Photo by Vivamos Humanos.
One week ago, PBI-Colombia posted on its Instagram stories: “From PBI we will be accompanying @ascamcat.oficial [the Campesina Association of Catatumbo] at the Humanitarian Verification Commission in Catatumbo.”
On November 12, Vivamos Humanos posted on X: “#VerificationCommissionofCatumbo Today, we head out to the municipality of Tibú, in the heart of Catatumbo, to carry out our verification commission together with the Catatumbo peacebuilding humanitarian table and other organizations.”
And yesterday, November 13, ASCAMCAT posted on Instagram: “As part of the second verification commission, the Catatumbo humanitarian committee visited the villages of #camposeis and #bertrania, calling for respect for minimum humanitarian standards. It also collected and documented human rights violations that contravene international humanitarian law (IHL).”
Video still from ASCAMCAT.
On November 11, Catatumbo Radio explained: “Between November 12 and 14, a verification commission made up of social and humanitarian organizations will enter the areas most affected by the armed conflict in Catatumbo, with the purpose of verifying the critical situation faced by the communities and documenting the human rights violations that persist in the territory.”
That post continues: “Humanitarian verification commissions play an essential role in conflict zones such as Catatumbo, as they allow for independent and close monitoring of the reality of the communities, make visible the complaints that often fail to reach official channels, and generate early warnings that can save lives.”
And Caracol Radio reports: “Juan Carlos Quintero, a member of the Association of Peasants of Catatumbo Ascamcat, told Caracol Radio that ‘there are 110 people who will be participating in this activity and receiving complaints from the civilian population, which is the one that has felt this conflict that tends to worsen and where we already have more than 83 thousand displaced people.’”
That article continues: “He pointed out that the greatest concern in the territory continues to be the attacks by illegal immigrants on the civilian population, the use of drones, and the war that does not cease after ten months of clashes between the ELN [National Liberation Army] and the FARC [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia].”
We continue to follow this.
Further reading: PBI-Colombia accompanies Humanitarian Caravan that seeks an end to armed violence against civilians in Catatumbo (PBI-Canada article, February 5, 2025).
