Further submission from Amnesty International
UK
UK BRIEFING ON SITUATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN
COLOMBIA
THE UNITED
NATIONS DECLARATION
ON THE
RIGHTS OF
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
In May 2009, the Colombian Government decided
to endorse the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples. This endorsement dispels any confusion
arising out of Colombia's "abstention" vote at the time
of the Declaration's adoption on 13 September 2007.
Drafted over 20 years ago with significant input
from both Indigenous Peoples and states, the Declaration
provides a clear, authoritative statement of the human rights
of Indigenous Peoples. These human rights include the right to
culture, identity and traditional lands. The Declaration
also reaffirms Indigenous Peoples are to enjoy all of their human
rights without discrimination. In this regard, Amnesty International
welcomes the Colombian government's commitment to "the concepts
of equality, respect for diversity and non-discrimination that
constitute the foundation of the [Declaration]".
Amnesty International has repeatedly expressed
its serious and ongoing concern about the vulnerable status of
Indigenous communities in Colombia, mainly as a consequence of
the country's long-running internal armed conflict. Indigenous
Peoples and their leaders continue to be killed and threatened
by all the parties to the conflict, including the security forces,
paramilitaries and guerrilla groups.
In particular, Indigenous Peoples are disproportionately
at risk of forced displacement because such communities are often
located in areas of intense military conflict, most of which are
rich in biodiversity, minerals and oil. All parties to the conflict
are failing to respect the right of Indigenous Peoples not to
be dragged into the conflict. A lack of secure title to their
ancestral lands, as well as discrimination and marginalisation,
has only served to exacerbate the precarious situation in which
Indigenous Peoples in Colombia find themselves. These actions
threaten the way of life and the very survival of these communities,
some of which are on the verge of extinction.
KILLING OF
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
In February 2009, Amnesty International condemned
the killing of 27 Awá People in the department of
Nariño, in the south of the country, and expressed serious
concern at reports that members of the Awá in the department
had subsequently begun to flee their homes.
According to the National Indigenous Organisation
of Colombia (ONIC), on 11 February the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group killed 10 Awá
in the department. This followed the killing of 17 Awá
on 4 February, also in Nariño, and also reportedly
carried out by the FARC. There were also reports that an unknown
number of Awá have been abducted.
If verified, these killings represent yet another
tragic example of the numerous serious violations of international
humanitarian law and human rights abuses committed against indigenous
communities by all the parties to Colombia's long-running armed
conflict, including guerrilla groups, paramilitaries and the security
forces. The deliberate killing of civilians is a war crime.
Amnesty International called on the Colombian
authorities to initiate an immediate and thorough investigation
into the killings, and to bring those responsible to justice,
as well as guarantee the safety of the humanitarian commission
which is seeking to travel to the area to verify the facts. The
organisation also called on the guerrillas to prohibit the deliberate
killing of civilians and to free all Awá and other civilians
they hold captive.
All the warring parties must respect the right
to life of Indigenous Peoples, as well as that of other civilian
communities, and ensure that they are not dragged into the conflict.
Ada Quilcu
Indigenous leader Aída Quilcu
, who has been receiving protection ordered by the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights since her husband was killed
by soldiers in December 2008, is still in grave danger. Her 12-year-old
daughter was threatened at gunpoint outside her house on 11 May
this year. She, her daughter and other members of the organization
she leads, the Consejo Regional Indígenia del Cauca
(CRIC), Cauca regional Council, are in grave danger.
Aída Quilcu
's daughter was standing outside her house, in the
hamlet of Clarete, municipality of Popayán, in the south-western
department of Cauca, when she saw a car slowly approaching her.
The car, with four men inside wearing civilian clothes, stopped
in front of her. The man in the passenger seat pointed a gun at
her; the driver told him to put the gun away because people were
looking. Aída Quilcu
's daughter ran into the house to tell members of
the Indigenous Guard, who were keeping watch on her, what happened.
The Indigenous Guard are a non-violent, organised group of Indigenous
volunteers in charge of organising the protection of Indigenous
communities from armed actors. The car then slowly moved off and
stopped 30 metres away: the men inside looked back at the
house, and then the car sped away. Amnesty International calls
on the Colombia authorities to order full and impartial investigations
into this threat against the life of Aída Quilcu
's daughter, publish the results and bring those
responsible to justice.
Aída Quilcu
's husband, Edwin Legarda, was fatally wounded when
soldiers fired at the vehicle he was travelling in to collect
her from the city of Popayán. He later died in hospital:
17 bullet holes were found in the car. Aída Quilcu
had been returning from Geneva, after attending
the Human Rights Council's (HRC) Universal Periodic Review session
in Colombia. At the HRC she had publicly raised concerns about
the human rights violations against Indigenous Peoples, including
killings by the Colombian security forces. In Colombia, she had
also played a prominent role in recent demonstrations by Indigenous
Peoples in support of land rights and in protest at human rights
violations.
In April 2009 seven soldiers, including
two junior officers, were arrested by judicial police investigating
the killing of Edwin Legarda. Although their detention is welcome,
Amnesty International calls for a thorough and independent criminal
investigation to identify and prosecute all those responsible,
as well as to uncover the real motives behind the killing.
AFRO-INDIGENOUS
COMMUNITIES IN
THE CURVADÓ
AND JIGUAMIANDÓ
HUMANITARIAN ZONES
Amnesty International is extremely concerned
by the scale of devastation in the Curvadó and Jiguamiandó
River Basins in the north-west of Colombia cause by internal armed
conflict. Here, Afro-descendant communities have set up Humanitarian
zones in an effort to protect their members from attack and to
send out a message to the warring parties that their rights as
civilians must be respected.
The collective land rights of Indigenous People
and Afro-descendant communities are enshrined in Colombia's 1991 constitution.
Some Afro-descendant communities have initiated and sustained
campaigns to stop large-scale developments which threaten to expel
them from land which they own collectively or have worked for
generations.
The security forces and paramilitaries have
attacked such communities, repeatedly labelling them as "subversive".
Guerrilla groups have also threatened and killed community members,
accusing them of siding with their enemies. Whole communities
have often been isolated and trapped (confinamiento), unable
to access food or medicine because of the fighting. People have
also been confined to their communities because of landmines planted
around them or because restrictions placed on the transportation
of foodstuffs and medicines by the warring parties, who often
argue that such goods are destined for their enemies.
In October 2008, Walberto Hoyos Rivas, a leader
of the Curvadó River Basin Community, was shot dead by
two members of paramilitary group the Black Eagles (Águilas
Negras). For the people of Curvadó and Jiguamiandó,
the conflict remains a constant and very real threat to their
survival as the killings of their leaders and the expropriation
of their land continue.
Members of the Inter-Church Justice and Peace
Commission (Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz) who
work with the Afro-descendant community in the Curvadó/Jiguamiandó
area have also been threatened by paramilitary groups, often with
the support or acquiescence of the security forces. The Commission,
which campaigns on behalf of communities whose members have been
killed, tortured or displaced, has also been targeted for attack
by guerrilla groups.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights of
the Organisation of American States has repeatedly called on the
Colombian authorities to take appropriate measures to guarantee
the safety of members of Afro-descendant communities of Curvadó
and Jiguamiandó. However, the Colombian authorities have
failed to take effective action to implement the Court's requests.
18 June 2009
| 
