Stand by Colombia's Victims of Violence

On May 17, 2012, Lisa Haugaard, executive director of the Latin America Working Group Education Fund testified before the United States Congress Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on the situation of human rights defenders in Colombia.

"The situation in 2012 continues to be grim," says Lisa Haugaard in the official testimony. "In the first three months of the year, 13 human rights defenders were assassinated, according to Somos Defensores, with 64 acts of aggression during that same period."

To view the testimony in English, click here.

To view the testimony in Spanish, click here.

This patchwork quilt, with photos and bits of poems stitched on it, was created by Blanca Nieves from the blue jeans, blouses and dresses of her four murdered daughters, who were disappeared and killed by paramilitary forces in Putumayo, Colombia where the family lived.   This quilt is one of the tremendously moving pieces of art in Remember Me: Voices of the Silenced in Colombia exhibit, created by Lutheran World Relief and the Colombian human rights groups MINGA, Agenda Caribe and Fundación Manuel Cepeda. 

Vanessa Kritzer takes the exhibit to Portland with Witness for Peace Northwest organizer Colette Cosner!For the past two years, this powerful exhibit has travelled around the United States, educating communities about our country’s role in Colombia’s conflict. LAWG got involved this past summer, working with Witness for Peace and Lutheran World Relief to display the exhibit and organize panel discussions about U.S.-Colombia policy in Seattle and Portland. Then, on October 4th, 2011, we brought it to Washington, DC, for a reception in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Art piece about fumigations.The Remember Me exhibit features works of art created and inspired by victims of violence, their friends and families from San Onofre, Sucre and the province of Putumayo. One piece was comprised of a simple plastic box filled with a mosaic of small squares, each with a face of a desaparecido (disappeared) in Colombia who lies somewhere unidentified in a mass grave. Another powerful work used toy planes to illustrate the devastating effects of aerial fumigations, as they indiscriminately dropped herbicides on fertile land and families. A third poignant piece used three hearts connected by a stake, highlighting the faces of a leaders killed or imprisoned because of their commitment to human rights and peace.Representative Jim McGovern speaks about violence in Colombia.

At the opening in the Rayburn House Office Building, Colombian human rights defender Juan David Diaz spoke about his father, who was murdered in February 2003.  Tito Diaz, mayor of the small town El Roble in Sucre, had denounced the alliance between deadly paramilitaries and local politicians to then-President Uribe.  Within weeks, his bodyguards were removed, and in April of that same year he was found murdered, tortured, shot and left in a crucifix position.  Today, his son Juan David continues to endure threats for his own human rights work. 

Congressional Human Rights Caucus Co-Chair Representative Jim McGovern also spoke at the reception about his experiences visiting displaced communities in Colombia and many families who are victims of human rights abuse.  “This exhibit helps bring those voices to life,” said Rep. McGovern. “It is so important that we not just know, but feel, the violence and loss that they experience.”

Lisa and Vanessa attend the Remember Me opening in Congress with Annalise Romoser from LWR,  Zoraida Castillo, Amaury Padilla, and Juan David Diaz.Zoraida Castillo from Lutheran World Relief’s Colombia office described the process they went through to create the exhibit. Then, Amaury Padilla from MINGA explained that this exhibit comes from a tradition in Colombia used not only to honor the victims, but also to illuminate truths that are too often denied about the country’s decades-long conflict.

This exhibit humanizes Colombia’s humanitarian crisis by providing a forum for understanding outside of the context of policy papers and statistics. Remember Me drives home a powerful lesson by giving a face to the victims and those who struggle for justice.

Conflict, Violence, and Murders of Colombian Activists Concern U.S. Groups

The Latin America Working Group (LAWG), Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), U.S. Office on Colombia (USOC), Center for International Policy (CIP), and the U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project (USLEAP) urge President Obama to refrain from declaring that key elements of the Labor Action Plan (LAP) linked to the Free Trade Agreement have been effectively implemented at this week’s Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia or in his subsequent meeting with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. The labor and human rights situation in Colombia has not improved sufficiently to implement the Free Trade Agreement.
 
On April 7, 2011, the U.S. and Colombian governments announced the signing of the U.S.-Colombia Labor Action Plan (LAP). In it, both governments expressed their commitment to provide a level playing field of economic opportunities for U.S. sectors as well as guarantees that Colombian workers would “have acceptable working conditions and respect for fundamental labor rights.” The Colombian government confirmed its obligation to protect internationally recognized labor rights, prevent violence against labor leaders, and prosecute the perpetrators of such violence. The LAP spells out critical changes needed to protect trade unionists, guard against labor rights abuses, eliminate the abusive associative labor cooperative (CTA) model, and advance prosecutions of perpetrators of anti-labor violence. The U.S. government announced that it was committed to reforming the security environment for all Colombians, addressing the needs of victims, and enhancing rule of law. Implementation of the key elements of the LAP is a precondition for the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement to enter into effect.
 
It is premature for the United States to declare sufficient progress under the terms of the LAP. In doing so, the U.S. government would lose a tremendous political opportunity to significantly improve labor rights in Colombia. While a number of laws and regulations have been issued, key elements of the LAP remain unfulfilled as evidenced in Colombia’s failure to fully ban problematic associative labor cooperatives and other forms of labor intermediation that bust unions. Furthermore, in priority sectors of the LAP including sugar and ports, businesses are turning to CTA-like models with different names to employ workers and deny them their rights. The Colombian government is not acting effectively to prevent this, as conditioned by the LAP. It remains a common practice to fire workers who wish to affiliate with trade unions and then to stigmatize these workers so that they cannot find employment elsewhere, driving them into poverty.
 
Union activists remain in grave danger in Colombia. Thirty trade unionists were murdered in 2011, and 4 unionists were killed so far in 2012. The security situation for human rights defenders significantly deteriorated in 2011 with attacks increasing by 36% compared to 2010. Of the 49 human rights defenders killed in 2010, 19 were indigenous leaders. Colombia needs to enforce the rule of law in order to send the signal to perpetrators that it will not tolerate further attacks against trade unionists, human rights, and community activists or other human rights violations.
 
Instead of making progress, Colombian government is taking steps backwards on human rights crimes. Military justice legislation under consideration by the Colombian Congress could lead to the prosecution of many kinds of human rights crimes committed by the military to return to military courts, thus rolling back historic advances in Colombian justice. The “legal framework for peace” bill would allow the judiciary to suspend existing sentences for any crimes committed by actors in the armed conflict. Not only do such provisions constitute a major boost towards guaranteeing impunity for human rights abuses, they also constitute a breach of the human rights conditions tied to U.S. military assistance towards Colombia.
 
While the Santos administration has improved its public rhetoric regarding human rights, the steps it has taken have failed to adequately improve protections for human rights defenders. President Santos’ flagship victims and land restitution law, an initiative we support in essence, is severely lacking in protection for victims. Even before the law has been fully applied, 26 land rights activists were killed during the Santos administration. Furthermore, new victims continue to be created in Colombia due to ongoing forced displacement linked to the conflict and abuses committed by the armed groups. For effective protection of communities, land rights activists, trade unionists, and human rights defenders to take place, the U.S. must express its grave concern for the expansion of paramilitary groups and encourage bold efforts to dismantle their operations. The Colombian government also needs to develop a well-financed and coordinated civilian agency plan to protect land rights activists and communities through careful consultation with affected parties.
 
Rather than making premature judgments about progress in labor and human rights—judgments that are not supported by facts—the United States should use the opportunity of the meeting in Cartagena to encourage its ally to make further reforms. Finally, the U.S. government should respond to a historic opportunity presented by the release of hostages—and the announcement by the FARC guerrillas that they are abandoning kidnapping for profit—to encourage a negotiated solution to the protracted conflict that has undermined security and human rights in Colombia for many decades.

For further information please contact:

Lisa Haugaard, Executive Director, Latin America Working Group (LAWG)
(202) 546-7010

Gimena Sanchez, Senior Associate, Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
(202) 797-2171

Dana Brown, Executive Director, U.S. Office on Colombia (USOC)
(202) 232-8090

Abigail Poe, Deputy Director, Center for International Policy (CIP)
(202) 232-3317

Stephen Coats, Executive Director, U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project (USLEAP)
(773) 262-6502

This year, LAWG’s Colombia team brought together a coalition of labor, human rights, faith-based, and environmental groups to build a national grassroots movement to oppose the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement (FTA).  While this FTA ultimately did pass on October 12th, 2011, we are proud of the work that everyone involved did to generate debate about the problems with this trade deal and to convince many members of Congress to vote for human rights rather than corporate interests. Click here to find out how your members of Congress voted and hold them accountable!

Just through the participation of LAWG’s activist base alone, we collected 11,695 signatures on a petition to President Obama, sent over 13,000 emails to Congress, and made hundreds of phone calls right before the vote. By connecting with other groups for fair trade, we were able to multiply our collective voice by tens of thousands. In many major cities, people came together to stage vigils in the streets, which grabbed the attention of local and national media.  They spoke out at town hall events and met with their members of Congress when they came back to the district for recess. While LAWG made videos and wrote articles for sites like the Huffington Post, activists across the country published op-eds and letters to the editor in their local newspapers.

Meanwhile, in DC, LAWG and our partners pounded the marble halls of Congress. We brought Colombian unionists, human rights defenders, and small-scale farmers to meet with undecided members of Congress, educating them about the devastating affect that this trade deal would have on the lives of so many Colombians. We displayed the art exhibit Remember Me: Voices of the Silenced in the U.S. House of Representatives to let the testimonies of survivors of Colombia’s conflict speak for themselves. Then, right before the vote, we provided our congressional allies with talking points as well as stories and photos to use in their final arguments.

And in the end, we made a difference. During the debate, we watched as representatives and senators stood on the floor of Congress and told the stories of union leaders who have been killed in Colombia, of families who have been devastated by the conflict, of Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities who are struggling to stay on their ancestral lands. We convinced 82% of House Democrats to vote against this unfair trade agreement. This represents the largest percentage of House Democrats voting against a Democratic president on trade in history, and it sent a message to President Obama: no more trade without human rights.

Missed the action? Check out this powerful speech by Representative Luis Gutiérrez in which he honors the lives of two murdered Colombian activists: Alejandro José Peñata, a teacher and unionist, and Ana Fabricia Córdoba, a dynamic Afro-Colombian social leader who struggled for the rights of the displaced.

To read the inspiring speech that Representative Jim McGovern gave during the debate, click here. LAWG sends a big thank you to Rep. McGovern for his tireless efforts to oppose this agreement, as well as to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi who “stopped the clock” on this FTA in 2008 and came out against it last week. Thanks also to Representatives Sandy Levin, Mike Michaud, George Miller, Hank Johnson, and John Lewis, Senators Sherrod Brown and Bernie Sanders, and all the other members of Congress who chose to speak out for human rights during this critical debate.

Although the fact that it passed was upsetting, we were encouraged in the week afterwards when we received messages from our partners in Colombia thanking us for what we’ve done to keep this FTA off the table since it was introduced by the Bush Administration five years ago. By delaying it so long, they said, we pressured the Colombian government to clean up its record on human rights—and they have made some good promises. However, the struggle does not end here.

In the months ahead, we will focus our efforts on making sure that both the U.S. and Colombian governments keep their word to support communities, unionists, small-scale farmers, and others whose livelihoods and safety may now be at greater risk than ever before. We look forward to working with both old and new partners to stand by our brothers and sisters in Colombia as they face these challenges and continue their pursuit of peace and justice.