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CCALCP signs statement against stigmatization of anti-fracking activists in Colombia

By
Brent Patterson
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The Luis Carlos Perez Lawyers’ Collective (CCALCP), an organization of eight women lawyers, has signed a civil society statement expressing concerns about recent comments made by former Colombian Vice-President Germán Vargas Lleras in El Tiempo.

Vargas Lleras wrote, “I think it is also time for the country to know which organizations and who are the people who lead the so-called Alliance for a Colombia Free of Fracking, which acts as a plaintiff and whose main spokesperson, Carlos Andrés Santiago, serves as political advisor to the candidate Claudia López…”

López was the vice-presidential candidate in the 2018 presidential election in Colombia for the Green Alliance party.

Vargas Lleras also names “the Network of Churches and Mining, Franciscan Environmental Board, the Intercultural Network for Healing and even the Union of the Tax Directorate” as among the 84 member groups in the Alliance.

Now more than 40 organizations have signed an open letter that says, “Public attacks against social leaders in Colombia increase the risk to their life and integrity.”

“Environmental activism is a legal and legitimate activity that, instead of being stigmatized, must be protected in a democracy.”

That letter adds, “We demand that the Colombian government guarantee the rights of the people and organizations that are members of the Colombia Fracking Free Alliance to meet, express themselves and appeal for justice.”

Crucially this demand is made in the context of the murder of 24 land and environment defenders in Colombia in 2018 alone.

Furthermore, Reuters has reported, “Colombia’s top administrative court on [September 17] clarified that a moratorium on fracking it upheld last week does not prevent ‘investigative’ pilot projects, surprising both oil companies and environmental activists.”

The President of the Council of State has now stated, “The court advises that the reach of this decision does not impede the development of comprehensive investigative pilot projects … made by the expert commission convened by the national government.”

Another Reuters article notes that the top administrative court has said that four pilot projects can proceed – “one run by coal company Drummond and the others by oil companies Ecopetrol, Exxon Mobil and Conoco Phillips” – and that “work on the pilots, or at least the infrastructure required for them, could begin next year.”

Argus Media adds, “The first pilot projects are expected to take place in the Middle Magdalena Valley basin.” That’s a 34,000 square kilometre area in the departments of Santander, Boyacá, Cundinamarca and Tolima in north-central Colombia.

That article also notes, “Environmentalists grouped in an anti-fracturing alliance predicted a ‘long road’ to carrying out the pilot projects, as they are obligated to fulfill eight conditions, including access to information, strengthening of institutional capabilities and establishment of baseline social, environmental and health data.”

Both CCALCP and CREDHOS (the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights) are members of the Alliance for a Colombia Free of Fracking.

Representatives from both CCALCP and CREDHOS will be in Canada this coming November 2-10 to share their insights about environmental protection, fracking, human rights, the role of social leaders, and the peace process in Colombia.

For more, please see SPEAKING TOUR – Climate change, human rights and the struggle for peace in Colombia.

PBI-Colombia accompanies CREDHOS to look at impact of oil industry on rivers

By
Brent Patterson
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This past July, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project accompanied the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) to observe the pollution in the Magdalena River caused by the oil industry in the city of Barrancabermeja.

Peace Brigades International-Canada is working with PBI-Colombia to bring a representative from CREDHOS to Vancouver, Nanaimo, Toronto and Ottawa this November to share more about the work they do in Colombia to defend the air, land and waterways.

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

She highlights that the trip included an international delegation organized by the Yariguíes Regional Corporation – Social Research Group into Extractives and the Environment in the Magdalena Medio Region (CRY-GEAM). CRY-GEAM is an ally of CREDHOS that works to raise awareness of the impacts of oil refineries and extractives in the region.

At the start of the trip, Oscar Sampayo, one of the members of CRY-GEAM, showed the group the grey-brown water pouring directly into the Magdalena River from the state-run Ecopetrol refinery in Barrancabermeja. He says that he no longer eats fish from the river because of the pollution.

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.) to transport oil and coal down the river for companies including ExxonMobil, Ecopetrol, Conoco and Parex.

The journey then continued on the Sogamoso River, the second largest tributary of the Magdalena River. In March 2018, an oil spill from the Lisama 158 oil well owned by Ecopetrol resulted in oil flowing into the Sogamoso River, just a few metres from the Magdalena River. While this environmental disaster is denied by authorities, it is now more difficult for fishers in the area to sell their harvest given many customers say it smells of oil.

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.

Returning back to Barrancabermeja, the delegation smelled the odours coming from the refinery and saw the black waters of the Picho River. Those waters are polluted because this river runs from the Miramar marshes which are situated right beside the refinery.

Before the conclusion of the trip, the boat visited to the San Silvestre marsh, the area where Barrancabermeja gets its drinking water. Furrer notes that Dr. Yésid Blanco had researched the health impacts of a landfill on this marsh before threats forced him to leave the country.

Readers in Canada may see similarities in this report about Colombia by Furrer to the situation in Fort McMurray and the Athabasca River in northern Alberta.

In August 2010, Reuters reported on a scientific research study, co-authored by Erin Kelly and David Schindler, on the impact of oil industry operations on that river system. The study found that mercury, arsenic, lead and cadmium are among the 13 toxins released into river.

Reuters reported, “Schindler said the incidence of pollutants in fish is particularly worrisome, as local populations depend on the region’s fishery for food.”

The story of Dr. Blanco may also bring to mind the experience of Dr. John O’Connor, a physician who worked in Fort Chipewyan, a community downstream from Fort McMurray.

Dr. O’Connor found elevated cancer rates in that community that he believed were attributable to tar sands activities polluting the water.

After he publicly raised those concerns, APTN reported, “Health Canada accused him of engendering mistrust, blocking access to files, billing irregularities, and raising undue alarm in the community” and he faced professional misconduct charges.

Dr. O’Connor was eventually cleared of all charges, but that didn’t come without him experiencing hardship and persecution for speaking the truth.

Peace Brigades International-Canada will be hosting a representative from CREDHOS and CCALCP (a legal collective that helped to stop Canadian fracking in Colombia) at public forums in Vancouver, Nanaimo, Toronto and Ottawa this coming November. More details on that November 3-10 speaking tour soon!

To help support that tour, please consider making a donation here.

SPEAKING TOUR – Climate change, human rights and the struggle for peace in Colombia

By
Brent Patterson
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Peace Brigades International in partnership with Amnesty International Canada, MiningWatch Canada and local allies are hosting a speaking tour in Canada featuring three prominent human rights defenders from Colombia who will be meeting with a wide variety of people this coming November 2-10 to share their insights about environmental protection, fracking, human rights, the role of social leaders, and the peace process in Colombia.

WHO

Colombian human rights defenders Julia Figueroa and Andrea Nocove from CCALCP and Ivan Madero from CREDHOS will be featured in this speaking tour.

The Luis Carlos Perez Lawyers’ Collective (CCALCP), an organization of eight women lawyers based in Bucaramanga and Cúcuta, works on crucial public interest issues. Julia is the Director of CCALCP, and Andrea is a lawyer with the organization.

The Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS), based in Barrancabermeja the petroleum capital of Colombia, promotes human rights through workshops, training and legal advice. Ivan is the President of CREDHOS.

They will be joined by Javier Garate, the USA and Canada Representative with the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project, who is based in Bogota. PBI-Colombia has accompanied CCALCP since 2006 and CREDHOS since 1994.

WHAT

Julia, Andrea and Ivan will be speaking on issues including environmental protection, fracking, climate change, water protection, the peace process and Indigenous rights. They will be meeting with government officials, elected representatives, NGOs, lawyers, journalists, university students and concerned individuals.

WHEN & WHERE

They will be speaking and holding meetings in Toronto (November 3), Ottawa (November 4-5), Vancouver (November 6-7) and Nanaimo (November 8).

WHY

Solidarity is crucial in the advancement of human rights. This tour will help to build awareness of the current situation in Colombia, the environmental challenges we all face, the role Canadian capital plays in Colombia, and what those of us in Canada can do to assist in the promotion of human rights and environmental justice.

HOW

Peace Brigades International-Canada is working in partnership with Amnesty International Canada, MiningWatch Canada and numerous local allies to help amplify the concerns and experiences of these three human rights defenders by facilitating meetings and public forums during this 4-community speaking tour.

Further reading

– CCALCP helped stop Toronto-based Brookfield Asset hydroelectric project in Colombia

– CCALCP, the defence of Bari territory and Judgement T-052

– CCALCP calls for the implementation of T-361 and protection of the Santurbán páramo

– CCALCP seeks the implementation of the right to free, prior and informed consent in Colombia

– CCALCP rejects Soto Norte gold mine that threatens Colombia’s drinking water

– CCALCP opposed Vancouver-based Eco Oro mining in Colombia’s Santurbán wetland

– PBI-Colombia accompanies CCALCP, the lawyers who stopped Canadian fracking in Colombia

– PBI-Colombia and CREDHOS, 25 years of accompaniment and defending human rights

– CREDHOS President Iván Madero to visit Canada in November

– PBI-Colombia accompanies CREDHOS to look at impact of oil industry on rivers

– PBI-Colombia accompanies CREDHOS to find grave site

– CREDHOS opposes fracking, seeks to protect freshwater

– Dr. Yésid Blanco and the struggle for environmental justice and the right to water in Colombia

CSPP and COSPACC take concerns about Toronto-based Frontera Energy to the United Nations

By
Brent Patterson
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The Committee of Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP) and the Social Corporation for Community Counseling and Training (COS-PACC) have stated that they have brought before the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention the case of eight environmental leaders in Colombia captured after participating in protests against Frontera Energy.

They note that these defenders were captured on November 27, 2018 by members of the Police, the National Army and other forces.

The CSPP and COSPACC highlight their concern that: “The eight captured social leaders have led complaints and social organization processes to demand that the company invest an environmental compensation for the value of 1% of its investment for the collection of water that is carried out for the oil activity; repair of the roads that have deteriorated due to the constant passage of heavy vehicles; and the payment of the debts acquired by Frontera Energy during the last years with more than 80 people from the community who provided their transportation, food and lodging services.”

And they note in their statement that since 2016 these eight defenders have “been denouncing the environmental, social and economic damages that the exploitation of the Cubiro Block is generating in its territory.”

Media reports and additional background on this can be read in El Espectador, Pulzo, Prensa Libre, Trochando Sin Fronteras and Las Chivas.

Frontera Energy is a Toronto-based company and describes itself as “a leading explorer and producer of crude oil and natural gas, with operations focused in Latin America.”

In this August 1, 2019 statement, Frontera noted their “continued development success on the Cubiro block with development and water injection wells in the Copa field.”

You can read more about Frontera here.

The full statement from CSPP and COSPACC can be read here.

PBI-Colombia has accompanied the CSPP since 1998 and COS-PACC since 2009. You can read their backgrounder about FCSPP here and COS-PACC here.

Photo: Working on Arbitrary Detention – 12th Meeting, 42nd Regular Session Human Rights Council – September 13, 2019.

PBI-Colombia accompanies Canadian Embassy visit to Buenaventura

By
Brent Patterson
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On September 13, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project tweeted, “’The entire population is at risk’: UN Human Rights Colombia, the Canadian Embassy, the Norwegian Embassy, the Spanish Embassy, the French Embassy accompanied by PBI-Colombia, listen to testimonials in Buenaventura, meeting with communities, NOMADESC, the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission and authorities.”

Buenaventura has been described as the most violent city in Colombia.

The Guardian has reported that in the first five months of 2019 there have been 51 homicides in Buenaventura, 20 more than during the same period last year.

In February 2019, Arnald García Guiñón, the coordinator of an MSF project in Buenaventura, commented, “Many of its neighbourhoods have arisen from new waves of displacement, with houses built by displaced people. These neighbourhoods lack a clear urban structure, sufficient sanitation services, water supplies, electricity or roads.”

He adds, “Due to its geographical position on the Pacific Ocean and its important port, the area has become a prime hub for the production and trafficking of cocaine.”

“Criminal networks that operate there are committed to extortion, drug dealing, prostitution, and more. Tensions between gangs and armed groups means that violence is always present in the neighbourhoods of Buenaventura. Peaks in violence can even displace people between neighbourhoods within the city itself.”

And he notes, “It is a chaotic city, dominated by a large industrial port, which ordinary people have barely benefited from.”

On that point, PBI-Colombia has posted, “The [May 2015] report by the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission Buenaventura: Displacement for a Competitive Economy explains how the living conditions in Buenaventura have deteriorated as a consequence of the economic growth, modernisation and expansion through the development of the port.”

Unfortunately, García Guiñón doesn’t see an end to the violence in Buenaventura.

He says, “I am not particularly optimistic about a decrease in violence in Buenaventura. It is still an area of great strategic importance to several illegal armed groups who wish to control it, so we can continue to expect more displacements, more suffering, more violence.”

PBI-Colombia accompanies NOMADESC which has worked to defend human rights in Buenaventura since 1999.

PBI-Colombia also accompanies the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission which helped establish the “Puente Nayero Humanitarian Space” in Buenaventura in April 2014 and continues to advise residents on protection, security and other issues.

After the visit, the Canadian Embassy in Colombia tweeted the photo above and noted: “We had the privilege of being able to hear the testimonies of #LíderesSociales 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.” 

PBI-Colombia and CREDHOS, 25 years of accompaniment and defending human rights

By
Brent Patterson
-

The first PBI team arrived in Bogota in October 1994 and by January 1995 PBI had established a presence in Barrancabermeja in the Magdalena Medio region after an invitation by CREDHOS, the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights.

The book Unarmed Bodyguards notes, “In the Magdalena Medio, PBI faced its first serious challenge only a few months after installing a team.”

On April 9, 1995, two PBI volunteers accompanied a delegation, which included CREDHOS, to investigate recent abuses in rural areas of Sabana de Torres.

The book tells the story: “As evening approached, the group received a false report of a massacre, urging them to travel immediately to a nearby area of considerable paramilitary activity. Suspicious of its veracity, the delegation did not respond.”

After a subsequent investigation, police sources confirmed that paramilitary organizations had planned to ambush the delegation.

“PBI chapters around the world communicated their concern to their own governments and their embassies in Colombia.”

This spurred representatives from three European embassies in Colombia to meet with civilian and military officials where they expressed their support for PBI.

“This high-level intervention made it clear to local authorities and, presumably, through internal military channels, to the paramilitary groups that had allegedly planned the ambush, the potential political consequences of attacking PBI.”

“In May 1995, only a month after the ambush scare, CREDHOS published a report naming the armed forces as a major violator of human rights in the Magdalena Medio region. Immediately, its staff began to notice suspicious vehicles following them, and its office receive numerous telephone threats.”

“Up to this point, PBI’s accompaniment [of CREDHOS] had been sporadic. CREDHOS now asked for a constant presence in its office.”

“[On June 30] an unknown man lingered outside the office all day. When a PBI volunteer approached and asked him what he was doing there, the man refused to answer and left. [Then] a man identifying himself as a journalist telephoned, asking for PBI. When a PBI volunteer took the telephone, the man asked how long he planned to stay in the office. It seemed clear to PBI that someone was verifying whether the office was accompanied.”

PBI’s accompaniment then became continuous and soon after the suspicious men disappeared from the neighbourhood and the harassment declined significantly.

CREDHOS had had armed escorts from the DAS (the Colombian security service agency) since 1994. That’s because prior to 1993 six CREDHOS activists had been assassinated and most of the surviving directorate had fled into exile.

Not long after PBI arrived in Barrancabermeja CREDHOS made the decision to dispense with the protection from the DAS. CREDHOS member Osiris Bayter has explained, “The psychological tension of having an armed man at your side is unbearable, especially when you believe that it is not weapons that save lives.”

PBI-Canada is honoured to be hosting a visit to Canada this November by CREDHOS President Iván Madero, alongside Julia Figueroa and Andrea Nocove from CCALCP.

Iván joined the CREDHOS Board of Directors in 1993, had to live in exile in Spain beginning in January 2001 as right-wing paramilitary forces entered Barrancabermeja, and returned to Colombia in 2010 and became the president of CREDHOS.

To see a 2-minute PBI video with English subtitles of Iván talking about the significance of PBI accompaniment, please click here.

Photo: PBI’s Hannah Matthews with Iván Madero and Andrés Ortiz from CREDHOS.

PBI-Guatemala observes commemoration of the lives lost in the Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asuncion shelter fire

By
Brent Patterson
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On September 19, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted on its Facebook page, “Yesterday we observed a ceremony in the central park to commemorate the 41 girls burned in the Safe Home.”

PBI-Guatemala adds, “In addition to denouncing the violence against women and girls, the participants demanded the return of the memorial that has been installed with crosses for the girls, which was removed last week by state officials.”

Forty-one girls, who were 14 to 17 years of age, died in a fire at the Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asuncion shelter south-east of Guatemala City on March 8, 2017.

The Guardian has reported, “It has emerged that 56 girls had been locked inside a room measuring 6.8 metres by 7 metres as punishment for organising a protest the day before against cramped conditions and abuse by staff. More than 700 children lived at the home, which had capacity for 400-500.”

“The fire, which began in the early hours, sparked angry demonstrations in the capital over the government’s failure to protect young people in its care. Complaints about abuse at the centre had been made, but not followed up. A month before the fire, Guatemala’s human rights commission had asked for it to be closed.”

In March 2019, Al Jazeera reported, “Several government employees, including police, are now on trial for their role in the fire. The girls were locked in a room and shelter officials waited for nine minutes as the girls burned before they unlocked the door.”

“Some of the victims of the March 8, 2017 fire in the Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asuncion shelter had run away from home, fleeing abuse and sexual assault by relatives. But many faced more of the same inside the shelter.”

That article adds, “For years, girls reported being raped and forced into prostitution inside the state-run facility, but their protests were ignored.”

Further background on this can be read in The Irish Times at Deaths of 41 girls in Guatemalan care home fire reveal terrible cruelty.

#NiUnaMenos #NosFaltan41

PBI-Honduras accompanies CNTC on investigation of landing strip in the Montecillos biological reserve

By
Brent Patterson
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On September 18, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project posted, “In August, PBI-Honduras Project accompanied the CNTC La Paz in an investigation of possible damages in the Montecillos biological reserve…”

It adds, “Besides being a natural park it is the source of water for most of the municipality. At the top of the mountain, members of the Indigenous Council of La Paz took advantage of the presence of more than 150 local people to have an assembly.”

On August 28, Critero.hn reported, “Media from the department of La Paz reported this week about the discovery of a clandestine landing strip in the Montecillos mountain range, the digital newspaper Conexhion.hn reported.”

“The discovery came after about 300 members of peasant organizations, indigenous councils, patrons and water boards of the department of La Paz, made a walk to verify the existence of an airstrip in the upper part of the protected area.”

“The indigenous Lenca residents indicated that they found an airstrip with a metal base, conducive to the landing of a helicopter and expressed their concern about not knowing what the purpose of that infrastructure is.”

“The verification walk ended with a meeting of the participating organizations, committing to continue monitoring this area due to the importance of natural resources and the births of water sources that supply several municipalities in the department of La Paz.”

Andrés Domínguez, a human rights defender with the CNTC, is quoted in the article expressing his concerns about the landing strip.

PBI-Honduras has previously noted, “The CNTC, created in 1985, is a small-scale farming and trade union organisation, which fights for the distribution of land. It is affiliated to the Unitary Confederation of Honduran Workers (Confederación Unitaria de Trabajadores de Honduras – CUTH) and is part of the Vía Campesina.”

“Its aim is to support affiliated small-scale farming families so that they have access to land and resources and can carry out productive agricultural, fishing, forestry and agro-industrial activities, contributing to their social and economic development.”

PBI-Honduras has accompanied the CNTC since May 2018.

PBI-Switzerland hosts public forum in Geneva with Mexican human rights defenders

By
Brent Patterson
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On September 17, Peace Brigades International-Switzerland hosted Maricela Vazquez, a lawyer with the Paso del Norte Human Rights Centre, and Olga Guzmán Vergara, Director of Advocacy at the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH), at the Albatros bookstore in Geneva.

Vazquez will also be speaking in Bern on September 19 (with Sara Méndez) and in Brussels on September 24 (Yolanda Pérez).

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project has accompanied the Paso del Norte Human Rights Centre since 2013.

PBI-Mexico has previously noted, “The Centre’s main areas of work are a comprehensive defense of rights and the accompaniment of victims of human rights violations, with a focus on cases of torture and enforced disappearances.”

On September 18, Proceso reported that Vazquez read a statement on behalf of civil society organizations to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Vazquez stated, “The serious human rights situation in Mexico requires the urgent attention of the Human Rights Council.”

The article further notes, “She stressed that 70% percent of enforced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial executions in Mexico have been committed by the armed forces and stressed that ‘the deployment of thousands of military elements to carry out public security work has encouraged the commission of serious human rights violations.’”

Vázquez also stressed that during the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador 15 journalists and 24 human rights defenders have been killed.

The full Proceso article can be read here.

A video of Vazquez’s 2-minute statement to the Human Rights Council can be seen here starting at the 00:24:01 mark.

PBI supports women human rights defenders in Nepal

By
Brent Patterson
-

On September 19, the Nepal Monitor posted on its Facebook page, “Nepal Monitor’s training and outreach officer Ambika Paudel and documentation and protection officer Subekshya Freedom interview Women’s Human Rights Defender Lalita Chaudary during their peer-learning evaluation in Saptari District.”

It adds, “During the trip our team also spent time with WHRDs [women human rights defenders] in Siraha District and Dhanusa District.”

Amnesty International’s 2017-18 country report on Nepal notes that the “Constitutional amendments [which came into effect on September 20, 2015] did not fully guarantee equal rights to citizenship for women…”

That report also highlighted that, “Gender-based discrimination continued to undermine women’s and girls’ ability to control their sexuality and make informed choices related to reproduction; to challenge early and forced marriages; and enjoy adequate antenatal and maternal health care.”

In November 2018, Dubravka Šimonović, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, stated in this media release, “Available data indicates that gender-based violence against women is the leading identifiable trigger for violent deaths of women in Nepal in 2017.”

She added that insufficient safe shelters and lack of awareness among women of their rights contributed to the high level of impunity of perpetrators, with 66 per cent of women who had experienced physical or sexual violence choosing not to seek help.

On June 28, 2019, PBI-Switzerland Advocacy Coordinator Kim-Mai Vu addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva and stated, “The Government of Nepal needs to take all necessary measures to guarantee the security of women human rights defenders that challenge the culture of impunity.”

Peace Brigades International provided accompaniment to human rights defenders in Nepal from 2006 to 2013. That was in the immediate aftermath of the 1996-2006 Nepalese Civil War (also known as the Maoist Insurgency) in which the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) overthrew the Nepalese monarchy.

At that time, PBI developed the Nepal Monitor.

Now, as noted in the PBI 2018 Annual Review, “Two international and five Nepali staff members based in Kathmandu coordinate the Nepal Monitor, an initiative established to provide protection and to prevent conflict by mapping security incidents and human rights violations in the country.”

The Nepal Monitor is now an initiative of the Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP), a Kathmandu-based national network of 43 peace and human rights non-governmental organizations, supported by Peace Brigades International.

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