US, Black Rose Anarchist Federation - Press release:
AFROCOLOMBIANS IN COLOMBIAN PACIFIC FACE A GRAVE HUMANITARIAN
CRISIS
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
The Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento (CODHES) expresses its
profound distress due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis affecting the Colombian civilian
population and especially the Afro Colombian and indigenous populations in the Colombian
Pacific region. This region traditionally impacted by a dynamics of structural exclusion
has been the most affected by the armed conflict over the last few years to the point that
the CODHES Information System has registered more than 368 cases of forced displacement in
the region over the last five years. ---- In the 2012 report "The Humanitarian Crisis in
Colombia Persists. The Pacific under siege," CODHES warned about an increase in the armed
conflict in the Pacific region, a situation that continues to get worse. This increase
goes against the quest for peace and heightens the vulnerability of the people who live in
this region.
Recent attacks that have victimized local residents include the destruction of the power
grid, indiscriminate attacks with explosive devices, bombings, thousands of forced
displacements, selective killings, threats to the population, among other actions that are
a violation of the human rights and fundamental freedom of Afro-Colombians and other
residents of the region, specifically in the cities of Tumaco, Barbacoas, Magüi Payán
(Nariño province), Guapi, López de Micay (Cauca province), Buenaventura (Valle del Cauca
province ), and the Chocó province.
CODHES calls on all parts involved in the armed conflict especially the national
government and the FARC to immediately end all hostilities that affect the human rights of
these communities and that are a violation of international humanitarian law. It is vital
that all parts put an immediate end to all activities that infringe international norms
that prohibit attacks against the lives and safety of civilians and that result in direct
attacks against the civilian population.
CODHES also calls on the international community and Colombian society to reject in the
most adamant way this disproportionate and systematic violence against Afro-Colombians and
all residents of the Colombian Pacific region.
CODHES supports the peace dialogs in Havana, Cuba because a sustained and durable peace
that recognizes and guarantees victim's rights is a necessary step to put an end to this
humanitarian crisis. CODHES also celebrates the announcement of a Truth Commission to move
forward in the defense of the rights of all victims and Colombian society at large to know
what happened as well as the creation of a system of transitional justice to bring those
responsible to a court of law. The integral reparation of all victims is a fundamental
component for a sustainable peace. Increased efforts to achieve a final agreement and an
end to hostilities must be the main objective of all parts, as an integral peace should be
a central objective of Colombian society. CODHES proposes the immediate creation of a
humanitarian agreement to protect the civilian population of the Colombian Pacific region.
And last CODHES recognizes the courage of the organizations and communities who confront
and resist this humanitarian tragedy in Pacific region, and we express our solidarity with
all the communities affected by this humanitarian crisis that is disproportionately
impacting Afro-Colombians.
