Photo: marcha.org.ar By: Sergio Segura / Source: Marcha Noticias / The Dawn News / November 13, 2017 The peace talks between the Colombian insurgency and the Government have made the discussion about human rights take precedence in the midst of the conformation of a Truth Commission. In this sense, I will discuss one of the phenomenons that should be taken on by this commission: forced disappearance. The General Assembly of the United Nations established that the forced disappearances are crimes against humanity generally done by the State against its political opposition.
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The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) is a model of transitional justice that was conceived by the peace agreements, with the goal of protecting the rights of the victims of the armed conflict between the Colombian government and the FARC. One of the achievements of the peace negotiations was the acknowledgment that not only FARC members should be put on trial for their crimes, but also the Colombian military, police and political representatives.
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Here is the information and analysis bulletin on extractivism here and in Colombia of the Project Accompaniment Solidarity Colombia: La Piedra! La Piedra replaces The Profiteers Bulletin you may know.
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The Caravan for life, territory, water and peace This year, the caravan organized by La Redher, a space of articulation between Colombian organizations and internationalist groups, was held in Eastern Antioquia, in alliance with MOVETE, a social movement for the life and the defense of the territories based in this same region.
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We cannot ethically accept that certain people in Colombia are continuing to kill and attack leaders of community and social movements, trade unionists, and human rights defenders. If this does not cease, there cannot be any authentic, stable, durable peace. On the contrary, we will certainly enter another period of terror all too painfully reminiscent of what the Unión Patriótica suffered. Mauricio Torres-Tovar Professor, Universidad Nacional de Colombia
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The Cubiros oil well had been blocked for ten days until the protestors reached an agreement with the Canadian company Frontera Energy (previously known as Pacific Stratus, owned by Pacific Rubiales) to resume negotiations which had been interrupted in September.
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In December 2016, in the middle of the night, Couillard government invoked closure on the adoption of Hydrocarbons Act, regardless of any opinions of the inhabitants of the territory, except the one from his oil and gas friend. Last September, it made public the draft regulations for the implementation of this law, which should come into force by the end of 2017. These regulations allow drilling near inhabited areas and in water bodies, inclined to believe the hands of oil company lobbyists wrote them.
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As the Canadian government prepares to welcome President Juan Manuel Santos to Ottawa for a State visit (October 29-31), the Americas Policy Group (APG) is calling on the Colombian President to bring an end to a disturbing wave of attacks against social leaders and human rights defenders, to advance without delay the implementation of the Peace Accord signed last year with the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC), and to redouble efforts to reach a peace agreement with the National Liberation Army (ELN).
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Two Canadian mining companies are invoking the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, signed in 2008, as a means of extracting US $1 billion from the government of Colombia. The government’s crime: having had the temerity to protect its water resources while not doing enough to repress demonstrators.
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The Colombian government in its anti-drugs policy implements in rural zones forced and militarized eradication of the illicit-use crops, a policy which has contributed to the violation of human rights of the peasant communities that demand a policy of crop substitution that is consulted and progressive.
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