Colombia
Safety of the Embera Katío Still a Concern
The Indigenous Embera Katío people of Colombia are protesting against the impacts of a hydro-electric mega-project on the Upper Sinú River. Their safety continues to be a concern.
Amnesty International continues to be concerned for the safety of the Indigenous Embera Katío people of Colombia who are protesting against the impacts of a hydro-electric mega-project on the Upper Sinú River that received millions of dollars in financing support from Export Development Canada, a crown corporation of the Government of Canada.
Embera Katío leader Kimy Pernia Domico received threats against his life, while leading protests against the Urra dam. On June 2, 2001, Kimy Pernia was abducted by armed men reported to be members of a paramilitary group with links to the Colombian army. Kimy Pernia's fate has never been determined and those responsible for his "disappearance" have never been brought to justice.
In late December 2004, more than 400 Embera Katío set up an encampment outside the Colombian Ministry of the Environment in Bogotá to peacefully press for protection against further violence and implementation of promised mitigation of the impacts of the dam. There have been reports of the protesters being attacked and beaten by police.
Please urge the government of Canada to take immediate action to speak with Colombian authorities to indicate their concern about the safety of the protesters, seek clarification about the reports of protesters being attacked and beaten by the police and express their concern that the Colombian authorities act in a manner consistent with their obligations under international law.
Note: Those who have previously written letters on the case of Kimy Pernia and/or the Embera Katío should feel free to make reference to their earlier correspondence and ongoing concern.
Write to:
The Hon. Pierre Pettigrew, Minister of Foreign Affairs,
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Fax: (613) 995-9926
Email: Pettigrew.P@parl.gc.ca
Copies to:
Ambassador Jean-Marc Duval
Embassy of Canada in Colombia
E-mail: jean-marc.duval@dfait-maeci.gc.ca
Mr. Jose Herran-Lima
Director, South America Division
Foreign Affairs Canada
Email: jose.herran-lima@dfait-maeci.gc.ca
Background
The Embera Katío say they were never been consulted about the Urra hydroelectric mega-project prior to its construction, in violation of protections for the human rights of Indigenous peoples contained in ILO Convention 169 and the Colombian constitution.
Kimy Pernia Domico testified before a Canadian parliamentary committee in 1999 about the impact of the Urra hydroelectric mega-project on his peoples' health and well-being. According to Pernia, fish, the mainstay of the Embera Katío's diet, had disappeared from the tributaries of the Upper Sinú River and malnutrition was leaving his people susceptible to disease. Fast-running rivers had been converted into stagnant water, bringing mosquitoes and life-threatening malaria. Fertile land and food crops were being flooded, further jeopardizing food security.
The construction of the dam had been supported by some $25 million in financing from Export Development Canada.
In April 2000, under national and international pressure, the Colombian Government and the Urra Corporation signed agreements Embera Katío in which they promised to provide compensation, measures to mitigate those negative impacts, protection from violence, and new lands acceptable to the Embera, as well as suspension of a second phase of the mega-project that would flood even more land. These commitments have not been delivered.
The Embera Katío are calling for:
- negotiations in good faith with Embera Katío representatives towards solutions that ensure the security, human rights and well being of Embera Katío communities, whose physical and cultural survival becomes more precarious every day;
- compliance with the April 2000 commitments: including compensation for the damage done to Embera land, communities and livelihood (which would enable them, for example, to obtain health care in the face of increased illness, and productive projects to replace lost livelihoods); respect for the Embera Katío 's own plans for community development; new land acceptable to the Embera Katío; human rights protection and the suspension of Urra II
- concrete action to find and bring to justice those responsible for disappearing Kimy Pernia Domico
- international monitoring of the situation in Embera Katío territory