Colombia must prioritize rights of Indigenous People and Afro-descendant communities above economic
Colombia must prioritize rights of Indigenous People and Afro-descendant communities above economic interests
4 November 2015, 05:01 UTC
The Colombian government must prioritize the right of Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities to decide how their land is developed above companies’ desire to exploit those territories for profit, said Amnesty International in a new report today.
Access to and use of Colombia’s resource-rich land is one of the most critical issues in the peace negotiations between the government and the guerrilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), currently taking place in Havana, Cuba. Many of those who have been forced off their homes due to the armed conflict are looking for ways to return to and reclaim their lands.
“The ownership and occupation of land has been at the heart of Colombia’s brutal war, with around six million forced off their homes since 1985 because of the violence. Any peace deal will be meaningless unless the rights of Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities to return to their lands and decide how they are used are prioritized above companies’ desire to exploit those lands for their own profit,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
Some six million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes as a result of Colombia’s armed conflict. At least eight million hectares of land -- some 14% of the country’s territory – have been abandoned or illegally acquired. Most of those affected are Indigenous, Afro-descendant and peasant farmer communities whose existence depends on living off their land.
More:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/press-releases/2015/11/colombia-must-prioritize-rights-of-indigenous-people-and-afro-descendant-communities-above-economic-interests/
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