Stand by Colombia's Victims of Violence

As Colombia moves forward with a peace process, the government’s ability to deliver on restitution and reparations to victims is crucial for construction of a just and lasting peace. Lutheran World Relief and the Latin America Working Group Education Fund, along with our partner Agenda Caribe, toured the Caribbean coast of Colombia, the provinces of Sucre, Bolívar and Córdoba, in June 2012 to investigate whether displaced communities are starting to be able to return to their land and whether the Colombian government’s landmark initiative, the Victims’ and Land Restitution Law, has gotten off the ground. This law aims to provide reparations to victims of the conflict and land restitution or compensation for some of the more than 5 million people who were displaced by violence. It has generated enthusiasm in the international community and raised hopes among survivors of violence in Colombia’s brutal, decades-old conflict. See our full report, Still a Dream: Land Restitution on Colombia’s Caribbean Coast, here.

Still a Dream:  Land Restitution on Colombia’s Caribbean Coast
New report from Latin America Working Group Education Fund &
 Lutheran World Relief

Despite the promises of Colombia’s positive Victims’ Law, land restitution on the Caribbean Coast has barely begun.   LAWGEF’s and Lutheran World Relief’s September 2012 report, Still a Dream: Land Restitution on Colombia’s Caribbean Coast, shows the tremendous obstacles that face implementation, including the lack of protections for returning communities, as well as the pressures that are causing small farmers and Afro-Colombian communities to continue to be pushed off their lands.  As Colombia’s peace negotiations advance, the ability of the government to deliver on its promises to victims of violence is essential to the construction of a just and lasting peace. The report provides recommendations to the Colombian government and international community on how to fairly, effectively and safely advance land restitution and reparations.

Download our publication:  Still a Dream: Land Restitution on Colombia’s Caribbean Coast
Lea nuestra publicación: Aún un sueño:  Restitución de tierras en la Costa Caribe Colombiana

Interested in ordering a hard copy? Click here to visit our publications center and submit your order for Still a Dream  and other LAWGEF publications.

U.S. Security Assistance and Human Rights in the Americas Today: This Much at Least Must Be Done

Statement by Lisa Haugaard, Executive Director, Latin America Working Group Education Fund at the Just the Facts Conference:
Security, Civil-Military Relations, and U.S. Policy in the Americas Today

September 28, 2012

How do you ensure that U.S. security assistance supports and does not undercut human rights? 

As a human rights advocate, my best answer is quite simple:
The United States should not provide training and assistance to highly abusive military or police forces.

However, the U.S. government often does give assistance and training to abusive security forces. 

In those cases, at an absolute minimum, there must be enforceable human rights conditions over all military and police assistance, through all sources, including through the Defense as well as State budget, and the State Department and the Congress must be willing to enforce them.

About two weeks ago my co-worker Lisa sent you a message about how you can help protect workers' rights in Colombia. Today, Asotrecol (the Association of Injured Workers and Ex-Workers of General Motors Colombia) has declared an international day of action.

US Office on Colombia and Latin America Working Group Education Fund Applaud Steps towards Peace Negotiations in Colombia

We applaud the announcement that the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have agreed to begin formal negotiations. We salute Colombia in this effort to bring a negotiated end to the nearly 50-year-old internal conflict. We also are encouraged to hear the National Liberation Army’s (ELN) stated willingness to enter into peace talks.

We believe it is imperative that combatants and civilians alike be guaranteed the full application of human rights and international humanitarian law protections throughout this process.

A lasting peace requires addressing the root causes of the conflict.  The peace process must include substantial space for civil society involvement and input, including by women, Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities and other sectors brutally affected by the war, in order to ensure that historic underlying economic and social conflicts and decades of human rights abuses and international humanitarian law violations by all parties to the conflict are addressed.

We hope that this initiative brings about the lasting peace with justice that Colombians long for and deserve.

September 10, 2012

As peace negotiations seem, we are so glad to hear, once again possible in Colombia, we would like to share this statement from Colombians for Peace (Colombianos y Colombianos por la Paz):

 
We just celebrated Labor Day here in the United States, but Colombian workers have no room for celebration.

In our last alert we told you we would keep you updated on the injured workers from ASOTRECOL. Well, it turns out they need our help again. GM failed to propose realistic solutions to their demands during their mediation. Now, our friends from ASOTRECOL are restarting their hunger strike. As they continue to pressure GM for due compensation, we need to tell Congress to stand up for labor rights in Colombia and enforce the Labor Action Plan.  As you recall, both governments signed the Labor Action Plan before the Free Trade Agreement was passed by Congress.

After a year of protesting in front of the U.S. Embassy with no response, injured General Motors workers in Colombia go on a hunger strike. Help them fight for their rights!

Jorge Alberto Parra was 30 years old when he began working for General Motors, Colmotores in Colombia, in 2004. Now eight years later, he and four colleagues from the Association of Injured and Ex-Workers of GM Colmotores de Colombia (ASOTRECOL) are taking drastic measures.  They have launched a hunger strike to protest their firing and lack of compensation.

It was a beautiful day in Bogotá, Colombia. It had not rained at all and the sun was shining with no clouds. Taking in the beautiful sunshine and enjoying the chilly yet comfortable temperature, my colleagues and I sat in a beautiful park in downtown Bogotá and discussed our upcoming meeting with ASOTRECOL, the Association of Injured and Ex-Workers of GM Colmotores de Colombia. After a brief intro into their labor plight and subsequent firings, we hailed taxis and made our way to the U.S. Embassy.

In old city Cartagena, Colombia, elegant colonial buildings with verandas and wooden shutters contain trendy restaurants, a Benetton store and expensive shoe shops.  But the Afro-Colombians selling strands of pearls on the sidewalks, who add  life to this tropical tourist haven,  may have come from Urabá, Carmen de Bolivar, Marίa la Baja or other areas where threats and clashes between all the armed actors, paramilitaries, guerrillas and the armed forces forced them to flee the violence.