By Pearl Rimon
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

 BOGOTA, COLOMBIA – A Colombian tribunal has restored land stolen from 32 displaced families as part of the country’s land restitution law. Residents of Córdoba have been the target of numerous threats and intimidation. A tribunal that specializes in land restitution issues ruled on February 13^th for the restitution of 405 acres of land on the Santa Paula Farm.

The land restitution office was created by the Victims and Land Restitution Law in 2011 which is supposed to return over 4.9 million acres to the displaced owners affected by the nearly 50 year conflict.The new law aims to return millions of acres that belonged to Colombians who have fled their homes due to violence in addition to financial compensation, all of these displaced Colombians are victims of human rights violations and infractions of international humanitarian law.

“This ruling restores victims’ ownership over land seized by one of Colombia’s most powerful paramilitary mafias, in a region where it continues to exercise influence. It is a milestone achievement for Colombia’s land restitution office and the victims who have courageously stepped forward to reclaim their land,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, the Americas director at Human Rights Watch.

Mario Cuitiva, a member of one of the families claiming rights to the farm has been the target of threats and intimidation which caused him to flee in November 2012.  Cuitivia, is not the first member of these displaced families to experience repercussions. Yolanda Izquierdo, a former leader of the effort to reclaim the Santa Paula farm was shot in January 2007. The shooter is Sor Teresa Gómez, member of the AUC, the right winged paramilitary organization that planned the theft of the land. There are 49 members of the families who have had threats made against them.

There has been debate in Colombia by how successful the land restitution law has been. The Interclesial Commission for Justice (CIJP), a NGO, has accused associates for former president Uribe in blocking land restitution. Many of those associates have links to paramilitaries and are undergoing investigation. “Officials of the government of Uribe, and persons of his entourage are engaging in actions legal and illegal [to block land restitution]. For example people were fraudulently chosen as representatives of their communities. They are businessmen or put forward by businessmen – businessmen linked to paramilitaries,” said Jesus Alberto Franco, a spokesman for the CIJP.

The land restitution office has filed an additional 80 claims to the land and are awaiting the rulings.

 

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch — Colombia: Landmark Ruling for Land Restitution – 20 Feb 2013

Colombia Reports — Paramilitaries, Uribe’s Associates ‘Blocking’ Land Restitution: NGO – 15 Feb 2013

Amnesty International — The Challenges of Colombia’s Victims’ Law – 15 June 2011

Human Rights Watch — Colombia: Victims Law a Historic Opportunity – 10 June 2011

By Pearl Rimon
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

QUITO, Ecuador – Rafael Correa won the presidential election earlier this month by a wide margin. Correa’s win could mean more media regulations on the country.

“No one will stop our revolution….We have never failed and we will never fail,” a jubilant Mr. Correa told a screaming crowd from a balcony at the government palace after the results were announced.

Correa won this year’s election he won with 57% of the vote, his closest opponent was Guillermo Lasso, a former banker who had 23% of the vote. Correa has only been office since 2007 but is the country’s longest serving President in decades with this second term. Since taking office, Ecuador’s poverty rate has dropped to 32.4%. The number of government employees has increased from 16,000 to 90,000. He has improved access to education and health care as well as improved the country’s roadways.

During Correa’s first term, he made radical changes including changing electoral law and the constitution to allow for consecutive political terms.

He has had a tough policy regarding media outlets that issues out fines and lawsuits when the outlets are critical of his government. Despite Correa’s win, many are worried that his win will threaten the free press. A specific concern is a proposed communications law, which could lead to more checks on the media.

“We hope that the confrontation and harassment of the press is over, but we hope that the confrontation and harassment of the press is over, but we see the risk of trying to control the media’s content and establish prior censorship of journalist work,” Vicente Ordoñez, president of the country’s National Journalist Union, said Monday.

Current media laws in place make it illegal for biased political reporting. Examples of these laws since May 2012 include at least eleven radio stations have been closed and Vistazo magazine was charged with an $80,000 fine after being accused of violating a political propaganda law. Violations are ruled on by a tribunal or the country’s Constitutional Court.

Corerea has had repeated problems with the national newspaper El Universo, Ecuador’s National Court of Justice ratified a decision sentencing the paper’s owners and former columnist to three years in prison for defaming the president and fined them $40 million. After worldwide criticism, Correa pardoned the journalist and waived the fine.

Other criticisms facing Correa stem from his prosecution of indigenous leaders for organizing protests against large-scale mining projects.

 

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Ecuador’s Correa Wins Third Presidential Term – 18 Feb 2013

The Guardian — Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa Says Citizens Will Be in Charge, Not Money – 18 Feb 2013

Wall Street Journal — Ecuador Election Win Seen Tightening Correa’s Grip – 18 Feb 2013

New York Times — President Correa Handily Wins Re-election in Ecuador – 17 Feb 2013

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

QUITO, Ecuador – The authorization for a Chinese company’s development of a large copper mine within Ecuador’s amazon province incited hundreds of protesters claiming that the mining would contaminate the water sources and force people from their lands. In today’s Ecuador, these people might be deemed terrorists.

It’s becoming harder to identify exactly what a terrorists in Ecuador does. Years ago it was the bombing of civilians and diplomats for political and military leverage, today? It’s the protests and resistance to what the government calls development, but what the protesters characterize as the protection of the amazon.

The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, in an attempt to halt the growing expansionism of Amazonian lands has stated numerous times, that the president had failed in his promise to defend the interests of Ecuador’s indigenous population, and is in fact prosecuting 189 Indian leaders on the grounds that they are terrorists despite his promises to support the people and their environmental interests. In a statement “The person that has infringed most on our rights in the past four years has been the president.”

In a special assembly held last year, the infamous “head shrinking” Shuar tribe of Ecuador declared “The Amazon does not have to pay for the external debt the government has with china.” When Canadian and Chinese mining companies came to strip mine swathes of land, they lived up to those words. In the last ten years indigenous tribes have begun taking militant action against those that would destroy the eco-integrity of the land. And for that work, they have been deemed to be committing terrorism by Ecuadorians President Rafael Correa.

With the growth of South American infrastructure and the move to total industrialization the demand for oil is growing. This growth has led to a quickening arrival of drills from China and Canada, and unfortunately for the indigenous tribes of the amazon rain forest, who live and rely on the ecosystem underneath the lush rain forest, are vast deposits of oil, metals and minerals.

Armed resistance and violence continues against mining camps, and have been met with state security forces and the strong arm of Correa who has made a hobby out of arresting activists and intimidating journalists who threaten his conjured image of the ecologically minded man-of-the-people.

As hostiles continue, the Shuar tribe echoed a call for resistance, “to get the gold, they will have to kill everyone of us.”

For more information, please see:

Salon – “To Get The Gold, They Will Have To Kill Every One Of Us” – 10 February 2013

Red State – Ecuador’s Hugo Chavez – 7 February 2013

Pachamama Alliance – Shaur Assembly Says: “The Amazon Does Not Have To Pay For The External Debt The Government Has With China” – 1 October 2012

Al Jazeera – Indigenous Resistance Is The New ‘Terrorism’ – 10 July 2011

 

By Pearl Rimon
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LIMA, Peru – Peru has been experiencing clashes for the last 18 months in the Cajamarca region. Four people were shot and killed and more than 20 wounded in the protests surrounding Newmont’s $5 billion Conga mine due to taking water away from the villages and farms.

“The only thing the people want is water for families, but the mining companies want to take it. And soldiers will kill if you get in the way”, said Adelaida Tabaco, the widow of a man killed in the most recent clash.

In order to build Conga, two lakes will be dug for the copper and ore while two other lakes will be filled with the debris from separating the metals from ore. Conga is projected to produce 680,000 ounces of gold and 106,000 tons of copper yearly.

The conflict spans the continent of South America, pitting South American governments paired with foreign companies against citizens who are at risk of losing their homes due to their water supply being used for industrial causes. South America is seeing a trend with leaders accelerating the approval of water-use projects like the Conga mine. Peru is on track to expand 6% in GDP this year due to gold, silver and copper mine investments.

The majority of Peru’s mines including Conga are located in the Andes where they experience nearly nonexistent rainfall from May to October. According to the UN, growing populations have decreased the amount of usable water per person by 1/5 since 1992 in Peru.

In the areas of the country where mines are expanding, the water supply is already in short supply according to the National Water Authority. The Peruvian government must spend $394 million on canals and reservoirs by 2016 for use during the annual water shortages that occur during the dry seasons.

The conflict over the limited water resources has become deadly. Since 2010, fifteen people have been killed in protests against the government for allowing mining companies to use the water resources. This water shortage has made it difficult for substantial farming to occur. The protests began in April 2010 against Southern Copper Corporation’s mine near the Chile-Peru border. This escalated the next year by two people dying in protests against water use by a Switzerland-based company’s mine.

The constant hostility due to the mining operations has been an issue for President Humala since his slight margin of victory in 2011.

People in the Andes area are already struggling with water shortage due to the rainfall being below average for two years.

 

For more information, please see:

Bloomberg News — South Americans Face Upheaval in Deadly Water Battles – 13 Feb 2013

Financial Times — Mining: Andean concessions – 05 Feb 2013

Vancouver Sun — Manthorpe: Peru battles widespread local hostility to mining projects – 03 Feb 2013

Human Rights Watch — Peru: Letter to Presidente Ollanta Humala – 20 September 2012

By Pearl Rimon
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America 

 

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina  —  The British Foreign Secretary William Hague, has accused the Argentine government of “bullying” and intimidating behavior towards residents of the Falkland Islands. The Falkland Islands are under British rule but Argentina has disputed since 1945. In June 2012, the Falkland Islands announced they would hold a referendum on its sovereignty status, scheduled for the upcoming month.

 

The Argentine government has refused to recognize the existence of the Falkland Islands, and refers to the islands as the Malvinas. The Argentine Foreign Minister, Hector Timerman refused a meeting with Hague due to the government not recognizing Falkland Islanders’ existence. Timerman held a press conference during his London visit and said “The Falklands islanders do not exist. What exists is British citizens who live in the Islas Malvinas. The United Nations does not recognise a third party in the conflict. It says there are just two parts – the UK and Argentina.”

The Falkland Islands have shown signs that they want to remain under British rule and reject Argentina’s sovereignty claim. Hague said “This is a community that is nearly 200 years old. They seem very determined to remain British. If there’s any chance they would change their minds, the approach by Argentina is completely counterproductive.

It only fortifies the islanders’ determination to stay British. It is only going to add to the decades and centuries that the Falklands will remain British.”

Timerman withdrew from a scheduled talk with Hague last week after Hague demanded that residents from the islands be represented in the sovereignty discussion. Timerman called the suggestion an ultimatum.

In response to Timerman’s withdrawal, Jan Cheek, representative of the Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands, said “We are disappointed, but hardly surprised. Argentina prefers to disregard our existence, rather than engage constructively with the people who have lived on the Falkland Islands for so many generations.”

Argentina considers people born in the islands to be Argentine citizens. Timerman guarantees that due to this status islanders have “all the social, civil, economic, political rights as any Argentinean citizens born in continental Argentina.”

Argentina’s claim for sovereignty of the Falkland Islands is led by their President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

 

For further information, please see:

 

BBC News — William Hague: Argentina bullying Falklands – 10 Feb 2013

Voice of Russia — New outbreak of Falkland Islands (Malvinas) war – 8 Feb 2013

Sky News — Argentina: Falklands Islanders ‘Don’t Exist’ – 6 Feb 2013