda, Representative in Co-lombias Lower House of Congress withthe Alternative Democratic Pole (PDA)party and member of MOVICE, fears thatthe proposal will not have the hoped forresults. The principal problem he identi-es is that reparation depends upon scal

stability: The Government has presented

a concept of reparation that is subject tocertain criteria, like scal stability, that

could make it totally inefcient.12

In addition, the proposed law positsthe restitution of two million hectares ofland, but according to the calculations ofthe Center for Research and Popular Edu-cation (CINEP), there are 6.5 million hec-tares of plundered land.13

Many other questions remain: Howwill a displaced population be able to sus-tain itself on a plot of returned land with-

out support for income generation, andwithout public roads, sewers, electricityand security conditions? For this reason, itis important to integrate into the debate inColombia the Principles for the Return ofHousing and Wealth of Displaced Refu-

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According to the Program of Land Protection, 5.4 million hectaresan area larger than Switzerlandwere abandoned as a result of the violencejust between 1998 and 2010.


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gees and Displaced Persons.14

the santos goVernmentsPlan of aCtIon

Until April of this year, the SantosGovernment had in place an action planthat proposed the hand-over of land to138,000 peasant families in the depart-

ments of Magdalena, Bolvar, NorthSantander, Choc, Tolima, Antioquia,Cesar, Arauca, Meta and Putumayo.15As of January 2011 the Colombian RuralDevelopment Institute (INCODER) hadhanded over 121,000 hectares to 38,000peasants under the direction of the Ag-riculture and Rural Development Minis-try.16

ProteCtIng soCIal leaders

On a farm known as Germany (La

Alemania) in the municipality of SanOnofre (Sucre), 15 people have beenmurdered for their work to reclaim these550 hectares of property.17 The latest vic-tim was Rogelio Martnez, a 48 year-old

member of the Sucre chapter of MOV-ICE, who was killed in May 2010.18 Dur-ing 2010, in Urab alone, nine peasantswho were leading projects to recoverstolen land were murdered.19 In all of Co-lombia, 40 human rights defenders andrepresentatives of displaced communitieswere murdered in 2010, 33 since Presi-

dent Juan Manuel Santos took ofce andCongress began debating the Victims andLand Restitution Law. This has occurredin at least nine departments, includingCrdoba, Antioquia, Choc, Sucre, Cau-ca, Valle del Cauca and the regions ofMagdalena Medio and Catatumbo.20 Ac-cording to the internet site about paramil-itaries and armed conict in Colombia,

Verdad Abierta, the paramilitary gure-heads have attempted at all costs to im-pede the return of stolen land to displacedpeasants. The site also says: The meth-ods that are used [] to intimidate andprevent the victims from demanding whatbelongs to them are the same used beforethe paramilitary demobilisation: accusethe leaders of being guerrilla leaders, at-

tempt to intimidate them and in the endmurder them in order to stop the return ofthe stolen land.21

Threats continue against organisa-tions that reclaim their land, and there hasalso been an increase in the theft of sen-sitive information about these groups.22Cristian Salazar, director of the UnitedNations High Commissioner for Human

Rights in Colombia, has stated, The pro-tection of victims who reclaim land, aswell as their organisations, should havethe same priority as restitution itself, be-cause above all the State is responsible forprotecting life.23 And that, according toGaray, is where the poison is.24

1. Interview with PBI, November 2010.2. Victims Law: Commitment to Truth, Justice and Reparation, CongresoVisible, 11 November 2010, see: http://www.congresovisible.org/agora/post/

ley-de-victimas-compromiso-de-verdad-justicia-y-reparacion/437/3. The project of the Victims law approved in the House has unconsti-tutional characteristics. La Silla Vacia, 8 January 2011; see: http://www.lasillavacia.com/historia/el-proyecto-de-ley-de-victimas-aprobado-en-la-camara-tiene-rasgos-de-inconstitucionalidad-2.4. Access to land has been the focus of the armed conict, Semana, 25November 2010.5. The proposals of President Santos: Hope for the victims?, CINEP,November 2010.6. The 11 actions of the government to restore land to those from whom itwas plundered, CINEP, November 2010.7. Restitution of land will be retroactive 15 years, El Tiempo, 12 October2010; see: http://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/ARTICULO-WEB-NEW_NOTA_INTERIOR-8127782.html.8. Access to land has been the focus of the armed conict, Semana, 25November 2010.9. Discussion document about the current proposed victims law, MOV-ICE, 13 December 2010; see: http://www.movimientodevictimas.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=786&Itemid=1.10. The Commission is composed of Consultancy for Human Rights andDisplacement (CODHES), the Long Live Citizenship Corporation, theFaculty of Law of the University of Los Andes, and different people like theex Defender of the People and ex President of the Constitutional court,Eduardo Cifuentes, the journalist Patricia Lara and the national directorof the Social Ministry of the Colombian Catholic Church Monseor HctorFabio Henao.11. The proposed Victims Law approved in the House has unconstitutionalaspects, La Silla Vaca, 8 January 2011; see: http://www.lasillavacia.com/historia/el-proyecto-de-ley-de-victimas-aprobado-en-la-camara-tiene-rasgos-de-inconstitucionalidad-212. If errors are not corrected, the Victims Reparation Law will beinefcient,Agencia Prensa Rural, 13 November 2010, see; http://www.prensarural.org/spip/spip.php?article4854.13. The proposals of President Santos: Hope for the victims?, CINEP,November 2010.14. Land, territory and forced displacement, United Nations DevelopmentProgram, 2010; see: http://hechosdelcallejon.pnudcolombia.org/hechos_57/Tierras_territorios_desplazamiento.pdf.15. History of a crusade, Semana, 15 January 2011; see: http:/ /www.semana.com/noticias-nacion/historia-cruzada/150193.aspx.16. Ibid, 15.

17. The farm in Sucre that has cost the life of 12 people for trying toreclaim it, El Tiempo, 2 May 2010; The long list of victims of Germanyhamlet in San Onofre, New Rainbow Corporation, 18 May 2010.18. Member of MOVI CE murdered for reclaiming farm, PBI Colombia,September 2010.19. scar Maussa, another leader of the displaced, is murdered, VerdadAbierta, 26 November 2010; see: http://www.verdadabierta.com/conicto-

hoy/rearmadados/2885-oscar-maussa-otro-lider-de-despojados-de-uraba-asesinado.20. Ibid. 1721. Death persues those who reclaim their land, Verdad Abierta, 23 May2010; see: htt p://www.verdadabierta.com/nunca-mas/38-desplazados/2483-la-muerte-persigue-a-los-que-reclaman-sus-tierras.22. Threats against NGOs and peasants who reclaim their landdenounced, El Colombiano, 12 JAnuary 2011; see: htt p://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2011/01/21/solidaridad/1295601602.html.23. Displaced leader murdered in Bolvar was stoned and tortured, ElTiempo, 23 January 2011; see: http://m.eltiempo.com/justicia/gobierno-pide-investigar-asesinato-de-lder-de-desplazados-en-urab/845792024. The proposed Victims Law approved in the House has unconstitutionalaspects, La Silla Vaca, 8 January 2011; see: http://www.lasillavacia.com/

historia/el-proyecto-de-ley-de-victimas-aprobado-en-la-camara-tiene-rasgos-de-inconstitucionalidad-225. National Verication Survey of the rights of the displaced population,Public Policy for Forced Displacement Monitoring Commission, in Whatsize is the plunder of land and property in Colombia?, Semana, 19 October2010.

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The other marks of war.

A study by the Commission o Public Policyor Displacement Monitoring demonstratesthat 90% o the displaced population has lost itsland. The amount o hectares o land usurpedor abandoned because o violence between1980 and July 2010 is almost 6.65 million,without counting territory held collectively

by ethnic communities. This amount o land isequal to 12.9% o arable land in the country.According the investigation, 1998 and 2008was the period in which the greatest amounto land was usurped or abandoned: 5.3 millionhectares.25

the amount of Plundered or aBandoned land


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In a conversation with PBI, lawyerAlirio Uribe talks about the criminalproceedings against David Ravelo,

economist, human rights defender andmember of the Regional Corporation forHuman Rights Defense (CREDHOS),1 jailed since September 2010. Ravelofaces the charge of aggravated homicidebased on the testimony of the ex paramili-tary leader Mario Jaime Meja, alias ElPanadero, processed under the protectionof Law 975 and confessed material authorof the 16 May 1998 massacre in Barran-cabermeja.2 Alirio Uribe has been a mem-ber of CCAJAR for more than 20 yearsand also defended David Ravelo between1994 and 1995 when he was imprisonedfor 27 months and later acquitted. AlirioUribe is again defending him against thecurrent charges.

PBI: What are the accusationsagainst David Ravelo and upon what arethey based?

Alirio Uribe: The initial chargeswere for rebellion, conspiracy to com-mit a crime and premeditated murder.It was demonstrated that he had alreadybeen tried for rebellion in a secret case in1993 and of which, after being arbitrarily

detained, he was acquitted. We were alsoable to prove that conspiracy to commit acrime had never existed and if it had [thestatute of limitations] had expired. In thismoment the only charge that he has is theworst of the three: homicide.

The homicide for which Ravelo iscurrently being accused occurred in April1991, the same period during which hewas accused of being a member of theFARC, of which he was acquitted. De-spite this acquittal, he is again being ac-cused of having been with the FARCand serving as the FARCs politician inBarrancabermeja, and that as a result ofthis he participated in a meeting in whichthe murder of David Nez Cala was or-dered.3

PBI: How has the criminal caseproceeded since his imprisonment?

AU: In September 2010 he was cap-tured, and when we were in the middle ofthe presentation of evidence, the investi-

gation was closed, impeding an adequatedefense of David Ravelo. This seems ab-surd to us. First, because there wasnt anadequate possibility to present evidencesince several pieces of evidence weredenied, others werent admitted and oth-

ers were admitted but werent presented.This is why we consider it a serious viola-tion of due process. And second, becausethe Public Prosecutor has only focusedon the version of the criminals alias ElPanadero and Fremio Snchez despitethe fact that there is abundant evidence insupport of David Ravelo was presented.What is most concerning is the amountof credibility that the Prosecutor grantsto those individuals. It is no secret thatparamilitary groups in Barrancabermejaand in the entire country have declaredhuman rights defenders military objec-tives, and ordered their murder, and nowthey are doing so legally, that is to say itis the same attack but through a criminalcase, by saying: I killed Nez Cala andDavid Ravelo was the one who gave theorder. For us this is contradictory, andwe nd ourselves doomed to participate

in a case against a human rights defender.What is worrisome is that the same

demobilised paramilitaries have already

hurt other people in Barrancabermeja.This opens a door through which theparamilitaries who have always attackedhuman rights defenders can begin to takerevenge, legally speaking, making false

aii uib: t v bi pc vii

BaSeleSS ProSecutionS

Alirio Uribe (CCAJAR) and Sylvain Lefebvre (PBI).


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accusations against human rights defend-

ers. This is why it is very important to re-act vehemently to this tactic of using the justice system, particularly one that hasnot been impartial, because it is the Ter-rorism Unit [of the Public Prosecutorsofce] that has permitted the criminalisa-tion of many social sectors in this country.

PBI: Do you think this criminal case isrelated to his work in human rights?

AU: I dont have any doubt that it hasto do with David Ravelos lifes work.It is true he was a member of the Com-

munist Party and the Patriotic Union, andit is true he later became a human rightsdefender. So what he has is a bill accu-mulated against him for his involvementand his political leadership; for what hedid when he was a councilmember anda community leader and for what he hasbeen doing for the last few years as a hu-man rights defender. They are paying himback, I am sure, for his 25 years of social,political and human rights work in theMagdalena Medio region.

PBI: How are Ravelos prison

conditions?AU: He is on a oor with 900 prison-

ers and he, given his age and his socialleadership, is already doing human rightswork in the prison. David has not stoppedbeing a human rights defender for evenone day despite being in jail, and this isvery worthwhile. He was named humanrights delegate on his oor. This is very

positive because it reects his humanity

and his role as a human rights defender.But for me it is terrible that he is in pris-

on. When one talks with him in jail, onecan see that his morale is very high. Hesends messages about when I should visithim so I dont interrupt his work withinthe prison. So I would say that the dailyprison conditions are good, consideringthe prisons in Colombia. He is enduringimprisonment, but with much dignity.

PBI: What can the internationalcommunity do to support David Ravelo?

AU: He needs support in jail, but he

also needs a lot of pressure put on the

Government and Prosecutor General be-cause we cannot allow a human rights de-fender to be accused of such grave crimesand in such a fearful manner, since thiscould spread. That is to say, tomorrowany one of us could be accused. Accord-ing to the Government 35,000 paramili-taries have demobilised. And we have thecase of Carmelo Agmez, accused of par-amilitary activities, which doesnt makeany sense for a human rights defender.

I think that we have to demand free-dom for David, and demand that due proc-ess be respected, as well as to mobilisefor all the jailed human rights defenders.David needs solidarity. We lawyers aredoing we have to do. I got him acquittedin 1995 when I was his defense lawyer,but after 27 months in prison I had hopedthat this time he wouldnt be jailed for solong and that he would again be acquitted.In fact it is important that you know thatthe Prosecutor General was ordered tocompensate David Ravelo for his previ-ous detention because it was proven to be

arbitrary. I think that a level of pressurehas to be maintained, and to believe in thetruth. And the truth is that David has beena member of the Communist Party, of thePatriotic Union, a civil leader, a commu-nity leader, Secretary of the SantanderDepartment Assembly, Councilmemberof Barrancabermeja, and human rights de-fender and member of CREDHOS. Andthis is the truth for me and should be thetruth for all, and we have to defend thistruth and defend the innocence and liberty

of David.1. CREDHOS, PBI Colombia press packet, September 2010; see:http://www.pbi-colombia.org/leadmin/user_les/projects/colombia/les/

press_kits/100920_CREDHOS_ESP.pdf.2. The Baker admits to massacre in Barranca, El Tiempo, 17 April 2008.3. Candidate for mayor in Barrancabermeja in 1991.

According to the report Criminalisationand criminal prosecution o social protest andhuman rights deence in Colombia rom thenational and international Campaign or theRight to Deend Human Rights in Colombia,between December 10, 2009 and December 10,2010, at least 130 human rights deenders across

Colombia were subject to arrest, detention and/or criminal investigations.1 The report pointsout that a strategy that has become common inrecent years is the use o systems or networks oinormants composed o civilians or demobilised

members o illegal groups who provide useulinormation or State security institutions,in exchange or economic or legal benets.The unounded criminal prosecutions and thejailing o human rights deenders is an alarmingphenomenon that PBI has observed in all o theLatin American countries in which it currently

works.2

1. Criminalisation and criminal prosecution of socialprotest and human rights defense in Colombia, National and internationalcompaign for the right to defend human rights in Colombia, November2010.2. Human rights defenders trapped in their own defense,PBI Colombia, February 2008.

ColomBIa ProseCutes 130 human rIghts defenders In2010


David Ravelo, economist, human rights defender and member of the Regional Corporation for Human Rights Defense (CREDHOS).


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Carolina Rubio, a worker in theSantander ofce of the Com-mittee in Solidarity with Politi-

cal Prisoners (FCSPP, the Committee)since 2002, was arrested the 16 Novem-ber 2010. Her detention took place just afew days after she returned from Belgiumwhere with the support of the Interna-tional Ofce for Human Rights Action

on Colombia (OIDHACO) she spokewith Belgian senators and members ofthe European Commission as well aswith various representatives of perma-nent members of the European Union inorder to request that they demand a realchange from the Colombian governmentwith respect to human rights. Given thatRubio was pregnant, the Prosecutor post-poned the detention order for a few dayslater; however, the criminal proceedingsagainst her continue. Carolina Rubio isaccused of the crime of rebellion for actssupposedly committed in 2002 and 2005,and of belonging to the RevolutionaryArmed Forces of Colombia (FARC). PBIspoke with her lawyer, Leonardo JaimesMarn about the criminal proceedings.

PBI: What are the accusations againstCarolina Rubio?

Leonardo Jaimes Marn: In the in-vestigation, charges were brought againsther for the crime of rebellion. The crimeof rebellion is used to prosecute a goodnumber of human rights defenders inColombia. Carolina is not the rst; other

members of the Committee have been

prosecuted and they are always chargedwith rebellion. That is to say, this is theconstant stigma of this work. In addition,its important to note that the Committeewas victim to illegal wiretapping by theDAS.

In Santander mass arrests of peasants,workers, and residents is very commonand are always based upon declarationsfrom people known as the reintegrated,that is, former members of the guerrillawho seeks economic and legal benets.

But after undergoing cross-examination,it all falls apart and the vast majority ofthe victims of the mass arrests are freeda few days or a few months later. Un-fortunately, their names, their faces andtheir images have been shown all over the

news, and this increases their risk levelsince so many of regions where peasantslive and where human rights defenderswork have a heavy paramilitary presence.

PBI: What is the basis of theseaccusations against Carolina Rubio?

LJM: The investigators of the Re-gional Criminal Investigation Ofce (SI-JIN) of the Colombian National Policebrought the criminal charges against her.

The grounds for arresting her are absurd.They have produced two supposed formerguerrillas because we dont actuallyknow if they are and based on their tes-timony her arrest warrant was issued. Itis important to make clear that the SIJINinvestigators seek out the former guerril-las and initially hide their identity, violat-ing constitutional and legal norms. Later,a prosecutor from the Support Ofce in

Bucaramanga, without legally examiningthe validity of the testimony of these peo-ple, issued the arrest warrant.

PBI: What is going to happen now inthe case?

LJM: At the moment the case is inwhat is called the evidence phase, whichis to say that the Prosecutor asks for,presents, or admits evidence, and thedefense also has the right to request orcontribute evidence. The case was sent toBarrancabermeja, where the investigationcontinues. There is a period of six monthsfor the evidence phase, after which timethe prosecutor has to close the investiga-tion and qualify the summary, that is tosay decide if there is merit to send the caseto trial or if the case should be closed.

PBI: Will Carolina Rubio have toreturn to jail?

LJM: The warrant says that if the casehasnt ended six months after the baby isborn, she will be subjected to house ar-rest. At this moment the arrest order issuspended given the birth of the baby, butColombian law says that after six months

she will be submitted to house arrest.

l Ji m:t iCi rbi b


Leonardo Jaimes Marn, member of the Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners (FCSPP).


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Gloria Gmez is the coordinatorof the Association of FamilyMembers of the Detained and

Disappeared (ASFADDES), an organisa-

tion that has dedicated itself to the strug-gle against forced disappearance since1983. Agents of the State disappeared,tortured and murdered her brother Leon-ardo Gmez Corts.1

ASFADDES began in 1982 as a re-sult of the forced disappearance of thir-teen people, the majority of whom werestudents of the National University inBogota committed to leftist activism. Thecoordinator of ASFADDES explains thatthe families began to realise the similari-

ties between the thirteen disappearances:the thirteen were students and involved insocial justice organisations, and all evi-dence points to the participation of menwho identied themselves as part of the

F2.2 After not receiving a response fromthe State which denied the facts theyunderstood that the only thing to do wasto unite to look for them. And thus AS-FADDES was born, with the understand-ing that only united could they advance intheir desperate search.

The struggle of ASFADDES andGloria Gmez is a struggle against impu-nity, an interminable struggle to pursue justice in Colombia and, in name of allthe family members of the disappeared,a struggle in search of the truth, the only

thing that can alleviate the torment ofthose who have never given up search-ing for their loved ones and in response tothe questions that torture them each day:

Where are they? Who kidnapped them?Are they still alive?

Forced disappearance is a legal term3that refers to a type of crime characterisedby the act of depriving a person or personsof his or their freedom, perpetrated byagents of the state or by persons or groupsof persons acting with the authorisation,support, or acquiescence of the state, fol-lowed by an absence of information or arefusal to acknowledge that deprivationof freedom or to give information on the

whereabouts of that person, thereby im-peding his or her recourse to the applica-ble legal remedies and procedural guaran-tees.4 In this way the disappeared personis denied any possibility of the protectionof their rights. The family members areleft in limbo, not knowing where they areor if they are alive or dead. This completedenial of having possession of the personand the lack of legal protection implies atotal violation of the persons rights.

In Colombia, forced disappearancebegan to be employed in the 1970s as a re-pressive measure to eliminate the politicalopponents of the regime, particularly left-ist activists.5 According to Gloria Gmez,it is a practiced used by the State itself togenerate fear, quiet and eliminate all those

who reject the established regime. Sincethen, forced disappearance has evolved.If in the 1970s the phenomenon was usedto eliminate leftist activists like Omaira

Montoya,6 by the 1980s the phenomenonexpanded to also be applied to membersof social justice organisations, students,peasants and union members. At the sametime, while in the 1970s the disappear-ance was absolute that is to say the indi-viduals were taken and nothing was everheard from them again in the 1980s theindividuals disappeared and their bodiesreappeared days, months or even yearslater. When the goal was to teach a lesson,the tortured, disgured and burned body

was left where it was found. For GloriaGmez, this was a clear strategy to cre-ate terror, and people began to not want toorganise themselves, which affected theentire process of social organisation andthe already weak fabric of society.

By the end of the 1908s this practice,in addition to being selective, becamecollective and indiscriminate: in additionto activists, members of social justice or-ganisations and unions, individuals andentire groups began to be disappearedfor the simple fact of living in a region ofhigh social, political and armed conict,

or for travelling through such a region. Aconcrete case is that of the 19 business-men that were disappeared in 1987 forthe simple fact of travelling through the

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Forced diSaPPearance

Action against forced disappearance commemorating the International Week of the Disappeared, organised by ASFADDES.


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region of the Magdalena Medio.7 Anotheris the case of the Pueblo Bello massacrein 1990, in which a paramilitary grouptook 48 men in two trucks with the acqui-escence of State agents.8 Much fear andpanic was undoubtedly generated as a re-sult of these two cases, given that none ofthose disappeared belonged to any activ-ist group or social organisation: anybodycould be a potential victim of forced dis-appearance.

From the end of the 1990s until to-day, forced disappearance has not onlybeen used to eliminate opposition, targetorganised sectors and generate terror, but

also to exercise control and dominanceover communities, populations and entireregions.9

how many VICtIms are thereas of today?

This is a question without an answer.According to government statistics, ap-proximately 42,000 people have been dis-

appeared--1,130 in the last three years.10Nonetheless, the Prosecutor Generalconsiders the number to be just 32,000forced disappearances.11 It is very dif-cult to have an exact number as forced

disappearance has occurred for more thanthree decades, and because many familiesreported the disappearances before theapplication of Law 589 in 200012 whichmeans that many cases were reported assimple kidnapping while others were lostdue to the passage of time. In addition,many families have not reported disap-pearances due to fear, because, sadly, inColombia silence continues to be the only

guarantee of staying alive.It is in this dramatic context that AS-

FADDES as part of the Latin AmericanFederation of Families of the Disappeared(FEDEFAM)13 has been supporting thedevelopment of the International Con-vention for the Protection of All Peopleagainst Forced Disappearance and de-manding that States approve this tool to

eradicate forced disappearance in theworld. In 1988 and in 2005, the UnitedNations Working Group on Forced Dis-appearance came to Colombia, thanksto the work of ASFADDES in demon-strating the gravity of the situation. TheConvention is an achievement of AS-FADDES, which has supported and con-tributed to the worldwide struggle of fam-

ily members of the disappeared in theirexasperating search for truth and justice.The Convention was ratied by Colombia

in October 2010, which opens a sliver ofhope for a country that has suffered thedisappearance of thousands of people inmore than three decades, during whichtime family members have had to endureharrowing silence. The application of theConvention would constitute an advancein overcoming impunity in Colombia andthe recognition of the rights of victims.Nonetheless, in order for this to becomea reality, the Government should publiclyaccept the responsibility of the Disap-pearance Committee,14 recognition that isstill lacking.

According to Gloria Gmez, it is notjust an act of policy, but of humanity: allof the countries of the world should signand ratify [the Convention] so that forceddisappearance can one day disappearfrom the face of the earth.

1. Interview with Gloria Gmez, ASFADDES, January 2011.2. State security entity currently known as the National Directorate ofPolice Intelligence (DIJIN).3. Inter-American Commission on Forced Disappearance of 1994, article2, International Convention for the protection of all person against forceddisappearance, article 2.4. Article II of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance.5. Ibid. 16. The rst case of forced disappearance in Colombia reported to ASFAD-DES and attributed to State security entities in Colombia is that of OmairaMontoya Henoa, 34 year old bacteriologist, leftist activist, who disappearedin the city of Barranquilla along with her boyfriend in 1977. He was torturedand she never returned.7. Case of 19 businessmen vs. Colombia: June 12, 2002 Sentence, InterA-merican Human Rights Court, 12 June 2002; see: www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/Seriec_93_esp.pdf.8. Case of the Pueblo Bello massacre vs. Colombia: January 13, 2006Sentence, InterAmerican Human Rights Court, 31 January 2006; see: www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_140_esp.pdf.9. Interview with Gloria Gmez, ASFADDES, January 2011.10. In the month of November 2010, the database included more than51,000 disappearances. From this number, 7,197 were found still alive,1,366 were found dead, 460 are considered void and more than 42,000are still disappeared. Breaking the silence: In search of Colombias Di sap-peared, US Ofce on Colombia, December 2010.

11. Ibid. 612. In which genocide, forced disappearance, forced displacement andtorture were dened.

13. ASFADDES has belonged to the Federation since 1983. The Federationmaintains dialogue with the UN and the Human Rights Commission of theOAS about forced disappearance.14. The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons againstForced Disappearance lays the groundwork for the creation of a Committeeon Forced Disappearance in order to carry out the functions of the Conven-tion. This Committee will be composed of 10 independent experts. TheCommittee is an organism of control that, among other functions, shouldreview the reports submitted by the states that have ratied the Convention,

seek and nd disappeared person, receive complaints and carry out country

visits.15. The National Search Commission is composed of representatives fromthe Prosecutor Generals Ofce, the Inspector Generals Ofce, the National

Ombudsmans Ofce, the Defense Ministry, the Presidential Human Rights

Ofce, Medicina Legal, ASFADDES and the Colombian Commission of

Jurists.16. Breaking the Silence: In Search of Colombias Disappeared, US Ofceon Colombia, December 2010.

Forced diSaPPearance

Adriana Diosa and Gloria Gmez, ASFADDES.

Colombia has developed a legalramework to conront orced disappearance.The 1991 Constitution prohibits orceddisappearance, but it was not until 2000 thatthe Law 589 was enacted, in which orceddisappearance was expressly prohibited andpenal sanctions were dened. The Law 589created a National Search Commission,15 theNational Registry o Disappearances andan urgent search mechanism or locating

disappeared persons. The approval o theLaw 1408 in August 2010 could mean thestrengthening o the rights o victims, since itdictates, the perormance o homage to the

victims o the crime o orced disappearanceand the denition the mechanisms or locatingand identiying them. The Law establishesamily members o the disappeared as victimsand stipulates mechanisms to acilitate theidentication o the disappeared throughthe creation o a database o genetic proles.In October 2010, Colombia ratied theUnited Nations Convention against ForcedDisappearance. This will permit the Forced

Disappearance Working Group to carry outinvestigations and thereore become anothertool or lawyers and Colombian victims.16

legal adVanCes


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Northeast Antioquia is a sub re-gion of the Department of An-tioquia located on the eastern

border of the central Colombian mountainrange and to the southwest of the San Lu-cas range. Situated between mountains,prairies and waterfalls, 12 municipalitiesmake up this sub region of the departmentof Antioquia,1 a region rich in mining andlumber production that has caught the at-tention of several multinational compa-nies.

Northeast Antioquia has large foreststhat provide a large variety of natural re-

sources and a wide diversity of land andwater species. In fact, part of its territoryhas been included since 1959 in the ForestPreserve Zone2 of the Magdalena River.

resourCes and VIolenCe

Lumber and gold are the main re-sources to be exploited in the region.Small-scale gold mining has historicallybeen the principle source of income formany families that have arrived in the re-gion, some displaced by violence in otherterritories and others in search of miningriches. But this mineral has also been the

cause of many conicts that have taken

the life or caused the displacement ofthousands of peasants. Northeast Antio-quia has for decades been the site of vari-ous acts of violence that, for their inten-sity, have left a mark on this region andits communities: massacres, economicblockades, forced displacement, unfound-ed accusations, intimidations, torture,threats and extrajudicial executions havebeen used against the civilian populationby the different armed actors in order tocontrol the land and the riches there with-in.3 The situation is such that, accordingto censes, from 1993 to 2005 the popu-lation of Northeast Antioquia decreasedfrom 172,246 inhabitants to 169,713,4

which demonstrates the effects of forceddisplacement, murders and disappearanc-es at the hands of the armed groups.5

mInIng ProJeCts

The government project Vision2019, Colombia Mining Country seeksto convert Colombia into a worldwidereference in mining extraction, under thelegal umbrella of the recently reformedMining Code.6 Said Law promotes for-eign investment in mining, permits land

expropriation for mining development,declares small-scale mining illegal, andestablishes a ve-year period (beginning

in 2010) during which the national gov-ernment may remove the land from ForestPreserves that is needed to develop indus-trial mining.7

According the Colombian Geologi-cal and Mining Institute (Ingeominas), in2007, 73.73% of national gold productioncame from the department of Antioquia,8and, of this, between 70 and 80% camefrom the municipalities of Segovia and

Remedios.9 According to this data, then,it is not surprising that the project Vision2019, Colombia Mining Country intendsfor the mining district10 of Northeast An-tioquia to be the principal national miningdistrict, passing from 21,977 kg of goldin 2005 to 88,382 kg in 2019.11 These re-sults will be obtained by further increas-ing mining by multinational corporationsand reducing small-scale mining, nowcriminalised, which for some constitutesa strategy to remove the local population

from the land and facilitate the introduc-tion of mass production mining or mega-mining.12

g v i n aii

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Miner from Northeast Antioquia.


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mInIng PermIts In thenortheast

To this end, the Autonomous Re-gional Corporation of Central Antioqua(Ceorantioqua)13 has been moving for-ward with a project called SustainableForest Organisation in the Reserve Zoneof the Middle Magdalena, which in

Northeast Antioquia includes the munici-palities of Remedios and Segovia. Thepurpose of this project is to support re-moval activities in the reserve zone andthe legalisation of private property in or-der to obtain a zone of property ownerswho can take advantage of the multiplebenets of the State.14 The current Min-ing Code considers small-scale miningillegal and demands these miners hold amining permit in order to continue withan activity that they have practiced foryears. But upon soliciting such a permit,these miners have found that their landshave already been requested in miningconcession requests by large companies.15This means that land, which has neverbeen granted to peasants despite the factthat they have lived and worked on itfor 50 years, is now being handed overto multinational companies that in somecases also enjoy the right to explore andexploit the subsoil.16 This is the case inmunicipalities like Remedios, where 90mining concession contracts, 23 extrac-

tion licenses, and 16 exploration licenseshave been granted, and 164 mining con-cession contracts have been proposed.17

Today there are at least 12 companiesin the area that have exploration permits,and some also have extraction permits.The majority are multinationals fromCanada, the United States, and the UnitedKingdom.18

aBsenCe of the state

Despite the fact that the benets of

these natural resources could be a sourceof wealth and social development in Co-lombia, there exists a direct relationshipbetween large-scale transnational miningprojects and lack of development, hun-ger and misery among the population.19Proof of this is the high level of poverty(38.9%) and misery (41.5%) in NortheastAntioquia20 and the increase in land con-centration,21 which inevitably is linked toviolence and displacement.22

It is also of note that this natural re-source wealth does not bring social in-

vestment from the State: basic serviceslike potable water and electricity, as wellas sanitation and education services, donot exist in this region.23

Map:OfcefortheCoordinationofHumanitarianAffairs(OCHA)

economic intereStS

In April 2003, the Peasant Reserve Zone of the Cimitarra River Valley was suspended, though inFebruary 2011 the Colombian Government gave the legal green light reactivate these 184,000hectares that benet 8,935 families.


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Peasant reserVe Zone

Facing this situation, small-scaleminers in the region have organised them-selves in committees along with the Peas-ant Farmer Association of the CimitarraRiver Valley (ACVC), working to lift thesuspension of the Peasant Reserve Zoneof the Cimitarra River Valley. In April2003, the Peasant Reserve Zone of theCimitarra River Valley was suspended,though in February 2011 the Colombian

Government gave the legal green light re-activate these 184,000 hectares that ben-et 8,935 families.24

The reactivation of this zone meansthe small-scale farmers can exercise theirright to use and collectively own the land,which prohibits the expropriation of thisland into the hands of transnational cor-porations.

The Peasant Reserve Zone is a legalentity recognised in Law 160 of 1994, andestablishes a territorial boundary in which

peasant and mining communities can de-

sign a development plan to guarantee alife of dignity, access to basic services,deeds for peasant land, the promotion andstabilisation of peasant and small-scalemining economies, and the protection ofnatural resources and the environment.25The State is obliged to respect peasant ter-ritory from the various armed actors, bothlegal and illegal, and recognise the terri-tory as collective, preventing the exploi-tation of its riches by private companies.

The peasant population of the region,grouped in distinct organisations and as-sociation, continues to struggle for theland, pursuing a dream that now morethan ever seems close to reality.

1. The municipalities are: Amal, Anor, Cceres, Caucasia, El Bagre,Maceo, Nech, Remedios, San Roque, Segovia, Taraz and Zaragoza.

2. Decree 2811 of 1974, Article 206: Forest preserve area is declared aspublic or private property reserved for the exclusive purpose of maintainingthe land and for rational uses of forest production, protection, or productive-protective uses.3. North Antioquia: a war zone, Youth Network of Medellin; see: http://

www2.redjuvenil.org/content/view/601/46/.

4. Ibid. 35. Between 1990 and 1997 Northeast Antioquia had a homicide rate of20,158 in 100,000, the highest in t he department. Colombia: NortheastAntioquia. Capital, territory and peasant resistance, Freddy Ordez,Prensa Rural, 15 December 2010; see: http://www.prensarural.org/spip/spip.php?article5005.6. Law 1382 of 2010, which complements Law 685 of 2001. Recently theInspector Generals Ofce has requested that the Mining Code reform be

declared unenforceable because in reforming it, neither indigenous tribesnor Afro-Colombian were consulted. Inspector Generals Ofce requests

Mining Code be declared unenforceable, Liberal Vanguard, 11 January2011.7. Ibid. 68. Artisanal Mining in Northeast Antioquia: Legal Aspects, Annye Pez, 2July 2010; see: http://www.prensarural.org/spip/spip.php?article4255.

9. Conict and collaboration in gold mining in Segovia and Remedios,Jorge Eduardo Cock and Wilfredo Lpez in Mining concentrations and localdevelopment in Latin America, chapter 12, Ed. Alfaomega, CEPA, IDRC2002-01-01; see: http://www.idrc.ca/cp/ev-64543-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html10. After the national Government decision to make Colombiaa mining country, 26 mining districts, made up of 180 municipalities, werecreated. These zones were dened by production volume, concentration

level and mining tradition.11. Land and mining in Northeast Antioquia, Latin AmericanInstitute for Alternative Society and Rights (ILSA), 24 November 2010; see:http://ilsa.org.co:81/node/326.12. The Colombia-Canada FTA and the illegal sale of FrontinoGold Mines, Martha Luca Gmez, 2 September 2010; see: http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=112247.13. Government organisation charged with executing policies,plans, programs and projects related to the environment and renewablenatural resources in the Department of Antioquia.14. Ibid. 715. Colombia, Paradise for Transnational Mining, Le MondeDiplomatique, November 2010.16. Ibid. 7

17. Ibid. 718. Nearly half of the mining projects in Colombia are operatedby companies registered in Canada. Ibid. 1119. Ibid. 1420. Colombia: Northeast Antioquia. Capital, territory and peas-ant resistance, Freddy Ordez, Prensa Rural, 15 December 2010.21. The GINI coefcient has tended to increase, passing from0.76 in 1996 to 0.784 in 2004. This coefcient measure income inequality,

but can also be used to measure any form of unequal distribution. A valueof 0 indicates perfect equality (all have t he same income), and 1 indicatesperfect inequality (one person has all the wealth and t he rest nothing).22. Colombia: Northeast Antioquia. Capital, territory and peas-ant resistance, Freddy Ordez, Prensa Rural, 15 December 2010.23. The Peasant Reserve Zone of the Cimitarra River Valley,PBI Colombia video, 8 August 2010.24. Government symbolically reactivates Peasant ReserveZone (ZRC), El Espectador, 16 February 2011.25. The history of the Peasant Reserve Zone of theCimitarra River Valley, Humanidad Vigente, 22 October 2010;see: http://www.humanidadvigente.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=134:la-zona-de-reserva-campesina-del-valle-del-rio-cimitarra&catid=20:publicaciones&Itemid=25

The projecT Vision 2019, colombia miningcounTry inTends for The mining disTricTof norTheasT anTioquia To be The principalnaTional mining disTricT, passing from 21,977kg of gold in 2005 To 88,382 kg in 2019

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In February 2009, 12 indigenous and Afro-Descendent communities exercised their autonomy:they gave their public response to the Mand Norte project under construction in their community.Their response was strong, and they unanimously rejected the project.

The Mand Norte project is an em-blematic case that, according theColombian Constitutional Court,

has violated the recognised rights of thecommunities of the region where theproject is being carried out.1 In 2005, theGovernment granted nine mining permits

to the U.S. mining company Muriel Min-ing Corporation for a 30-year period forthe exploitation of gold, copper and mo-lybdenum. These permits cover 16,000hectares located in the region of the lowerand middle Atrato river in north-westernColombia, specically in the municipali-ties of Carmen del Darin (Choc) andMurind (Apartad).2

The project affects various ancestralterritories of afro-descendant and Emberaindigenous communities, specically the

Embera reservation Urada Juguamiand,which was the site of the exploratoryphase in 2009 and is a point of major geo-logical potential: the Careperro Moun-tain.3 According to the organisationsthat have followed this case, this project

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presents multiple consequences that willaffect the protection of the Embera andafro-descendant communities, and theexercise of their rights as tribal and indig-enous communities.

The Careperro Mountain is one ofthe most sacred sites for the Embera cul-ture.4 In addition, the zone forms part ofthe Choc bioregion that houses a largenumber of endemismspecies not foundanywhere else on the planet.5 The Em-

bera reservation of Urada-Jiguamiandis located in the river basin of the Jigua-miand River, the tributaries of which in-clude 20 gulleys and streams that serve asdirect water sources for the communities.The contamination of these water sourcesby mining activities would affect the pro-duction of subsistence crops (crops thatserve part of a communitys daily foodneeds), farm animals, and the health ofcommunity members. This would lead toa loss of traditional economies the ba-

sis of survival for indigenous and tribalcommunities which are based on thedetailed knowledge of their environment.6

The exploratory phase carried out in2009 by Muriel Mining Corporation coin-cided with the militarisation of the zone,7which, according to the National Om-budsman Ofce, was already immersed

in an armed conict.8 In January 2010,after a bombing by the army that left twoindigenous people gravely injured,9 the

Inter-American Commission on HumanRights granted protective measures to 87families in the face of the risk brought bythe presence of armed actors in their ter-ritory, and recognised the reservation as ahumanitarian area.10

In 2009, the indigenous communitiesaffected by the Mand Norte project com-plained that prior consultation, which is aState requirement, had not been complet-ed.11 As an indigenous community, theEmbera are subject to the law of Agree-

ment 169 of the International Labour Or-ganisation (ILO), signed and ratied by

the Colombian government via Law 21 of1991. One of the most important stipula-tions of this agreement is prior consulta-tion, which establishes the right of indig-enous communities to self-determinationin the face of outside economic projectson their territory. As a result, the Consti-tutional Court ordered the suspension ofthe exploratory phase until studies of the

social, environmental and culture impactsare completed, and until prior consulta-tion is carried out in an adequate manner,which should result in the free, prior andinformed consent of the affected com-munity.12

The British-Australian multina-tional company Rio Tinto13 was subjectto strong criticism in Great Britain fromBritish NGOs and members of Parlia-ment for participating in the Mand Norteproject (Rio Tinto paid 3.83 million dol-lars to Muriel Mining Corporation14). As aresult, the company demonstrated to vari-ous British NG0s15 in November 2010 thatit had removed itself from the exploratoryphase, leaving to Muriel Mining Corpora-tion the responsibility of complying with

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Peoples consultation held in 2009.

The projecT affecTs Various ancesTralTerriTories of afro-descendanT and emberaindigenous communiTies

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the Court ruling.16 One month later, Muri-el Mining publicly announced its interestin continuing with the project.17 Today,the national government has still not com-plied with the orders of the ConstitutionalCourt, and in fact the Ministry of Justiceand the Interior asked the Constitutional

Court to nullify the Courts ruling.18 InNovember 2010 the Canadian companySunward Resources announced that itwould stay with Muriel Mining Corpo-ration and would renegotiate use of themines located in the Careperro Mountainwith Rio Tinto.19

The UN Special Rapporteur for thehuman rights and fundamental freedomsof indigenous peoples, Rodolfo Staven-hagen, underscored the negative envi-ronmental, social, cultural and economicimpacts of large-scale projects in indige-nous territory.20 He determined that free,prior and informed consent is essentialfor the protections of the human rights of

indigenous peoples in relation with largedevelopment projects.21 Similar to theinternational human rights framework,a part of the reservation declared itself ahumanitarian and environmental area22: aterritorial protection tool in the face of theimpacts of the Mand Norte project andalso a tool to accompany the difcult path

of the Embera people in its struggle forits rights.

1. Constitutional Court Sentence T-769 of 2009 Reference: DossierT-23159442. Ibid. 13. Two babies die, miltary forced entry, Inter-Church Justice and PeaceCommission,4. OIA: Internal constultation for defending territory, Indigenous Organisa-tion of Antioquia (OIA), 18 MArch 2009.5. The Biogeography of the Choc, a natural treasure, Carlos AlbertoBotero Chica, Ecoportal, 26 Febrero 2010; see: http://www.ecoportal.net/Temas_Especiales/Biodiversidad/el_choco_biogeograco_un_tesoro_de_

la_naturaleza6. Ibid. 17. Exploration without consultation of the Mountain USA-KIRANDARRA,CIJP, 27 January 2009.8. Early Alert System (SAT), Risk Report Number 031-09 A.I, 31 December20099. Report of the Verifcation Mission to the Alto Guayabal indigenous com-munity, OIA, 18 February 2010.10. Protective Measures Granted by the IHRC during 2010: Alto-Guayabal-Coredocito Community of the Ember Ethnicity, Colombia, InterAmerican

Human Rights Commission, htt p://www.cidh.org/medidas/2010.sp.htm11. A struggle for the good of humanity, PBI Colombia, May 2009.12. Ibid. 113. Rio Tinto Mining and Exploration Limited is controlled by the British-

Australian Rito Tinto Group.14. Rio Tinto plays musical chairs at Mande Norte, London MiningNetwork, 19 January 2011.15. ABColombia Group, Colombia Solidarity Campaign, Peace BrigadesInternational and Amnesty International.16. Ibid. 1517. The mountain that hides gold and copper in Colombia. Special Report,Caracol TV, 14 December 2010, see: http://www.caracoltv.com/noticias/economia/video-200419-la-montana-esconde-oro-y-cobre-colombia-informe-especial; Face to face for a Colombian mountain that guards amineral treasure, Caracol TV, 15 December 2010, see: http://caracoltv.com/noticias/economia/video-200537-cara-a-cara-montana-colombiana-guarda-un-tesoro-mineral.18. Ref: Void Sentence T-769-09, Interior and Justice Ministry, 15 April2010; see: htt p://www.indepaz.org.co/attachments/478_Solicitud%20de%20Nulidad%20%282%29.pdf19. Sunward and Rio Tinto will keep gold mine in sacred indigenousterritory in Colombias Choc, Primerapagina.net, 24 November 2010; AA growing gold resource in Colombia, Sunward Resources, January 2011,see: http://www.sunwardresources.com/PDF/swdfactsheet_Jan2011.pdf20. Special Rapporteur for human rights and fundamental freedoms of

indigenous peoples, Rodolfo Stavenhage, presented in accordance withthe resolution 2001/65 of the Commission (fty-ninth session), UN Doc. E/

CN.4/2003/90, 21 January 2003.21. Ibid. 2122. Bombing and shooting of the National Army at the house of anindigenous family from the SO BIA GDRUA Humanitarian EnvironmentalReservation of Alto Guayabal, leaves severely injured Jos Nerito RubianoBariqui and Marta Ligia Major Bailarn, CIJIP, 1 February 2010.

Map:Ofceforthe

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A member of the Peace Community with Mara del Pilar Sanmartn Berraquero and Laure Isabelle Luciani (PBI Colombia).

When PBI arrived for its meet-ing with the Peace Communi-ty, everything was ready. The

people were ready, the chiveros1 ready todepart from the La Holandita farm in SanJos de Apartad (Antioquia) and excite-ment and happiness was in the air. Thepeople were preparing, along with theGrace movement and the multinationalcommunity Tamera (located in Portugal),for a pilgrimage to Bogota.2

This walk through the streets andneighbourhoods of the capital had a dualpurpose: protest and solidarity. On theone hand, the idea was to publicly callattention to the Communitys history asvictims of human rights violations; andnot just civil or political rights, but eco-nomic, social and cultural rights that,according to the Community, the Stateviolates through the armed conict. Addi-tionally, the pilgrimage aimed to show the

paramilitary and insurgent actions in thezone where the Peace Community mem-bers live.3 The idea was also to serve as asupport to those victims without a voiceor without strength, in order to express

solidarity and fraternity with grassrootssocial initiatives seeking to constructspaces of peace.

The rst stop of the pilgrimage was in

Facatativa (Cundinamarca), where hun-dreds of participants gathered, greeted bya large police force. In other communitieswe visited the Virgin of the Rocks,4 wheredisplaced families survive by recyclingtrash. The following day the pilgrimagecontinued to the Public Prosecutors of-ce in Bogota in order to leave more than

300 miniature cofns representing the

deaths the Community has suffered thatall remain in impunity, since its foundingin 1997. After a long day of walking, wearrived at the government ofce where,

after leaving the boxes in the doorway,the Jesuit priest Javier Giraldo and Edu-ar Lanchero, who both accompany thePeace Community, and Gloria Cuartas,ex mayor of Apartad, among other peo-

ple, condemned what they saw as the lackof investigations and criminal proceed-ings for the crimes committed againstthe Peace Community. Songs of peaceand solidarity accompanied this symbolic

event in front of ofcials from the Pub-lic Prosecutors Ofce and the press. We

were moved by the fact that if all thosekilled were still alive and walking withtheir families, the pilgrimage would havebeen four times larger.

The Peace Community has a hor-rendous and painful history. Its membershave denounced almost 600 human rightsviolations, which include 197 murdersand hundreds of disappearances, dis-placements, tortures, arbitrary detentionsand thefts.5 Nonetheless, nothing can stopthis special group of people, whose coher-ence and radicalism join in the formationof this Community, which serves as anexample of dignity not easy to imitate.

In the context of the pilgrimage,Peace Community representatives metwith the Vice Presidents ofce to de-mand the creation of a Justice EvaluationCommission, 6 which would be charged

with identifying the mechanisms thathave allowed for such a high level of im-punity in the region of Urab.

Later, in the neighbourhood of Bosa(Bogot), the pilgrimage participants

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walked through the streets and sharedtheir experiences with other organisa-

tions. The testimonies of resistance andstruggle were moving. The testimoniescame from indigenous people and afro-Colombians, from the city and the coun-tryside, of all colours and avours. But all

had the same objective: nonviolent resist-ance against neglect and surrender.

In the context of sharing experiences,various cultural and pedagogical activi-ties were performed, including theatreproductions, speeches and songs. Wewere witness to how the message of thePeace Community gives hope to other

struggles in the country and serves as amodel of resistance.7

The day ended with a celebration ofthe Eucharist, in which Javier Giraldoremembered the profound meaning ofthe Peace Community of San Jos deApartads process of life. The priesthighlighted the strength, bravery and

coherence of its members, as well as itsprincipals of nonviolence and neutrality.

The pilgrimage continued on its pathto the neighbourhood of Ciudad Bolvar,led by a guide who has lived and con-tinues to live the local reality. Walkingthrough this party of Bogot is not easy.The area is located on a hill, and contin-ues to grow as displaced people from allover the country have arrived. The resi-dents live in a tense situation given para-military presence and activity, 8 and arehighly stigmatised.

The last steps of the Peace Commu-nity, the Grace movement and Tamera

were in the hamlets of Crdoba and SanJos de Apartad, where together theybuilt an altar in the chapel that is locatedon the site where they rst discovered the

remains of Luis Eduardo Guerra, a well-known member of the Peace Community,murdered in the massacre of February2005 in the hamlet of Mulatos.

1. Private vehicles that provide informal public transport.2. The pilgrimage took place in November 2010.3. San Jose de Apartado, Peace Community: Freedom as a survivalinstinct, Raul Zibechi, Latin America in Movement (ALAI), 20 January 2011.

4. According to a public communication from Sinaltrainal and otherorganisations, in May 2009, according to witnesses, a helicopter of t heColombian Air Force (FAC) from Mardrid red incendiary material, killed two

girls of 7 and 16 years and injuring three others. The goal was displacement,given the families refusal to leave the zone. See: http://www.sinaltrainal.org/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=7375. San Jos de Aparatad, model of civilian resistance in the face of theColombian conicto, Peridico Diagonal, 31 March 2010.

6. The Justice Evaluation Commission is one of the four conditions that theCommunity demands in order to reestablish relations with the Stat e. The

other three conditions are the restitution by the government of the goodname, honor and dignity of the Community; the relocation of the police postcurrently in the town center of San Jos de Apartad; and the recognition ofthe Humanitarian Zones of the Community.

7. San Jose de Apartado: impunity is reafrmed, dhColombia, 18 August2010.8. Report reveals that paramilitary strongholds are active in Bogot, RCNRadio, 30 April 2010.

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Act commemorating the February 2005 massacre in San Jos de Apartad.

The peace communiTy has denouncedalmosT 600 human righTs ViolaTions, whichinclude 197 murders and hundreds ofdisappearances, displacemenTs, TorTures,arbiTrary deTenTions and ThefTs.

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Medellin is one of the most eco-nomically unequal cities inColombia.1 According to the

most recent report from Medellins Hu-man Rights Ombudsman, 77% of peoplein Medellin pertain to the lowest two eco-nomic groups, while only 21% pertain to

the middle class and wealthiest groups.2As the sixth poorest neighbourhood in thecity,3 but also one that benets from manypublic investments, such as the Metroca-ble and a library park, District 13 typies

Medellins inequality.Several high prole personalities

have visited the District in the past fewmonths, bringing with them a lot of me-dia attention. On September 8, PresidentSantos visited,4 and was followed by thesinger Juanes on the 17th and 21st of that

same month.5

In October it was the USSub Secretary of State, James Steinbergsturn, accompanied by the press headlineColombia is a leader in conict manage-ment.6 At the same time, the Metroca-ble was closed in August and December

because of gang ghting7 and District13 continues to be the biggest expellerof people in Medellin.8 This all begs thequestion, what is the real story in District13?

If someone wants to get to know aneighbourhoods true history, he should

listen to hip hop because the media isntgoing to tell it. That is how JeihhcoCastao, member of the rap group C159

and District 13s cultural ambassador putsit. Other genres of music tell stories, butnot in a way as raw and explicit as hip hopdoes.10 And to understand his vision ofthe community, sufce it to say that he is

currently working on a new track that iscalled There is love here.11 Castao ex-

plains that it talks about the good thingsin District 13, the neighbourhood wherehe grew up and proudly continues to callhome.

When Jeihhco Castao and other rap-pers from District 13 got together andrealised that everyone was talking about

Operations Orion and Mariscal in theirlyrics, they decided to form the networkElite Hip Hop. Ex-paramilitary mem-bers have reported that in these 2002 op-erations, the Military and National Policeworked with paramilitary groups to takecontrol of District 13.12

Now, Elite Hip Hop is made up of 17groups and 4 soloists that sing, dance, graf-ti and organise workshops, festivals and

hip-p i mi diic 13:rpp pi ppi

unforTunaTely anyone who expressesany sorT of affiliaTion wiTh peace, moreacTiVe social moVemenTs and a more youTh-inclusiVe communiTy is ofTen silenced

medellin

Jeihhco Castao.


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A visit to one of the districts of Medelln.

events. Hip Hop has always been District13s strongest form of artistic expression.13

When asked about the risk that he runsas a rapper and cultural icon in the com-

munity, Jeihhco Castano responds say-ing, There is denitely risk involved. For

example, on 25 October 2009 we lost ourcolleague, friend and long-time C15 mem-ber, Hector Enrique Pacheco, aka Kola-cho. He was murdered by two people ona motorcycle. Kolacho and the Elite hadlaunched a campaign supporting hip hop.

Speaking of his death, the principal of Ed-uardo Santos High school, Manual Lopez,says Unfortunately anyone who expressesany sort of afliation with peace, more ac-

tive social movements and a more youth-inclusive community is often silenced.14

Kolacho isnt the only rapper to bemurdered in District 13. On 4 July 2010,the armed group known as La Curvitakilled Andres Felipe Medina, member ofthe group Son Bata and leader of Dis-trict 13s Afro-Colombian community.15

On August 5, Marcelo Pimienta Sanches,aka Chelo and member of the groupESK/LONES was also killed.16 While thenews did report these cases, Castao tells

us that there are others which do not ap-pear in the news. For example SebastianCalle, aka Sebiche, was murdered in theBelen Rincon neighbourhood on 9 Au-gust 2010 by three armed men.17

Nevertheless, he asserts that for himthe biggest risk would be to stop doingwhat he loves: telling District 13s storythrough his own rap music, as well as or-ganising events to support other peoplesattempts to do the same. That is the risk Idont even want to think about.

1. Human Rights Situation in Medellin 2010, Personeria of Medellin, 2010.2. Ibid. 1. The socioeconomic groups are a form of social classicationbased on income or tax levels. The lowest groups are 1, 2 and 3. Themiddle and high groups are 4, 5 and 6.3. Ibid. 14. President Santos visited District 13, El Espectador, 8 September 2010.5. Juanes supports culture in the 13, El Colombiano, 20 September 2010.6. Colombia is leader in conict management, El Mundo, 27 October2010.7. Resident make trenches of their houses in order to protect themselvesfrom bullets, El Mundo, 13 August 2010; Bands dont reach truce in District13, El Mundo, 31 December 2010.8. Ibid. 29. http://www.myspace.com/c15hiphop10. Interview with Jeihhco Castano, 9 January 2011.

11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztrRiNLDkmg12. Apparent Peace and Operatives against the civilian population,ColomPBIa, PBI Colombia, October 2009.13. Ibid. 1014. Young leader murdered in Medellin, Semana, 25 August 2009.15. Cultural leader murdered in Medellin, El Tiempo, 4 July 2010.16. In rap heaven, MC Chelo, El Colombiano, 9 August 2010.17. Ibid. 1018. Ibid. 2

medellin

According to Medellins Human RightsOmbudsman,18 since mid 2007, armed groupsghting or control o land and resourcescontinue to ght in the city. According to theLegal Medical Institute, between January andOctober o 2010, there were 1,736 murders inMedellin, an average o 43 per week. O those1736 murders, 1174, or 64% o the victims werebetween the ages o 18 and 35.

The document also reports that Medellin,with a displaced population o 181,058 people,

is the city that receives the 2nd highest numbero displaced persons, ater Bogota. BetweenJanuary and October 2010, a total o 26,919people registered their status as orciblydisplaced with Medellins Human Rights

Ombudsman.An example o invisible violence is the

increasing rate o orced displacement thatoccurs within the city limits. Between Januaryand October 2010, Medellins Human RightsOmbudsman registered 5,098 people as victimso intra-urban orced displaced. District 13 isthe community rom which the largest numberor people ee. According to the report romthe Human Rights Ombudsman, the increasein intra-urban displacement is also caused in

large part by the social, economic and territorialcontrol that the illegal armed groups exerciseover the most afected neighbourhoods, andwhich has increased due to conicts andterritorial expansion.

dId you know that medellIn Is stIll one of the mostVIolent CItIes In ColomBIa?


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For the social movement in Bar-racabermeja, 2010 has been char-acterised by an increase in politi-

cal repression.1 In fact, there appears to bean intentional and systematic increase inthis repression, through the use of fear andefforts to destroy the fabric of society, asa strategy to debilitate and paralyse workto defend human rights in the region. PBIhas investigated the psychosocial impactsof said repression and the resistance strat-egies of the affected organisations.

PolItICal rePressIon

Concretely, this repression is evi-

denced through threats (via phone, direct-ly to the targeted person or their familymembers, via electronic mail and pam-phlets), intimidations, stalking, physicalaggressions, theft of information, defama-tions, unfounded accusations, and crimi-

nal prosecutions.2A psychosocial reading of this situ-

ation demonstrates how these apparently

isolated and separate incidents make upan elaborate, intentional and systematicstrategy of repression whose objective isto paralyse the social struggle of humanrights defenders.

Threats have become one of the mostcommon forms of fear generation. Theyare repeated and arrive from differentsources and at unexpected moments, cre-ating a climate of tension and uncertainty.The majority of the organisations inter-viewed and accompanied by PBI has, and

continue to, suffer threats.In addition, it is important to men-tion the crude reality of the neighbour-hoods, districts, and villages of Barran-cabermeja3 where organisations like theGrassroots Womens Organisation (OFP)

work to confront systematic human rightsviolations against civil society, which isaffected by various violations4 such as

threats, murders, gunghts, inghtingamong illegal armed groups, the deto-nating of grenades in public spaces, ex-trajudicial executions and the repeateddistribution of threatening pamphlets bydifferent illegal armed groups.5

CrImInal ProseCutIons

In terms of criminal prosecutions, thecase of David Ravelo, member of the Re-gional Corporation for the Defence of Hu-man Rights (CREDHOS), demonstrates

how to paralyse the activism of a historicand recognised popular leader, and howto symbolically attack social movements,given Davids role in defending humanrights. Another example is the attacksagainst the Peasant Farmer Association

Piic pi pcic ithe Case of the BarranCaBermeJa soCIal moVement

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of the Cimitarra River Valley (ACVC),whose members have been prosecutedsince 2007,6 which has left the organisa-tion stigmatised and in a legally vulner-able situation.

The prosecutions appear to be partic-ularly strategic in the sense that they havea low political cost and require minimalforce on behalf of the victimisers, while,on the other hand, they have a high so-cial and political cost for the affected or-ganisations. These prosecutions can lasta long timefrom the start of the inves-tigation, emission of the arrest warrant,detention, legal proceedings and even theperiod until which the detention order isdenitively liftedmeaning that the hu-man rights defenders are out of world ofhuman rights work for quite a long time.This has two impacts. First, it impactsthe organisation in question, and second,shows other organisations the potentialrepression they could face. This creates aparalysing fear of a possible prosecution

among these human rights defenders.But that is not all. In order for a crimi-

nal prosecution to happen, certain condi-tions to permit and justify it must exist.And that is where the unfounded accusa-tions, defamations, and stigmatisationscome in. These play an important role interms of shaping public opinion, creatingdoubt about the work, credibility, trans-parency and legitimacy of the organisa-tion. In the collective imagination, theseorganisations end up marked or labelled

as a suspicious organisation, and if theyare later prosecuted, it is because theymust have done something or have somekind of illegal connection.

That is to say, threats, stalking, defa-mation and stigmatisation function, at

times, as precursors to criminal prosecu-tions.

The experience of some of the inter-viewed organisations also relates to infor-mation management in the press, militaryand paramilitary presence in Barracaber-meja, criminal prosecutions or changes inlaws that affect human rightsas is thecase of the removal of the Peasant Re-serve Zone in the Cimitarra River Val-leyamong others.

PsyChosoCIal ImPaCt ofrePressIon

The experience of many of those in-terviewed demonstrate some key impacts:fear, destruction of the fabric of society,and the wearing down of leaders.

Fear is a psycho-physiological re-action that is activated in the face of athreatening situation that causes uncer-tainty. There is a difference between fearand terror.7 Fear is caused by uncertainty,while terror is caused by knowing withcertainty that something can, will, or hashappened. The fact that the Barrancaber-meja social movement has become thefocus of simultaneous repression createsthe sense of collective threat. In this wesee at play the political dynamic of fear,which occurs when the capacity exists toparalyse an entire political project.

Another impact is the wearing downof the members of social organisations.To live under constant political threat andfear generates an accumulated exhaustion

that has negative affects on ones physi-cal and psychological health.8 Fear canbecome chronic9 when the violence isconstant and unending. In such cases, fearbecomes a permanent state of daily life

that not only affects human rights work,but also the family, community and per-sonal spaces of the affected persons.

Similarly, fear can pass from the in-dividual to the collective when it seepsinto organisational dynamics, breakingup community and collective experi-ences. The message is not individual butrather collective because the intention isnot just the break up one organisation, butan entire social movement. This creates aclimate of tension and mistrust that can lof organisations and community spaces.

PeaCeful resIstanCe forhuman rIghts

Despite the fact that paramilitary re-pression led to the weakening of the vastmajority of the social movement, it did notmanage to exterminate them completely.In fact, some initiatives were maintainedand new organising spaces were cre-ated, like the Magdalena Medio HumanRights Defenders Working Group (ETT-TDDHH) and the Barrancabermeja andMagdalena Medio Social Forum. Thesehad an important role in the cohesion ofwhat remained of the social movement,opening new spaces for human rights andstrengthening the fabric of society.

Some of the peaceful resistance strat-egies that these organisations have used intheir daily work include: the struggle forthe legitimacy and legality of the Peas-ant Reserve Zone of the Cimitarra RiverValley; constant denunciation and high-

lighting of human rights violations; col-laboration with peasant and indigenousmovements in rural areas; human rightstrainings with women, children and youngpeople in the affected neighbourhoods of

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Small farmer, Magdalena Medio.


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Barrancabermeja; and protest and legalstruggles against the criminal prosecutionof members of social organisations.

The political and economic supportof the international community has alsoplayed, and continues to play, an impor-tant role. This has included highlightingand validating the victims reality, whichshows the lack of political guarantees for

the work of human rights defenders.To conclude, neither the wearingdown that this repression generates amongleaders, nor the fear, nor the attempts togenerate mistrust and undo the fabric ofsociety, have managed to break the socialmovement. On the contrary, a politicalreading of these strategiesas well as theevidence of the increasing sophisticationand dynamism of the repression strate-giesgives strength to a movement thatis united in its commitment and persever-ance to continue its legal, legitimate andtransparent work for the human rights ofgirls, boys, young people, peasants, un-ions, indigenous peoples, and, in general,the rural and urban population, especiallyin Barrancabermejas neighbourhoods, asis the case of the Lesbian, Gay, Transgen-der and Bisexual community, severely at-tacked by social intolerance.

PBI Colombia supports the legitimatedefence of human rights and is constant-ly analysing new strategies of politicalrepression and attacks on the fabric of

society, as well as the impacts on socialmovements, and supports peaceful re-sistance initiatives in defence of humanrights, as internationally recognised.

1. This article is based on interviews on December 13 and 18, 2010 withthe collection of social movements in Barrancabermeja about their visionof strategies of repression, and their peaceful resistance initiatives in t hepromotion of greater spaces for human rights work. The organisations inter-viewed were the following : Regional Corporation for Human Rights Defence(CREDHOS), Peasant Association of the Ci mitarra River Valley (ACVC),Grassroots Womens Organisation (OFP), Regional Association of Victims ofState Crimes of Magdalena Medio (ASORVIMM), Magdalena Media VictimsAssociation (ASORVIMM), Association of Internally Displaced Persons of

the Municipality of Barrancabermeja (ASODESAMUBA), Magdalena Mediochapter of Movement of Victims of State Crimes (MOVICE), Association ofFamily Members of the Detained and Disappeared (ASFADDES) and theMay 16 Collective, the Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective (CCAJAR).In addition, from the international observation work of PBI Colombia.2. Ibid. 13. Barrancabermeja is composed of seven districts, each one made up ofbetween 30 and 50 neighbourhoods and six villages. The majority of thepopulation in these zones is displaced from the rural areas of MagdalenaMedio, from other areas of the country as well as from other neighbour-hoods of Barracabermeja. At the same time, Barracabermeja, as an oilcity,is important economically and geostrategically. It is also the most importantport of the Magdalena River.4. For information about violence against civil society in Barrancabermejaneighbourhoods, consult Bulletin No. 60, March 2010 of the Observatorio dePaz Integral del Magdalena Medio, www.opi.org.co/opi/5. Alert: Grave situation of violence in Barrancabermeja, OFP, 30 April2010, see: htt p://civis.se/Alerta-Grave-situacion-de6. Member of the PCC, ex member of the exterminated Patriotic Union andcurrently spokesperson of CREDHOS, detained and charged September 14,2010 at CREDHOS headquarters in Barrancabermeja, Magdalena Medio.

7. State Terrorism, Father Javier Giraldo, CINEP, 20028. Social psychology of war, Martin-Bar, Ignacio and others, UCA Edi-tors, San Salvador, 1990.9. Psychology of political threat and fear, Elizabeth Lira, 1991.10. It was nally created in 2002 and suspended in 2003. Since then, theACVC has demanded the lifting of the suspension, which just took place.The government simbollically reactivates the Peasant Reserve Zone (ZRC),

El Espectador, 17 February 2011.

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Colombia Images and Realities. Efforts for peace in Colombia.

From the 1980s to the late 1990s,Barrancabermeja was strongly inuenced bythe armed insurgency. At the same time, the

oil boom led to an atmosphere o workersrights and union struggles. The city has hadan emblematic political and social movementthat has regularly risen up in support o humanrights, or the most part composed o unions,peasants, indigenous and women. On 16 May1998, one o the most gruesome massacresin the history o the city took place, markingthe beginning o paramilitary control. ThePeasant Exodus to Barrancabermeja, in which10,000 peasants participated, also took placein 1998. That same year, the ACVC promotedthe creation o the Peasant Reserve Zone o

the Cimitarra River.10 In 2000, the variousorganisations o the social movement joinedorces in a solidarity action to conront the

unounded accusations, threats and burglary othe CREDHOS headquarters. From 1998 to 2000,paramilitaries took over Barrancabermeja. Theimpacts o the aorementioned repressionare evidenced in the exodus starting in 2001until 2005 o various organisations, includingCREDHOSand specically David Raveloand the OFP as a result o selective murdersand a wave o threats that continued to growuntil 2007. In general, all o the organisationswere targeted during the years o paramilitarypower, and that continues today.

understandIng the Present requIres thePreserVatIon of memory


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PBI uk

Lawyers in most parts of WesternEurope and the United States takeit for granted that their personal

safety will not be compromised by theirwork. For them, it would be unthinkablethat they might be threatened just for do-ing their jobs, whether representing indi-viduals or group actions, challenging pub-lic institutions or powerful companies.

Many young lawyers go into the pro-fession because of their belief in the inher-ent good of the law and in the importanceof Rule of Law in a fair and just society.The concept of Pro Bono is important where lawyers undertake legal work for

the public good, without taking a fee.In the last few years, PBI UK has con-

nected with many members of the Britishlegal sector. They have become passion-ate supporters of PBI, especially its ac-companiment of threatened lawyers in theeld. Many have chosen to give their time

Pro Bono to support these lawyers.PBI UKs Lawyers Advisory Com-

mittee (LAC) is made up of solicitors,

barristers, legal academics and a retiredAppeal Court judge. Since 2007, the LAChas helped PBI UK develop its relation-ship with the legal profession, and hasinstigated important initiatives, includingthree fact-nding visits of lawyers to Co-lombia and Mexico. These independentdelegations toured the regions where PBIworks, and carried out research on thechallenges faced by lawyers, launchingreports in the British parliament on theirreturn.

The Alliance for Lawyers at Risk isthe latest project developed with the sup-port of the LAC. The aim of the Allianceis to enable individual lawyers to supportthreatened lawyers or human rights de-

fenders working on legal issues. This canbe through hands-on Pro Bono work, ap-plying their professional expertise, expe-rience and networks to give assistance orraise awareness, or through donations toPBI to enable us to continue offering pro-tective accompaniment to human rightsdefenders working for rule of law andchallenging impunity.

PBI UK launched the Alliance at theLondon ofces of law rm Simmons and

Simmons on 10 November 2010. Around120 high-prole legal professionals and

supporters attended the event, which wasaddressed by Dominic Grieve, the Brit-ish Attorney-General, and Alirio UribeMuoz of the Jos Alvear Restrepo Law-yers Collective (CCAJAR) in Colombia.60 legal academics, judges, high-prole

lawyers and city rms endorsed the initia-tive by becoming founding members, andmany more joined at the launch event.

Alliance members have already car-ried out some actions in relation to an em-blematic case that has signicant implica-tions in the ght ag

PBI.2011.Mining Antioquia

Documents

Transcript of PBI.2011.Mining Antioquia