Colombia

Presentation: In the context of Colombia's ongoing internal armed struggle, President Santos has declared mining a new economic engine for Colombia, running up against the rights of indigenous, afro-Colombian, campesino, small scale and artisanal miners, and water users. Jen Moore gave this presentation at a teach-in organized in Toronto by the Colombia Action Solidarity Alliance (CASA) and the Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network (LACSN) on December 4, 2011.

News Release: Canadian labour, faith, social justice, and solidarity organizations have sent a letter to the Canadian Embassy in Colombia expressing concern that Canadian mining companies may well be aggravating or benefiting from violence.

Declaration - A statement from the Colombian Network Against Large Scale Transnational Mining, RECLAME, following Greystar Resources's decision to withdraw its request for an environmental permit for its Angostura project in the Colombian páramos of Santurbán. The decision comes on the heels of mobilizations in the city of Bucaramanga in which tens of thousands of people participated. RECLAME calls on Colombian authorities to ensure that these and other páramo ecosystems within the country are protected from mining activities, according to Colombian law. An estimated 108,972 hectares of páramo - a fragile high altitude wetland ecosystem - currently fall within concessioned areas.

This report, researched by MiningWatch Canada, CENSAT-Agua Viva, and Inter Pares, looks at four case studies of Canadian extractive industry investment projects in Colombia, analyzing their associated potential human rights risks. Referring to principles developed by the UN Special Representative on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations, the report identifies issues and circumstances that clearly indicate that transparent and independent human rights impact assessments are necessary to avoid significant potential risk to human rights in existing and proposed extractive projects. Available from Inter Pares on request or download the PDF. Also available in French and coming soon in Spanish.