For peace, Colombia must return stolen land, respect rights - Amnesty

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

For peace, Colombia must return stolen land, respect rights - Amnesty
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation - Wed, 4 Nov 2015 05:01 GMT
Author: Anastasia Moloney

BOGOTA, Nov 4 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The Colombian government must ensure indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities uprooted by warring factions can return home and have a greater say in how their lands are developed, rights group Amnesty International said.

Over five decades of conflict, more than six million Colombians have been forced off their land by fighting among Marxist rebels, right-wing paramilitaries and government troops, government figures show.

The issue of how to return stolen and abandoned land to its rightful owners is a key talking point at peace talks in Cuba between the government and the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Displaced communities wanting to return also face the problem of exploitation by mining companies, according to a report published by Amnesty on Wednesday.

Read more: http://www.trust.org/item/20151104050250-xas1n/

[Judi Lynn]

1. 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/latest/news/2015/11/colombia-must-prioritize-rights-of-indigenous-people-and-afro-descendant-communities-above-economic-interests/