On Friday July 23, the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) tweeted: “Police attack a communicator of the Corporation and his lawyers who today July 23 at 11:15 am, were conducting verification of the eviction carried out to 350 homeless families in a human settlement in the village of El Llanito de Barrancabermeja.”

CREDHOS also tweeted this video and noted: “In the middle of the procedure, the Commander of the police station Captain Luis Carlos De Ávila Turizo assaults members of CREDHOS, preventing their passage, while holding stones in his left hand. Violating freedom of the press and verification of the procedure.”

Blu Radio reports: “The NGO Credhos denounced in the last hours alleged aggression by policemen to delegates of the human rights organization.”

That article also provides the context of a blockade against the state petroleum company Ecopetrol in the Y sector of the township of El Llanito in Barrancabermeja.

Now, Caracol Radio adds: “The protests in the Y sector in El Llanito have been going on for more than 48 hours [since July 23], where the community is protesting and preventing the passage through land, after Ecopetrol wanted to recover the La Reforma and Siberia properties. The blockade continues in the Y sector with more than 200 people.”

Radio Nacional notes: “The communities in the area say that there was excessive force on the part of the ESMAD [riot police] during the eviction operation.”

Vanguardia reports: “ESMAD used tear gas, which caused concern, given the presence of the state oil company’s pipeline very close to the site of the clashes.”

Nidia Avila, social leader of El Llanito, says: “Here they did not respect that there are women, children and seniors, 350 families of fishermen and ponders who need that housing.” She asked that the conflict be resolved through dialogue, not force.

Jorge Fernández, another social leader in El Llanito, says: “There was a clash with the community, since people have taken these properties due to the lack of housing, since there is no real project between Ecopetrol and the District that favors them.”

The company says the lands were illegally invaded at the beginning of July and that since the evictions by the police began there have been acts of violence, sabotage and vandalism against the oil infrastructure, including electrical connections to 15 wells being cut and 6 wells shut down without authorization.

Infobae reports: “Ecopetrol called on the competent authorities to protect public goods and guarantee normality in the oil operation, which they called ‘of public utility’. Likewise, they requested them to carry out the necessary investigations to locate those responsible for these illegal actions.”

PBI-Colombia has accompanied CREDHOS since 1994.

On July 25, the Status for All rally on unceded Algonquin territories (Ottawa) highlighted: “Full immigration status for all is necessary for global justice.”

Syed Hussan of the Migrant Rights Network, who helped organized the march, says: “Migrants are essential to our society, essential to our communities. We work here. We live here. But we are denied equal treatment. We are treated like second class citizens. We want the same rights as everybody else.”

The promotion for the rally noted: “Today, 1.6 million people in Canada, 1 in 23 residents, are without permanent resident status.”

“Migrants have always been in crisis, but this crisis has worsened during COVID-19. Migrants have lost work and wages during the crisis, but many have been shut out of emergency supports. Those already without wages have been abandoned. Others have been forced to keep working or return to work in dangerous conditions.”

It added: “Migrants – including farmworkers, refugees, careworkers, undocumented people, students and families – are coming to Ottawa from across the country to call on PM Justin Trudeau to ensure decent work, family unity, and equal rights.”

Migrants from Latin America

Some of the migrants in Canada are from Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico.

They are fleeing a range of oppressions including poverty, violence, human rights violations and the impacts of climate breakdown (including food insecurity) in their home countries. They may also be impacted by Canadian mining operations and repressive governments that are supported by the Canadian government.

At the same time, the latest data published by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) shows that Canada deported 12,122 people in 2020, the highest number of deportations in a year since 2015. Thousands more may be forcefully removed this year.

Militarized borders

Montreal-based community activist Stefan Christoff has commented: “As Trudeau continues with his rhetoric of welcoming all those fleeing persecution, terror and war, Canada is rapidly militarizing its borders. The 2019 federal budget, for example, promised a strategy costing 1.18 billion Canadian dollars ($940m) over five years to beef up border security and to detect, intercept and remove migrants.”

This militarization of borders is also being seen in Guatemala, Mexico and elsewhere.

On June 24, Peace Brigades International and 31 other organizations expressed concern about this militarization of borders in a Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants at the Human Rights Council session in Geneva.

PBI has signed this statement that further expresses the concern that the practice of returning migrants is being performed “in contexts of militarization of borders, particularly in the United States, Mexico and Guatemala.”

PBI-Canada affirms that migrant rights are human rights.

On July 24, PBI-Colombia tweeted: “Tribute with @Justiciaypazcol at Portal Kennedy #Bogotá to build dignity and demand clarification of the forced disappearance and subsequent death of Duban Barros during #protests in #Colombia.”

The Justice and Peace Commission also tweeted this video of the mural with the text: “In beauty a tribute to life in Duban Barros.”

Seventeen-year-old Duban Felipe Barros disappeared on June 5 at Portal Americas in Bogota during a national strike protest in Bogotá.

Colombia Informa has reported that when Duban did not return home: “His mom and sisters began looking for him in hospitals.”

“The Nydia Erika Bautista Human Rights Foundation has been accompanying the case. One of the foundation’s defenders emphasized the seriousness of the Dubai case and referred the complaint to the Attorney General’s Office to speed up the search for the young man and activate all urgent search mechanisms.”

W Radio highlights that Duban’s mother reported him missing on June 7, but that authorities did not begin the search for him until June 15.

On July 11, the authorities contacted Duban’s mother and she was able to identify his lifeless body (even though Bogota Metropolitan Police Commander Brigadier General Eliécer Camacho has stated Duban’s body was found on June 5, the day of his disappearance, and taken to the Forensic Medicine morgue).

On July 21, Caracol reported: “The Attorney General’s Office opened preliminary investigations against undetermined national police officials into the disappearance and death.”

Colombia Informa notes: “The Campaign to Defend Freedom has registered between April 28 and June 22, 84 people allegedly disappeared as part of the protests that have developed during the National Strike. According to the same campaign, during these days of mobilization, the disappearance has been part of the repertoire of violence and repression by the State against the demonstrators.”

The Chicago Tribune reports: “Almost three months later [after the start of the national strike], the Prosecutor’s Office is keeping the urgent search mechanism active for 63 people.”

That article adds: “After its visit to Colombia, the IACHR [Inter-American Commission on Human Rights] recommended that the Colombian State create a special commission to find out the whereabouts of the people who are still reported missing.”

A 10-second video clip of the mural is here.

Photo from France 24: On May 13, 17-year-old Allison Meléndez committed suicide the day after being sexually assaulted at an ESMAD riot police detention centre.

Canada’s position on police violence in Colombia has been to highlight the Colombian government’s stated commitment to address it.

Is that credible or sufficient?

Foreign Affairs Minister Garneau’s statements

On May 9, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau stated: “Canada condemns the violence, including the disproportionate use of force by security forces, and urges that the violence cease.”

That comment was quickly followed by: “We welcome the Government of Colombia’s commitment to fully investigate and hold accountable those who may be guilty of violating human rights during these events.”

Just a couple days prior to that, Temblores had reported that there had been 1,773 cases of police brutality since the national strike began on April 28.

It also documented 28 victims with police inflicted injuries to their eyes and 11 victims of sexual assault by the public force.

By July 14, when Garneau met with Colombian Vice-President Marta Lucía Ramírez the readout from that call noted a more generic statement: “Minister Garneau emphasized Canada’s concerns regarding violence in Colombia, both in the context of social protests and against social leaders and ex-combatants working to implement peace.”

Garneau then repeated his message from 10 weeks earlier and “called on Colombia to keep its commitment to fully investigate and hold anyone who has violated human rights to account for their actions.”

And yet, just days before this meeting Temblores had reported that there now had been 4,687 case of police brutality since April 28.

It also noted that now there were 82 victims with police inflicted injuries to their eyes and 28 victims of sexual assault by the public force.

And less than a week after the call between Garneau and Ramírez, Temblores reported 128 cases of police violence and 1 more case of sexual violence by the public force during the massive public mobilization across Colombia on Tuesday July 20.

Promises not kept by Colombian police

In May, the Colombian police said that they had launched disciplinary investigations against 117 officers for possible misconduct during this current wave of social protests.

But in June, Human Rights Watch noted: “Of those officers, five had been temporarily suspended including three who were under disciplinary investigation for homicide. The rest continued to perform their duties.”

Human Rights Watch has also reported that the Attorney General’s Office had launched 24 investigations into police conduct during the 2019 protests and another 5 into the protests that took place in 2020.

But despite the passage of time, “No police officers had been subject to disciplinary sanctions and most cases continued in the preliminary stages.”

Calls to dismantle the ESMAD riot police

The PBI-Colombia accompanied Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP) and Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) have both called for the dismantling of the ESAMD riot police.

The Associated Network of Human Rights Defenders (dhColombia) has also cautioned against pursuing “weak reforms” of the police and has used the hashtag #LaPoliciaNosEstaMatando (The Police Are Killing Us).

Between Garneau’s statement on May 9 and his call with the Colombian vice-president on July 14 the number of cases of police brutality increased from 1,773 to 4,687. The number of sexual assaults by the public force also increased from 11 to 28 women.

And yet, despite Canada’s commitment to a feminist foreign policy and the fact that no Colombian police officers had been subject to disciplinary actions related to the protests in 2019, Garneau’s position is still to call on Colombia “to keep its commitment” to investigate anyone who has violated human rights and hold them accountable.

Garneau’s position may also be a reflection on the level of police impunity in Canada in which only 18 criminal charges and 2 convictions have resulted from the police killings of 461 people in Canada between 2000 and 2017.

“Justice for Alison and all those who are not here.”

Photo: PBI-Colombia visiting Buenaventura earlier this year.

On July 23, PBI-Colombia tweeted an article by the Justice and Peace Commission and noted: “In the midst of terror, media silence and absence of state institutions in Buenaventura, 6 people have been murdered, in less than 7 days.”

The Justice and Peace article highlights: “In the midst of the terror experienced by the population for territorial social control in the low-sea neighborhoods and the media silence in the face of a reality of violent death due to criminality, six people have been killed, including two young people in less than seven days.”

It adds: “Buenaventura continues to be under the control of criminal structures that determine the lives of its inhabitants, generating terror in neighborhoods where thousands of people have had to move.”

A representative from the Embassy of Canada in Colombia visited Buenaventura in September 2019 alongside other missions and PBI-Colombia.

After the visit, the Embassy tweeted: “We had the privilege of being able to hear the testimonies of social leaders from Buenaventura to get to know first-hand your worries and challenges. We will continue to monitor the situation and thank @PBIColombia for facilitating the visit.”

A subsequent delegation of embassies also visited Buenaventura earlier this year.

Justice and Peace notes: “The visit of a diplomatic corps together with international organizations and human rights organizations in February confirmed this reality, walking through the streets of sectors and dialogue with people, communities and organizations affected by the violation of human rights that is undiscoverable.”

Buenaventura was also briefly mentioned in this year’s human rights report on the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement:

That report notes: “One written submission was received in response to the public call for submissions. This submission highlighted the increased violence and forced displacements in the city of Buenaventura, as well as the negative impact of the city’s port activities and infrastructure development on human rights and the living conditions of the local community. The information shared has been taken into consideration in the elaboration of the relevant section of this report.”

That submission to Global Affairs Canada, facilitated by PBI-Canada, included concerns documented by the PBI-Colombia accompanied Justice and Peace Commission, the Association for Research and Social Action (NOMADESC) and the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation for Human Rights (FNEB).

The article by Justice and Peace concludes: “Buenaventura, a macabre coincidence between the expansion of transnational investment projects with serious rates of violence that in no way blushes investors.”

PBI-Colombia has accompanied the Justice and Peace Commission since 1994.

On July 22, CREDHOS released a report on 60 cases of forced disappearances and another 1,072 missing persons in the Magdalena Medio region of Colombia.

In this Enlace Television report, CREDHOS president Ivan Madero says that CREDHOS will deliver a search map to help locate these 60 missing persons and he called for an immediate search to begin on 20 per cent of the cases.

Luz Marina Monzón, the director of the Search Unit for Missing Persons (UBPD), spoke at the launch of the report and saluted the work carried out by CREDHOS in the documentation of cases of missing persons in the Magdalena Medio region.

The UBPD also tweeted: “Monzón, makes her intervention in the delivery of the report ‘We Are Looking For You: Report on Forced Disappearance in the Magdalena Medio Region’ by CREDHOS to the Comprehensive System for Peace.”

Monzón stated: “This is not only the delivery of a report it is the continuation of the work that we have to continue strengthening in the territory with the participation of civil society organizations.”

To watch the news report, click here.

PBI-Colombia was present at the release of this report on July 22.

PBI-Colombia has accompanied the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) since 1994.