The UN special rapporteur for the defence of human rights in Colombia, Michel Forst, is concerned about the judicialization of social movement leaders in Colombia and the fact that the government is not taking action to protect these leaders and human rights defenders. The arrest of eight residents of the town of San Luis de Palenque (Casanare department) who had taken part in protests and negotiations with the Canadian oil company Frontera Energy is a matter of great concern for the rapporteur and the international community.
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Dilan’s murder was not an isolated act: it was the predictable outcome of orders given, operational methods adopted, weapons and ammunition issued, and training provided. Dilan became a symbol of national order. The series of excuses given by the government recalls the perverse logic used to explain the deaths of Dimas Torres and Flower Trompeta, both assassinated by the armed forces. In the streets, after the attack on Dilan, the abolition of the Colombian riot squad — known by its Spanish acronym, ESMAD — became an undying demand on the part of demonstrators around the country.
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Five Nasa indigenous guards were murdered on October 29, 2019 in the Cauca department of southern Colombia. The massacre is part of a wave of killings in Colombia's most conflicting regions. Regions where communities oppose mega-energy projects and demand the right to control their territory. This is the case of the Aboriginal guard, who, using a symbolic stick representing the collective authority of the community, defend their territories from all threats that jeopardize the very possibility of living there.
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What can we glean from mainstream media reports about Canadian corporations involved in the oil and gas sector in Colombia? What can we further discern about the companies that may have some involvement with the fracking pilot projects expected to start soon in that country? Additionally, what impact might their business activities have on human rights, the environment and the peace process in Colombia?
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Rios Vivos, a movement born in 2008 in opposition to the Hidroituango project, is touring Canada to demand an end to international complicity with the hydroelectric company's death practices. Like the current of rivers, which resist horror, peoples support dignity in every corner of the world.
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This bulletin consists of an electronic version (below), but also a PDF (in French) version that we invite you to print and distribute in your circles. We also encourage you to invite you your allies and subscribe to this email list to receive this bulletin, news from our activities and “urgent action” when injustices occur in Colombia that are attributable to the actions of Canadian companies. To subscribe to the email list
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The Likhts’amisyu are one of the 5 Wet’suwet’en Clan Groups. Since the last Ice Age we have governed ourselves on the ancestral territories without the influence of other Wet’suwet’en Clans or other Nations. For thousands of generations the protection and occupation of our lands have been central to how we derived our authority and sustained ourselves.
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Julian Gil is a political prisoner, member of Congreso de los Pueblos and Red de Hermandad. He has been detained since June 6, 2018, waiting for his trial, because of a judiciary frame-up. PASC supports the international campaign for his immediate release. He writes regularly about the reality he observes from his cell.
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Thousands of students came out on to the streets of Bogota on October 10 for the National March against the violent state repression against protesters. The police and ESMAD units had earlier unleashed violence against students mobilizing against fund cuts and corruption in the education sector and denouncing the failure of the Ivan Duque’s government to comply with the financing pacts signed in 2018.
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We went through the war, and anyone who experiences war never wants to do so again — so we made the decision to return to our territory after the displacements. (Confidential testimony)
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