Kimy and his people have suffered terrible violence. Their very survival is at risk. Please raise your voice for their protection.

Kimy Pernía Domicó is a highly respected leader of the Embera Katío Indigenous People, whose livelihood and identity are intertwined with the bounty of their rainforest home along the Upper Sinú River in northern Colombia.

The threats began with construction of a huge hydroelectric dam, financed in part by Canada’s Export Development Corporation. International human rights agreements and Colombia’s own constitution stipulate that Indigenous Peoples must be consulted so as to give their free, prior and informed consent to any project that will impact on their land. Yet the Embera Katío were not consulted.

As fish stocks disappeared and communities began to suffer hunger and disease, Kimy travelled to Canada to provide testimony to Canadian MPs. He knew that speaking out put his life in danger. He had received death threats. Another outspoken leader had been gunned down. But Kimy could not remain silent about the suffering of his people.

On 2 June 2001, Kimy was abducted by three gunmen thought to be army-backed paramilitaries. He was never seen again.

Ten years later, no one has been brought to justice for this crime, sending a green light for more human rights abuses that put Kimy’s people in grave danger.

Colombia has a rich and diverse Indigenous heritage, with more than a million inhabitants belonging to 102 different Indigenous Peoples.

Today, the survival of at least 32 of those Indigenous Peoples – including Kimy’s people, the Embera -- is at grave risk as a result of an ongoing armed conflict, large-scale economic projects and a lack of state support.

The risk factors are so serious that in his January 2010 report on Colombia, the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous People called for a visit by the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide.

Indigenous Peoples continue to be killed, threatened and driven from their lands by all the warring parties in Colombia’s long-running internal armed conflict. Between 2002 and 2009 alone, more than 1,400 indigenous persons were assassinated and another 70,000 were displaced forcefully from their territories, according to reports from the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia. Sadly the threats and violence are intensifying. A key reason is that Indigenous Peoples often live in areas coveted for their natural resources or strategic location.

As Kimy and his people experienced, when Indigenous leaders and communities try to defend their land rights and their right to free, prior and informed consent to economic developments that affect them, they commonly encounter significant opposition. This often leads to threats and killings, as well as mass displacement.

Many displaced Indigenous people have reported the cultural shock and disorientation they experience arriving in areas where the way of life and language are radically different from their own and discrimination is rampant. The consequences are particularly devastating for young people forced into alien environments, where they are deprived of the social and cultural networks and practices necessary for their survival as a people.

In January 2009, Colombia’s Constitutional Court issued an important ruling about this situation calling it “an emergency which is as serious as it is invisible”. The ruling calls on the Colombian government to implement a plan to guarantee the rights of displaced and endangered Indigenous Peoples. The ruling is binding on the Colombian government. It has yet to be implemented.

Amnesty Canada’s Colombia campaigner Kathy Price had the privilege of filming with Kimy on the Sinú River before he was disappeared.

“Until there is justice for Kimy, no defender of Indigenous rights in Colombia is safe,” says Kathy. “Over the past 10 years, threats and attacks have intensified. But it is not only individuals who are at risk. The horrendous reality is that the Embera are now among more than 32 Indigenous nations in Colombia threatened with complete destruction.”

"This is nothing short of a human rights emergency. But there is still time to confront these threats and protect lives at risk. Colombia’s Constitutional Court ordered the government to implement special protection measures. So far the government has failed to do so. International pressure carries weight in Colombia."

This video was produced by Inter-Church Committee on Human Rights in Latin America (ICCHRLA).