Stand by Colombia's Victims of Violence

When we started working with faith-based and grassroots groups to plan this year's Days of Prayer and Action, Colombians were being forced to flee their homes at the staggering, almost unbelievable rate of 1,500 a day. By the time 2008 was said and done, nearly 400,000 had become internally displaced people (IDPs) and Colombia's displaced population had swelled to more than 4 million, overtaking Sudan in the seeming-blink-of-an-eye as the country with the world's most displaced people. We knew we had to do something to make this crisis visible to people here in the United State and to our government that has funded and supported so many of the policies that have exacerbated this humanitarian crisis.

After kicking around many good ideas with our organizing partners, we decided on something creative and engaging, something that would unleash the inner-kindergartener in everyone who would participate (although if we're being honest, we did not realize this at the time!), something that was so improbable that it just might work: we'd make thousands of cut-out paper dolls representing displaced Colombians, use them in public mobilizations around the country on the Day of Action, and send them to administration officials and members of Congress alike, imploring them to stand by victims of violence in Colombia.

Well, we're still waiting to see if our efforts will successfully push the administration and policymakers to significantly change U.S. policy towards Colombia this year, but with prayer services held in hundreds of churches, thousands of postcards sent to the White House, more than 30 interviews on local radio stations to discuss the displacement crisis, several dozen doll-making parties and approximately 20,000 paper dolls made, and direct actions using the paper dolls taking place in seven major U.S. cities (Chicago, Washington, Portland, San Francisco, New York, Cleveland, and Los Angeles), we can proudly say that, thanks to your hard work, this year's Days were the largest grassroots mobilization for Colombia since 2003. Everyone give yourself a pat on the back and thanks for participating!

We wish you all could have joined us as we spoke truth to power at the White House on the Day of Action, but we had the privilege of representing your voices and we took lots of photos and videos so you can see what happened.

On LAWG's YouTube Channel, you can:

• Watch Diana Gómez, a member of the Colombian group Movimiento Hijos e hijas por la memoria y contra la impunidad, talk about the "human crisis" of displacement and call for a U.S. policy that "responds to the needs of people in my country."
• Watch Kelly Nicholls, Executive Director of the US Office on Colombia, discuss how the Colombian government routinely fails to meet the needs and respect the rights of displaced people.

Many thanks to Witness for Peace-Mid Atlantic and the Colombia Human Rights Committee for helping to organize the White House rally.

You can also view an inspiring slideshow with photos from several cities' actions on Flickr. 

Despite the success of this year's effort (we had fun making paper dolls, too!), our work to change Colombia policy goes on. But before getting to that, we encourage you to check out the photo essay  below and take a moment to celebrate what we achieved together this spring. We hope you enjoy it!

  Activists carry paper doll banners and a life-size doll made by IDP communities in Bogotá. Portland, OR.

 
Cut-out paper dolls representing Colombian IDPs made at a party organized by Witness for Peace—Pacific Northwest.

Did you know that last year 1,500* Colombians were violently forced to flee their homes each day? At such a staggering rate, it's no wonder that Colombia is now home to more than 4 million internally displaced people (IDPs), more than any country in the world including Sudan.

While many of our readers know that Colombian human rights defenders are frequently targeted and stigmatized by public threats and innuendo that call the very legitimacy of their work—and sometimes their personal integrity—into question, what’s less well understood is how often the voices of those denouncing human rights abuses are stifled by baseless investigations and prosecutions.

Speaking to reporters after a local “security council” meeting in Norte de Santander earlier this week, President Uribe claimed that only 22 of the many hundreds of cases of “false positives” civilian killings by the Colombian army in recent years have any “judicial foundation.”

Another wave of threats has once again swept across Colombia, this time warning of an imminent “social cleansing” of “undesirable” individuals from Colombian society. Colombian churches and others are reporting that the violence unleashed by these alleged paramilitary threats has already left three young people and seven fishermen dead in Chocó.

Here's a guest blog from LAWG colleague Adam Isacson at the Center for International Policy on the debate surrounding Colombia's victims' law. Colombia needs a  strong, fair law on victims rights and meaningful reparations.

Did you know that last year almost 1,500 Colombians* were violently forced from their homes each day? It's no wonder that Colombia now has more internally displaced persons than any other country in the world, even more than Sudan.

Last week, Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos visited Washington, DC to meet with lawmakers and top Obama Administration officials, including Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Sec. Robert Gates, and National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones.

"My father was a dreamer. He was a cheerful, generous man. He was our friend and our hero, the man who helped us discover the world."

These are the words of Yessica Hoyos Morales, whose father, Jorge Darío Hoyos Franco, a Colombian labor leader, was assassinated in 2001 by two hired hitmen, as she testified to a hearing held February 12th by the House Committee on Education and Labor, chaired by Representative George Miller (D-CA).