Tag Archive for 'Colombia'Page 4 of 6

10
Aug

Columbia: Peoples’ Permanent Tribunal holds hearing on Oil Companies

The Peoples’ Permanent Tribunal (PPT), an independent non-governmental body that examines and judges complaints regarding violations of human rights as submitted by the victims themselves (or their representatives)—recently held a hearing against the Oil Industry in Colombia.

On August 3rd and 4th, the Panel of 130 Judges gathered in Bogota, receiving testimony from nearly 400 People with regard to the actions of Repsol-YPF, Occidental and British Petroleum, and the Colombian state-owned oil company.

The Judges concluded: “The Tribunal –which is non-binding- believes that there are reasonable grounds to qualify a great number of specific acts of murder, torture, forced displacement of people and persecution, submitted before it as crimes against humanity in that they were widespread and systematic acts against the civilian population.”

They added, “Oil corporations that violate human and environmental rights become silent or open murderers and act with …

Published on
August 10, 2007
  0 Comments 1,133 views

24
Jul

Independence? What Independence? Indigenous People Want to Know

Just a few days ago, Colombia celebrated 197 years of independence from Spain. And Yesterday, at dawn, some 5,000 indigenous people set off on an 800-kilometre journey to ask the government, “what independence?”

From IPS News - “We’re going to the national Congress to make it known that we do not agree with laws they’ve passed that seriously jeopardise national sovereignty and the autonomy of indigenous peoples,” Feliciano Valencia, an indigenous leader, told IPS.

Nasa (or Páez) and Guambian people started their journey in Santander de Quilichao, 100 km north of Popayán, the capital of the south-western department of Cauca.

The rights of indigenous ethnic groups to manage and control their ancestral lands, now designated reserves, and to self-government within them, are enshrined in Colombia’s Constitution. However, they are being threatened by laws and bills before Congress on the environment, land use …

Published on
July 24, 2007
  0 Comments 572 views

18
Jul

Harper wants to Save Latin America.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is currently on a mission in Latin America, pushing forward a “Canadian-made” free trade model which he wants applied throughout the region. Harper has also been going to incredible lengths to improve Canada’s image in the South, making impressive statements claiming that Canada the perfect, Canada the majestic, Canada the awesome — seeks only to free Latin America from the evil scourge that is Latin America.

On the 15th he set out to Colombia, where he met with President Alvaro Uribe to discuss the so-called “open society, economic freedom and social development and cohesion” model.

The idea, notes the Winnipeg Free Press, is “to provide [Columbia] with an opportunity to change the base of its economy to something more diverse and less harmful than providing cocaine to Canadian cities… We need to …

Published on
July 18, 2007
  0 Comments 927 views

14
Jun

U.S. Certifies Indigenous Extinction in Colombia

For seven years now, the US government has been dispersing large sums of money to the Colombian Military under the premise of aid, aimed at curbing drug production. So far they have sent out nearly five billion dollars… Every six months though, the US Government must first “certify” Colombia’s human rights progress before any additional monies can be sent out.. For seven years now the US government has given Colombia it’s seal of approval, no contest…

From news.nacla.org - When Miguel Moran Acosta graduated from high school this year in Colombia’s southern jungle province of Putumayo, he went back home to farm with his family in Alto Comboy, an Awa indigenous reserve. Days later, on May 23, Colombian army officials entered the reserve, tied Miguel’s hands and feet together and took him off to a nearby mountain. …

Published on
June 14, 2007
  1 Comment 800 views

08
Jun

Coca Cola: A Hero to the Land, A hero to the People.

We are told by Classical Western mythology that a hero is a being of great strength and courage, celebrated for bold exploits, and who is the offspring of no less than a mortal and a god.

Coca-Cola doesn’t quite fit this profile, I know. But if we change a few words–courage to audacity and strength to compulsion– I think we’ll find Coca Cola standing tall and proud. A hero among Men.

From oneworld.net - The Coca-Cola company has been charged with illegally seizing lands communally owned by small farmers and indiscriminately dumping sludge and other industrial hazardous waste onto the surrounding community. This comes as the multinational beverage giant announced a new effort Tuesday to protect rivers on four continents.

The San Francisco-based India Resource Center, an environmental health non-profit, further charged Coca-Cola with releasing untreated wastewater into surrounding …

Published on
June 8, 2007
  0 Comments 1,199 views

20
Apr

Colombia - Palm Oil and the consequences of development

Here’s a story about the Palm Oil Industry in Colombia, as recalled by Ian Lander who attended a meeting with a member of Organizacion Nacional Indigena De Colombia (ONIC) which represents those living in the Choco and Amazonas regions of Colombia…

From www.biofuelwatch.org.uk - Colombia has endured civil violence and murder for over 25 years. The paramilitaries claim to force guerrillas out of rainforests when it is clear the land is owned by the indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, who have title to the land.

We were told of one case where paramilitaries displaced 25,000 people and stole from them, 30,000 hectares of land. This land was cleared and African palm plantations were sown as the paramilitary said it was not collective property. The international community challenged this and ordered the companies to return the land to the rightful owners. This was ignored. In the last 20 years, more than 3 …

Published on
April 20, 2007
  2 Comments 893 views

30
Mar

A Cry from the Bottom of a Daughter’s Heart

A Cry from the Bottom of a Daughter’s Heart
from Rights Action
March 19, 2007

We re-circulate this article published by Diana Gómez on the anniversary of the disappearance and eventual extrajudicial execution of her father, Jaime Gómez. (Translated for Rights Action by Rosalind Gil)

Planet Earth

I don’t understand why anyone would try to convince me to stop trying to find out what happened to you, why anyone would tell me that I am just shouting at the wind: why did they kill you? Who gave them permission to do this? Who could they be? What special powers do they have? I don’t understand. I just don’t understand. It has been a whole year with no news whatsoever.

There are days when I ask myself in desperation, why did they kill you? Why do I have to live with such intense grief? Why can’t I enjoy your company and your fatherly advice anymore? …

Published on
March 30, 2007
  0 Comments 737 views

Video activism and the Chiapas Media Project

In the following presentation, Claudia Magallanes-Blanco from the University of Western Sydney talks about the role of video activism as a world-wide tool for empowerment and the Chiapas Media Project, a collaborative effort based in Mexico that provides indigenous Zapatistas in Chiapas and peasants in Guerrero with training and equipment to produce their own videos.

Since forming in 1998, CMP has distributed over 6000 videos, including: Zapata’s Garden, a film that looks at the society the Zapatista’s are building; …


I Am A Defender of the Rainforest

Known as ‘Soy defensor de la selva’ in Spanish, I am a Defender of the Rainforest is an award-winning documentary that was filmed, edited, and directed by members of the Sarayaku community in southern Ecuador.

The film shows how the …


Underreported Struggles #19, October 2008

In this month’s Underreported Struggles: 400,000 Guatemalans Reject Development Model, Philippines Indigenous People Unite for the Land, Riot Police Target Algonquin Blockade, Chagos Islanders Denied the Right of Return, and 17 other stories …


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