You can‟t help feeling indignant when you hear the Autonomous Regional Corporation for the Defense of the Bucaramanga Plateau (CDMB is the Spanish acronym.) call it a victory when the plateau will be declared a regional nature park (PNR is the Spanish acronym.) as is predicted for the coming December 17. It is a fallacy to say that with the scant 10,890 hectares left after several cutbacks, the Santurbán Nature Park will guarantee water in perpetuity for the Bucaramanga metropolitan area, while there are mining concessions of approximately 37,000 hectares in the area.
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On December 13th, 2012 the Government of Canada eased its ban on automatic firearms sales to Colombia and added Colombia to its Automatic Firearms Country Control List (AFCCL). Although controls remain on exporters, Canadian gun merchants now have the possibility of selling fully automatic weapons with high-capacity magazines — banned in Canada — to Colombia. Details of this story can be found in the following CBC report.
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On December 11, Milton Enrique Rivas Parra, an operator and electrician who worked for the company Termotécnica, which is a subcontractor for the Canadian corporation Pacific Rubiales, was assassinated by contract killers. On December 10, Mr. Rivas Parra received death threats because he was affiliated with the Unión Sindical Obrera (USO). Mr. Rivas Parra was a leader of the ongoing demonstrations being held in Puerto Gaitán in defense of workers’ rights.
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While in Paris at the beginning of November 2012, in the midst of a European tour to promote the Colombian social movements, Marylen Serna, national spokesperson of the Minga and the Peoples’ Congress in addition to being a rural producer herself, agreed to an interview.
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Thousands march in the Southern Colombian town of Pasto to demand land rights and an end to militarization and large-scale mining . On October 12, 2012, a few days before historic negotiations between the FARC and Colombian government started, thousands marched in the Colombian city of Pasto, Nariño to show their dissatisfaction with the current administration and their desire “to construct peace with social justice.”
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CONTENTS 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................5 2. International law and standards..................................................................................8 3. Human rights defenders – the concept ......................................................................12 Who is a human rights defender?...............................................................................12
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As governments, companies, non-governmental organizations and ethnic communities address increased investment in extractives in Colombia, critical questions arise on how to ensure policies and practices are more aligned with respecting the human rights enshrined in Colombian and international legal frameworks, particularly in the context of internal armed conflict.
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The mining of rich agricultural lands in Colombia has led to the destruction of communities, disruption of traditional ways of life and the empowerment of paramilitaries protecting the interests of powerful local elites and international companies. Human rights defenders like Teófilo Acuña, leader of the agro-mining federation FEDEAGROMISBOL, are at the forefront of protecting land and community rights, and face serious threat as a result. More context : see the video interview made by Frontline Defenders.
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