Indigenous and Afro-Colombian citizens living in Chocó are living in the midst of a continuing conflict despite the ongoing Peace Process with the FARC Guerrilla. Armed neo-paramilitary and Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN) guerrilla groups continue in the region and are fighting for control of illicit economies. Communities have been reporting an increase in the...
Introduction The Afro-descendant and Indigenous communities living along the River Atrato in Chocó, as a result of the state’s failure to act to protect their rights, chose to use constitutional law, a “Tutela”, in an attempt to force the state to comply with its obligations to protect their fundamental rights and the rights of the...
Every day of impunity takes something away from us as victims and it is killing us slowly. Jineth Bedoya Lima On 29 January 2019, an important decision was made by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) in the fights against the almost 100% impunity that exists for conflict-related sexual violence in Colombia. Jineth Bedoya...
In August 2018 British Parliamentarians visited Matarratón in an effort to understand the complex situation of land. They found that peasant farmer communities and Indigenous Peoples despite the Land Restitution Law (2011) and the Peace Accord (2016) were facing a dangerous struggle to get their land rights recognised by State Authorities. The history of Matarratón...
Members of the British Parliament participating in the August 2018 Delegation were: Chris Bryant MP and Patrick Grady MP. MP’s Conversation in Villavicencio with rural women: Diana, Yenny and Yuanitza. A peasant farmer, an ex-member of FARC and a human rights defender. Other women joined them later in the discussion. We asked the women what...
Lawyers file case against Chief Public Prosecutor in hope to restore public trust in the Rule of Law In light of new evidence regarding the Odebrecht corruption scandal, the Colombian Commission of Jurists, DeJusticia and other lawyers have legally challenged the appointment of Néstor Humberto Martínez as General Public Prosecutor of the Nation (Public Prosecutor)....
ABColombia members express their grave concern regarding the assassination of human rights defender and social leader, José Antonio Navas. Mr Navas, a partner of Christian Aid, and a member of the Campesino Association of Catatumbo (Ascamcat), was murdered by unknown gunmen who shot him and fled. Mr Navas, was 55 years old and the father...
ABColombia, together with the Coalition for Human Rights in Development and alongside more than 200 other groups and organisations, has signed an open letter to states and development financiers on the need to ensure that development interventions support the realisation of human rights, safeguard Human Rights Defenders and guarantee meaningful public participation. You can sign...
