Red de Hermandad (RedHer)

Jhonel Cárdenas, social leader in Curumaní (Cesar), was victim of an assassination attempt

Jhonel Cárdenas Castrillo is a communitarian leader, and the local president of the political party Polo Democrático Alternativo (Democratic Alternative Pole). He suffered an attempt of assassination last Friday, September 7th, at 6:30 pm. He was home when an armed individual fired at him. Fortunately Mr. Cárdenas wasn’t hit and was able to disarm the shooter who ran out of Mr.Cardenas’s house and escaped on a motorcycle which was driven by his accomplice.

Lands and Conflict: Extractive Industries in Colombia

CED-INS (Corporación para el Desarrollo y la Investigación Popular – Instituto Nacional Sindical) have launched a newsletter Lands and Conflict: Extractive Industries in Colombia. This is in a context in which, over recent years, huge swathes of land have been handed over by the government to multinationals in the extractive industries sector.

Violence Against Women Continues in the Colombian Massif

The Committee for the Integration of the Colombian Massif (CIMA) denounces -- before regional, national and international human rights organizations -- the assassination of Luz Eneida Gómez. Ms. Gómez was 35 years old and the wife of community leader Oscar Díaz. Mr. Díaz is a member of the CIMA, as well as the Committee of Coffee Producers of the La Sierra Municipality, Cauca Department (province).

FACTS:

Solidarity and Support for Indigenous Communities in Cauca

“We are not going to hurt anybody, but we will use the force of our united community, our words and our rights to gain back our territories.”

The social, union and human right organizations that have signed below express before the national and international community our solidarity and support for the indigenous communities of Cauca department (province), who have demanded the demilitarization of their ancestral territories. “We do not want to hear a single shot. Wherever we hear one is where we will go,” said Minga for Life, a community organization.

Paramilitaries continue to harass residents in Sur de Bolívar

The organizations listed below would like to call the following situation to the attention of national and international human rights organizations and the public. Over the past months, in the municipality of Tiquisio, in the department of Sur de Bolívar, paramilitary groups have increased their presence. This has had grave consequences for local residents.

Facts:

Small-Scale Miners in Nariño Face Crackdown as Foreign Companies Set Sights on Colombia

Police arrived at the Santa Isabel mine in Colón-Génova on February 21, 2012. The officers asked these local miners to attend a meeting to see if they could sort out their licensing request; However, when the roughly twenty-five miners arrived, they were read their rights and arrested.

Press release: solidarity with nearly 9000 Colombian political prisoners, International meeting for peace and towards a political solution of the conflict in Colombia, Switzerland, March 2012

We who participated at the international meeting in Switzerland, express our fraternal greetings in support of all political prisoners in different jails of Colombia.

Protect Indigenous and Afro-Descendant Communities in Northern Cauca

URGENT ACTION NEEDED BY COLOMBIAN AND U.S. GOVERNMENTS

HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS DEMAND GUARANTEES FOR LIFE AND THE DEFENSE OF INDIGENOUS AND AFRO-DESCENDANT TERRITORIES OF NORTHERN CAUCA

Human rights organizations demand that the Colombian and U.S. governments take immediate action to guarantee the right to life and territory of indigenous and Afro-descendant territories of Northern Cauca.

Emerald Energy Exploits Colombian Andes

A thick fog flows over the eastern range of the Colombian Andes. Here and there, the constant wind lifts the clouds to reveal lagoons, cloud forests, and páramo, an Andean alpine ecosystem known as a “mountain-top sponge” for its massive water-holding capacity. Descending lower into the Upper Magdalena Valley, about 400 kilometers southwest from Bogotá, rural communities farm a wide variety of fruit and vegetable crops, and raise animals that not only sustain families, but help feed Colombia´s major cities.

SINALTRAINAL leader Luciano Enrique Romero Molina assassinated (Nestle)

It is with deep pain that we inform you of the death of comrade LUCIANO ENRIQUE ROMERO MOLINA, a leader of SINALTRANAL who was assassinated in the city of Valledupar, Cesar. Luciano was seen alive at approximately 9pm on 10 September, then on the morning of 11 September his dead body was found tied up, tortured and with 40 knife wounds. He was living under the PROTECTIVE MEASURES scheme of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission of the Organisation of American States.

Projet Accompagnement Solidarité Colombie