According to the most recent Colombian Census, carried out in 2018, the country’s Indigenous population numbers around 1,905,617 individuals belonging to 115 different communities. Despite Colombia’s Indigenous Peoples comprising only 3.9% of the total population, they are subjected to disproportionate violations of their human rights by illegal armed groups and large multinational corporations (MNCs).
Environmental Exploitation
Several Indigenous communities are struggling to survive with large-scale mining operations being carried out near to or within their territories. Colombia is a country rich in biodiversity, that Indigenous populations have been subsisting on and making a living from for many years, however multiple MNCs have exploited the environment to make way for mining activity that does not benefit local populations. British-registered MNC Glencore, for example, has diverted streams and rivers in La Guajira, damaging the Wayúu Peoples access to safe drinking water and impacting their means of food production.[i] The local population suffer from thirst and malnutrition – local leader Leobardo Sierra has stated that thousands of Wayúu children have died as a direct result of these issues.[ii]
The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment has stated that the Cerrejón mine is ‘the largest water polluter in the region’, and it ‘not only diverts and uses an enormous number of streams and tributaries, but also returns them contaminated with heavy metals, chemicals and sediments.’[iii]
Further, various dangerous metals have been found in water sources surrounding the mine which also affect the local Indigenous populations disproportionately.[iv] These metals have been known to cause cancer, reproductive ailments, skin diseases and other illnesses.
A report by CINEP, CENSAT and La Guajira le Habla al País, found that twenty-one communities were also forcibly confined due to Glencore’s closing of paths and prohibition of free movement within their territory. Such confinement leads to a lack of access to public services like hospitals and educational centres, and also to other communities.[v]
Violence, Intimidation and Social Marginalisation
Even more worrying, many Indigenous populations continue to be targeted by illegal armed groups that are engaged in ongoing conflict across Colombia. Colombia has retained its title as the most dangerous country in the world to be a rights defender, with 142 of the 300 killings worldwide occurring in Colombia. As of 5 August 2024, Indepaz has recorded 97 assassinations of defenders and social leaders throughout the country – with a disproportionate number of those killed being Indigenous leaders.
As well as targeting individuals, armed groups continue to force whole Indigenous communities into precarious situations of confinement, displacement or heightened violence. The number of people internally displaced by conflict in Colombia reached 293,000 in 2023 – surpassing pre-2016 levels. Security in ethnic territories, especially in southwestern Colombia, continued to be deeply concerning, with cases of child recruitment and violence against women, internal displacement, confinement and the use of landmines.[vi]
In February 2024, over 300 Wiwa Peoples, including children, were forcibly displaced in northern Colombia due to confrontations between armed groups in the area. Further, in May 2024 the Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del Norte del Cauca (Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca – ACIN) wrote an open letter to the left-wing guerrilla group, the EMC, calling for an end to the violence perpetrated by the armed group in their territories and against their communities. A lack of effective state presence in the territories means that armed groups are able to continue exercising violence over Indigenous communities, putting many lives at risk, despite the Constitutional Court ruling in 2004 that state abandonment of Indigenous communities in conflict-ridden areas constitutes a mass violation of their constitutional rights (Sentencia T-025/04).
Even if Indigenous Peoples are able to escape the grave situations of violence and displacement within their territories, their lives do not become any easier upon reaching bigger cities like Bogotá. Roughly 600 Indigenous Peoples are now living in makeshift tents in the capital’s Parque Nacional – having fled or been forcibly displaced due to violence. Those displaced come mostly from the Emberá-Katio and Emberá-Chamí communities, but there are also people of the Nasa, Wayúu, and Zenú populations, demonstrating the extent of this disturbing humanitarian crisis.
Progress
There is clearly a lot of work still to be done in Colombia with regards to the protection of Indigenous Peoples’ human rights, however the country has made some progress in this respect. For example, as well as the Constitutional Court ruling above, the Wiwa Peoples are also recipients of precautionary measures granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2005, which demand that the State protect their lives and integrity.
Further, an Ethnic Chapter and focus was included in the 2016 Peace Agreement between the State and the FARC-EP. Whilst the recognition of ethnic rights (both Indigenous and Afro-Colombian) in such an Agreement was a great achievement, almost 8 years later, the implementation of this chapter, according to the Kroc Institute (2022), has seen none of the stipulations relating to the ethnic focus completed.
In November 2023 the Colombian Government signed a pact to bolster the implementation of the ethnic chapter. The pact aims at achieving the implementation of 60 per cent of the ethnic chapter by 2026.
The National Commission of Indigenous Territories highlighted that National Land Agency has allocated less than 6 per cent of resources for Indigenous territories. This is particularly concerning, as only 30 per cent of development programmes with territorial focus initiatives (PDETs) that are focused on ethnic peoples have received funding, compared with 50 per cent for projects without this focus.[vii] Although the Agency for Territorial Renewal earmarked 30 per cent of its resources for ethnic initiatives, as agreed to in the pact, they have yet to be disbursed. Initiatives backed with these resources could help move forward with transformations, for instance, in the Pacific region.[viii] It is essential to speed up implementation if tangible results and transformative change realised in ethnic territories in the lifetime of this government.
In 2022, Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP, Spanish acronym) opened Macrocaso 09, which investigates crimes against humanity suffered by Indigenous, Afro-Colombian, Raizal, Palenquera and Rrom Peoples during the conflict. The JEP identified 365,967 victims from four regions of Colombia that were victims of crimes that fall under Macrocaso 09’s jurisdiction. The opening of this case marked a step forward in the protection of Indigenous Peoples lives and rights. In April 2024, two former high-ranking officers were called forward for testimony regarding the disappearance, torture and murder of three Arhuaco Mamos (spiritual leaders) and two further Indigenous Peoples from the same town in 1990. Macrocaso 09 also continues to hold educational days, and spaces for dialogue with victims.
In February 2024, the UNSC visited Colombia, spending time with Indigenous communities and listening to their concerns. Also, in March 2024, Francisco Calí Tzay (UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples) visited the country. Both visits acknowledged positive steps forward in the plight of Colombia’s Indigenous Peoples, yet persistent challenges and low levels of implementation were also highlighted. Calí Tzay made specific reference to a lack of state presence and the intersectional discrimination that Indigenous women face, urging the government to implement previous UN recommendations.
The Colombian State is clearly aware of its Indigenous populations’ struggle due to the legislation that has been created to protect these communities. More must be done to ensure compliance with national law, as well as improve implementation of the Ethnic Chapter and maintain the successful functioning of Macrocaso 09.
Recommendations to the Colombian Government:
- To commit greater resources to the implementation of the Ethnic Chapter in order to ensure the rapid advance in the implementation of the agreements and the transformation of the situation in ethnic communities.
- Ensure the protection of indigenous leaders and the full implementation of the policy for the dismantlement of illegal armed and criminal groups.
[i] See Johana Rodriguez, ‘Indigenas wayúu en la Guajira denuncian que no tienen agua por culpa de Cerrejón’ (AFM News, 2 September 2019).
[ii] See Vanessa Baird ‘Who’s Backing Glencore’s Toxic Mining? (You, Perhaps)’ (New International, 4 December 2023).
[iii] UN, ‘UN expert calls for halt to mining at controversial Colombia site’
[iv] See Johana Rodriguez, ‘Indigenas wayúu en la Guajira denuncian que no tienen agua por culpa de Cerrejón’ (AFM News, 2 September 2019).
[v] Executive Summary: “Does Cerrejon Always Win? Between Corporate Impunity for Human Rights Violations and the Search for Comprehensive Reparation in Times of Transition” p4
[vi] United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia, Report of the Secretary-General 27 June 2024 para 64
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