News - Colombia

ESMAD as a kidnapping agency

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.

Massacres in the department of Cauca and resignation of the Minister of Defense

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.

Canadian companies involved in upcoming Colombian fracking projects

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?

Rios Vivos in Canada for the Defence of Life

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.

La Piedra - Bulletin d'informations et d'analyses sur l'extractivisme - Décembre2019

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.

Thoughts about education from prison

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.

Colombian students take to the streets against police repression

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.

Mandé Norte again putting Atrato communities at risk

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)

Will Álvaro Uribe finally pay for his crimes?

Today, ex-president Álvaro Uribe appeared before the Supreme Court while hundreds mobilized in support of the process against him and to demand he finally pay for his crimes.

Canadian organizations call for unequivocal commitment to peace and respect for human rights in Colombia

September 20, 2019
On the eve of the International Day of Peace, the undersigned Canadian organizations are joining
to express their profound concern over an escalating human rights crisis in Colombia and
continued threats to the Colombian peace process.
In 2016, a historic peace agreement was reached between the Government of Colombia and the
Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC), with great hope of bringing an end to 52
years of armed conflict. Less than one month ago, the peace process was dealt a serious blow

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