CPTnet
17 December 2006

COLOMBIA: November 2006 Update

At the end of November, the Colombian government brought charges against
nine congress people and one former congressperson-all supporters of
President Uribe. The federal authorities have accused them of organizing
and belonging to paramilitary groups, financing paramilitary groups with
government money, winning elections using paramilitary coercion as well as
organizing and ordering massacres, including the 2000 massacre of more than
twenty people in Macayepo. The ten are awaiting trial.

The team continued its weekly accompaniment of the Opón communities.
Residents of Ciénaga reported no presence of the gas cartel in several
weeks. The Colombian military has been stationed near the Ciénaga school.

In support of the Popular Women's Organization television program, La
Mohana, the team created segments on nonviolent direction action and on ways
men can help build a community without violence against women.

4-8 November

Michele Braley and Joel Klassen traveled to Santa Rosa to accompany 600
members of the mining community returning to their homes after completing
negotiations with the government. (See 9 November CPTnet release,
"COLOMBIA: Miners Return Home.") In a conversation regarding ongoing
accompaniment of the region by CPT, the president of the miner's
organization said, "Accompaniment gives us confidence."

9 November

Joel Klassen, Michele Braley and Pierre Shantz joined hundreds of others in
a march for worker's rights and against the privatization of public
institutions, culminating with a rally outside of the mayor's office.

13-14 November

In Montreal, Canada, Robert Holmes presented the case of the Colombian
military's assassination of southern Bolívar Mining Federation leader,
Alejandro Uribe, to the National Roundtable on Corporate Social
Responsibility and the Canadian Extractive Sector in Developing Countries.
Holmes recommended that Canadian companies "demonstrate that their presence
is not based on the suppression of local enterprises by state or other armed
groups, and that their activities will improve the economic condition of the
local communities." He also represented CPT at the concurrent "Extractive
Industries, Destructive Industries?" conference hosted by the Canadian
Network on Corporate Responsibility, to which CPT's Colombia Team belongs.
Canadian CPTers have been active in seeking signatories to a national
petition calling for mandatory regulation of Canadian corporations operating
overseas. For more information, see www.halifaxinitiative.org.

15 November

Nils Dybvig attended a meeting of the Barranca Human Rights Coalition
(ETTDDHH) to share concerns with Jonathan Farrar, from the U.S. State
Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. The group told
Mr. Farrar that the Justice and Peace Law has failed to dismantle the
paramilitary command structures, put an end to their illegal activities, or
reduce the fear that people feel. The group said that the demobilized have
taken jobs as transit drivers and security guards; positions that can put
them in daily contact with their victims, and allow them to maintain
positions of power. The law decreases the chance that many of the
paramilitaries will be held accountable for their crimes, and leaves the
victims out of the process, since the law provides few mechanisms for truth,
accountability, or reparations.

18 November Julian Gutierrez and Suzanna Collerd attended the Popular
Women's Organization's Vigil for Peace against war and all forms of
militarism. More than one thousand women, men and children attended. In
front of the stage, photos and paintings represented assassinated human
rights workers. Those who advocate for the protection of human rights
continue to suffer persecution in Colombia by armed groups, legal and
illegal alike. This vigil was part of an Intercontinental Vigil for Peace
held in more than a dozen cities throughout the Americas.

20 November

Pierre Shantz and Shirley Way attended a meeting at a local church to
support a young man who decided to leave a group of hired killers used by
the various armed actors for assassinations. Community leaders persuaded
the seventeen-year-old to turn in his weapon, return the money he had
received and displace to another city in order to protect his family.

23 November

Robin Buyers raised issues of Canadian trade with and investment in Colombia
and its impacts on subsistence farmers and indigenous communities at an
Interdepartmental Roundtable of the Canadian government with the Americas
Policy Group. The meeting focused on the necessity of applying a human
rights framework to all Canadian policy on Colombia. The policy brief that
was tabled at this meeting and to which CPT's Colombia Team was a major
contributor can be found at
http://www.ccic.ca/e/docs/003_apg_2006-11_canadian_policy_towards_colombia.p
df

24-25 November

Erin Kindy and Joel Klassen participated in the Tribunal of Public Opinion
on Impunity in Ciudad Bolivar and Cazuca, two outlying zones of Bogotá.
Dozens of victims of state and paramilitary violence testified publicly
about murdered loved ones and threats against their lives and human rights
before a seven member international jury in the chambers of Congress.
Testimonies indicated that paramilitary structures continue to operate
within the capital despite their official demobilization. The tribunal
found national and international governments guilty by commission and
omission for supporting a system of impunity for sociopolitical crimes.