On July 7, Peace Brigades International-USA tweeted: “94 members of the US Congress, including @RepMcGovern @repmarkpocan, urge @SecPompeo to pressure Ivan Duque’s government to improve the protection of #HRDs in #Colombia.”

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project also tweeted: “94 Congressmen from [the United States] warn of a serious security crisis for #personasdefensoras [defenders] in Colombia; demand collective protection, presence of org. international accompaniment and dismantling of successor groups to paramilitarism.”

And Finance Colombia reports: “Almost 100 members of the US Congress sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking him to put additional pressure on Colombian President Ivan Duque to implement the 2016 Peace Accords signed by previous President Juan Manuel Santos, and also to reverse the deteriorating security situation experienced by social, indigenous & Afrocolombian leaders in the country.”

That letter – which can be read in full here – opens with: “As the coronavirus pandemic exposes and magnifies existing problems in each of the countries it ravages, we are particularly concerned that it is affecting the safety of Colombia’s brave human rights defenders and social leaders who are putting their lives on the line to build lasting peace.”

It then asks the Secretary of State to firmly urge the Duque Administration to:

“Improve protection of human rights defenders and social leaders, starting with effective investigations of attacks and threats against them, identifying those who ordered these crimes and publicly presenting the outcomes of these investigation.”

The letter also highlights this call:

“Swiftly hold accountable Colombian Army intelligence members, including at the highest ranks, who ordered and carried out mass surveillance on 130 journalists (including U.S. reporters), human rights defenders, political leaders, and military whistleblowers. The U.S. should also ensure that U.S. security and intelligence assistance does not assist, aid or abet such illegal surveillance, now or in the future.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with the U.S. Secretary of State in Washington, DC in June 2019 and the Secretary of State then met with now-Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in Ottawa in August 2019. The prime minister also met with the Colombian president on May 11 of this year to discuss the pandemic and Venezuela.

The Prime Minister’s statement on that meeting does not make mention of concerns about the security situation for human rights defenders in Colombia.

The Peace Brigades International-United Kingdom website highlights that it will be hosting a webinar on ‘Protecting our future through corporate accountability’ today (Wednesday July 8) that will include Jani Silva and Danilo Rueda.

And via Twitter, PBI-UK has just announced that Yessika Hoyos will also be joining the conversation.

Jani is with the Association for the Integral and Sustainable Development of the Amazon Pearl (ADISPA) that works to defend the Amazon region and the southern department of Putumayo against oil extraction. As noted in this PBI-Canada article, Toronto-based Frontera Energy, Calgary-based Canacol Energy Ltd. and Calgary-based Gran Tierra Energy Inc. all appear to have some involvement in the Putumayo region.

Danilo is with the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission. In this recent interview, Danilo stated: “People are demonstrating against fracking or in favour of protecting the animal welfare movement, regrettably with many human costs for their members and social leaders.” Toronto-based Sintana Energy, Calgary-based Parex Resources and Canacol Energy Ltd. are reportedly bidding for the contracts (to be awarded in September/October) to conduct controversial fracking pilot projects next year.

And Yessika is with the Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective (CCAJAR) who leads her organization’s campaign against the corporate capture of state institutions. In May 2009, she visited Ottawa to speak against the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. In July 2016, CCAJAR also drew attention in this report to concerns about Pacific Exploration & Production Corp. (since rebranded as Frontera Energy).

To register for this webinar, please click here.

If you aren’t able to join today’s webinar, it will be recorded and posted on Facebook. We will also be posting that link here when it becomes available.

As part of our commitment to peace education, Peace Brigades International-Canada will be participating in the World Beyond War-organized War and the Environment online course that takes place from July 6 to August 16.

This course is now at capacity with 125 students registered for it.

PBI-Canada will be facilitating Week 2 of this course from July 13 to 19 that will address the question: What do wars do to the Earth?

There are numerous ways in which wars harm the Earth including:

1– the consumption of large quantities of fuel by jeeps, helicopters and other war machines, leading to increased CO2 emissions and worsening climate change;

2– troop and vehicle movements can damage sensitive landscapes and geodiversity;

3– attacks on infrastructure including oil pipelines can contaminate the soil, rivers and aquifers;

4– the displacement of people can result in deforestation given their need for firewood, the movement of livestock through sensitive ecosystems, and overburdened wastewater systems and waste management systems;

5– resource extraction to finance conflict can mean environmental damage and degradation.

If we were to look specifically at the 50-year long war in Colombia, some of the key environmental impacts include:

1– the loss of 3 million hectares of forest (an area the size of Belgium), 1.3 billion additional tonnes of CO2 emissions, the degradation of 1.5 million hectares of land;

2– 4.1 million barrels of oil spilling into the soil and water from attacks on oil pipelines; illegal gold mines also resulted in mercury, chemical, and sediment pollution; the oil spills and mining have put 60% of the country’s water sources at risk;

3– the displacement of more than 7 million people has brought human tragedy plus an intensification of urbanization and with that the environmental harms of air pollution, overburdened sanitation and waste management systems;

4– more than 1.75 million hectares of territory were sprayed with the carcinogenic herbicide glyphosate by the Colombian government between 1994 and 2014 in an effort to eradicate the cash crops financing the guerilla insurgency;

5– In 2016, Colombia’s planning department calculated that for every year of peace the country would save US$2.2 billion by avoiding the costs of the environmental degradation and pollution linked to the conflict.

And now in the “post-conflict” situation, the Washington-based Environmental Law Institute has noted: “While guerrillas and warfare damaged the environment, their presence also prevented the exploitation of large natural areas. After decades of war, [there are now] fewer disincentives for converting land from native ecosystems for agricultural uses, energy infrastructure, and other extractive activities.”

Further to this, the University of California reported in April of this year that deforestation has surged after the war noting: “According to the Nature Conservancy, four square miles of rainforest can contain 1,500 flowering plants, 25,000 species of trees, 400 species of birds and 150 species of butterflies.”

For an overview on how the environment is damaged prior, during and after war, please see this Conflict and Environment Observatory article.

Photo: U.S. Marine Corps corporal instructs his squad where to cross a river while training with Colombian marines on jungle warfare in Colombia in 2010.

The largest oil refinery in Colombia is located on the Magdalena River in Barrancabermeja, Santander and has a refining capacity of 250,000 barrels of oil per day. If fracking were to be fully approved in Colombia, Ecopetrol has stated $3 billion could be spent to expand the capacity of this refinery to 300,000 bpd.

In July 2019, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project accompanied CREDHOS (the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights) to observe the pollution in the Magdalena River caused by the Barrancabermeja refinery.

PBI-Colombia field project volunteer Yvonne Furrer wrote about her three-hour journey on the Magdalena River and its nearby tributaries in this article.

She highlighted that the trip included an international delegation organized by CRY-GEAM (the Yariguíes Regional Corporation – Social Research Group into Extractives and the Environment in the Magdalena Medio Region).

Pollution from the refinery

At the start of the trip, Oscar Sampayo, a member of CRY-GEAM, showed the group the grey-brown water pouring directly into the Magdalena River from the refinery.

This past April, a Mongabay article quoted Ecopetrol, the operator of the refinery, saying: “All of the oily water from the refinery goes to the wastewater treatment plant for treatment before being discharged into the Magdalena River.”

Local fishers have also attributed the water pollution and deaths of fish to the decrease in the flow of the Sogamoso River (the second largest tributary of the Magdalena River) to the Sogamoso hydroelectric dam built by Isagen SA (now majority-owned by Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management).

The right to clean drinking water

The Conversation also notes: “Barrancabermeja hosts Colombia’s largest petroleum refinery, which has been operating for just over 100 years. Over that time, local industries have contaminated natural water courses with heavy metals.”

“The plumbing that is supposed to supply the city with fresh water doesn’t reach all areas, meaning that some places lack running water and sewage treatment.”

That article adds: “In the general city strike of 1963, pollution and access to water were two of the main issues. Safe drinking water was also a recurrent theme throughout the city strikes of the 1970s. Even during the worst of the Colombian conflict from the 1980s to the early 2000s, the people of Barrancabermeja were brave enough to continue protesting for the right to clean water, and they still do today.”

The Impala Terminal

The next stop showed those onboard the boat a new port being constructed by Impala Terminals (a subsidiary of the Geneva headquartered Trafigura Group Pte. Ltd.) that Furrer writes is to transport oil and coal on the river for companies including ExxonMobil, Ecopetrol, ConocoPhillips and Calgary-based Parex Resources.

In February 2017, Argus Media noted: “Trafigura’s Colombia subsidiary Impala moved 469,273 barrels of crude in January.”

In February 2019, the general manager of Trafigura Colombia stated: “If you think about shale oil and fracking in the Barrancabermeja and Santander regions and the Magdalena Valley, there is nothing better positioned than the river to help with transport.”

San Silvestre River

Next on the San Silvestre River, the main tributary of the Sogamoso River, the delegation saw an area where several fracking projects are due to start.

Mongabay reports: “The latest threat to the wetlands [around Barrancabermeja], and the ecosystem as a whole, is hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.”

That article adds: “[Local fisher Cristo] Carrascal says he has heard that a large amount of water will be required for fracking operations. That water could come from the wetlands, just as happened with traditional oil drilling activities.”

Fracking on the horizon

Colombia currently produces about 860,000 barrels per day of oil and the Colombia Petroleum Association (ACP) says the four fracking pilot projects (that are expected to begin next year) could generate an additional 450,000 bpd in their production phase.

Three Canadian companies – Toronto-based Sintana Energy, Calgary-based Parex Resources and Canacol Energy Ltd. – are reportedly bidding for these contracts to be awarded in September/October.

Peace Brigades International accompanies at-risk human rights defenders who are challenging fracking in Colombia, builds public awareness in Canada about this situation, and reminds the Canadian state of its human rights obligations with respect to Canadian oil and gas companies operating in Colombia.

To read the full PBI-Colombia article on this boat tour, please click here.

Photo from 2011: “PBI accompanies the Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP) and the Social Corporation for Community Advisory and Training Services (COSPACC), organizations that support and advise the U’wa community.”

Peace Brigades International has been observing the human rights and environmental impacts of Canadian oil companies in Colombia for close to ten years.

In 2011, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project reported on oil exploration being conducted by Talisman in its Niscota block on indigenous U’wa territory near the Chaparral-Barro Negro reserve in the northwest department of Casanare.

Talisman Energy Inc. was a Calgary-based transnational oil and gas company formed in 1992 (but with a history under different names that began in London, Ontario in 1923). The Spanish petroleum company Repsol bought Talisman in February 2015 and in January 2016 renamed the company Repsol Oil & Gas Canada Inc., which is based in Calgary.

In 2006 a consortium of companies including Talisman had secured an exploration and production contract for the 623 square kilometre Niscota block. The block, with an estimated reserve of 500 million to 900 million barrels of oil, was situated north of the giant Cusiana and Cupiagua oil fields in the Llanos basin in the Piedemonte area.

PBI-Colombia noted the consortium had drilled two exploratory wells inside the concession in 2011 with the intention of expanding the field between 2013 and 2017.

It then warned: “The first step for the consortium will be to conduct seismic tests, which consists in strategically opening a grid of lines throughout the territory at the ends of which they will drill holes and detonate explosives every 100 metres to determine appropriate sites for future wells.5 This process involves serious damage.”

“It is impossible to deny the drastic environmental and cultural effects the oil industry could have on a culture like that of the U’wa. In addition to the obvious effects of seismic exploration, the arrival of oil companies would also entail felling trees; building platforms, pools, wells, stations and oil pipelines and roads; depleting water sources; pollution from spills and waste; particles in the air; and noise and light from natural gas combustion.”

By October 2019, Colombia Energia reported: “Currently, of the 694,099 barrels of crude oil per day that are extracted on average from the Los Llanos basin (73% of the national total), almost 232,000 come from the Casanare and Arauca production fields.”

The Llanos basin covers 220,000 square kilometres and contains medium and heavy oil fields including Cusiana, Cano Limon and Rubiales.

In June 2019, Richard Herbert, the CEO of Toronto-based Frontera Energy, described the Llanos basin as “the core area of Frontera’s portfolio and where we have had a significant amount of exploration success in the past.”

Frontera has had a controversial history in Colombia, including as Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. for alleged anti-union activities in Puerto Gaitan, Meta in 2011 to 2013.

In July 2016, the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (which is accompanied by PBI-Colombia) co-authored the report ‘The Human Cost of Oil: A Human Rights Impact Assessment on the Activities of Pacific Exploration & Production Corp. in Puerto Gaitan’ that concluded: “In its activities in the Rubiales and Quifa fields, Pacific has failed to comply with labor, environmental and consultation standards. Oil activities are indirectly related to abuses and criminalization suffered by trade union and community leaders as a result of the conduct of its private security company and funding of law enforcement agencies.”

Frontera Energy is also being challenged by the CSPP and COSPACC (also accompanied by PBI-Colombia) for its reported involvement in the arbitrary arrest and detention of eight social leaders protesting its 3,559 barrel per day Cubiro block operations in San Luis de Palenque, Casanare in November 2018.

In 2009, Pacific Rubiales was also involved in the construction of the 160,000 barrel per day Oleoductos de Los Llanos (ODL) pipeline from the Rubiales heavy oil field to the Caribbean export terminal of Covenas. Furthermore, in August 2019, Reuters reported that pipeline company Oleoducto de Colombia, partially owned by Frontera, is ready to move increased crude output to the Caribbean coast if fracking is approved in Colombia.

With three Canadian companies (Toronto-based Sintana, Calgary-based Canacol and Parex) potentially bidding for contracts for the fracking pilot projects to be awarded in September/October this year, and with exploration to begin in 2021, Peace Brigades International is closely monitoring this situation.

In December 2011, PBI-Colombia noted that “40% of Colombia’s land has been licensed to, or is being solicited by, multinational companies in order to develop mineral and crude oil mining projects”, that “80% of the human rights violations that have occurred in Colombia in the last ten years were committed in mining and energy-producing regions” and that “more than 37 million hectares are licensed for crude oil exploration.”

In March of this year, a Business & Human Rights Resource Centre report further noted that from 2015 to 2019 Colombia was the second most dangerous place in the world for defenders focusing on business and that 90 per cent of the attacks were on defenders raising concerns about just four industries (mining, fossil fuels, agriculture, dams), with the second largest category of attacks (at 43) being oil, gas and coal.

The previous month, the environmental organization 350.org released this report that highlighted: “Some of the most severe corporate human rights abuses worldwide may be attributed directly or indirectly to the operations of fossil fuel companies.”

PBI is working to remind the Canadian state of its human rights obligations with respect to the activities of Canadian oil and gas companies in Colombia, build public awareness in Canada about the activities of these transnationals, and provide protective accompaniment to the Colombian human rights defenders at-risk for challenging them.