Colombia:
Militarized mining tramples ancestral rights of indigenous and Afro-Colombian
communities in the Chocó
The Chocó
is a biogeographical region that forms part of the neotropics (meaning
that it contains the largest area of tropical rainforest). Its high
rainfall levels, tropical temperatures and isolation have helped
make it one of the world’s most biologically diverse regions as
well. In Colombia it encompasses the Pacific Coast region and, among
others, the department of Chocó, located between the jungles of
Darién and the basins of the Atrato and San Juan Rivers.
For centuries,
this region has been inhabited by Embera indigenous communities
and the Afro-Colombian communities of the Jiguamiandó River basin,
who are now threatened by a mining project. In 2005, the Colombian
government granted U.S.-based Muriel Mining Corporation a 30-year
concession for the mining of copper, gold, molybdenum and other
minerals (the Mandé Norte mining project) in an area encompassing
11,000 hectares of indigenous and Afro-Colombian territory in the
municipalities of Murindó (Antioquía) and Carmen del Darién (Chocó).
This area has already been hit by the violence of numerous Colombian
army operations backed by paramilitary groups, which resulted in
repeated displacement of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities.
In 2008, the
Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal tried and condemned Muriel Mining for
“the violation of the self-determination, culture and cosmovision
of indigenous, African-descendant and mestizo communities, and for
the profits derived from the systematic execution of crimes committed
over the last ten years by the military and paramilitary structures
in the Bajo Atrato and Urabá regions to permit the exploitation
and sale of copper reserves and gold and molybdenum by-products”
(http://www.sicsal.net/articulos/node/631).
Since late
2004, Muriel Mining has been encroaching into the region with no
prior consultation with local communities but with the consent of
the Colombian state and government, a fact that has been systematically
denounced by indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities.
In
early January of this year, workers from the mining company entered
Cerro Cara Perro, also known as Ellausakirandarra, a sacred site
used for traditional spiritual practices by the area’s ancestral
peoples and local communities, who reported that the company had
not duly consulted with the local population before entering their
territory, in clear violation of the 1991 Colombian Constitution,
ILO Convention 169 and Colombia’s Law 70 of 1993.
The
implementation of the mining project endangers the very survival
of the local communities, because mining operations entail the contamination
of the Jiguamiandó and Murindó Rivers, the destruction of native
flora and fauna, and the prohibition of the use of natural resources
by the region’s ancestral inhabitants.
The
area has been heavily militarized by Colombian army units, who have
been sent in to control the region and protect the mining company’s
operations, overriding the rights of the area’s traditional and
legitimate inhabitants. The government justifies this move on the
grounds of six meetings held with supposed indigenous representatives.
For their
part, the communities of Alto Guayabal, Bachidubi, Bella Flor, Cañaveral,
Caño Seco, Koredó, Coredocito, Guaguay, Isla, Lobo, Nueva Esperanza,
Pueblo Nuevo, Puerto Lleras and Urada have taken action to stop
the mining company, with the support of human rights organizations.
The communities affected by the Mandé Norte project do not recognize
the legitimacy of the meetings that the Colombian government puts
forth as “consultation”, since they were held through the Department
of Ethnic Affairs of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice. Only
a few of the region’s communities participated in these meetings,
which means they do not fulfil the principles of representativity
or full and informed consent established in ILO Convention 169.
As
a result, local indigenous leaders report that “with the power of
Mother Earth and our spirits, since the middle of January more than
700 indigenous people have been carrying out a reconnaissance and
territorial monitoring exercise in the community of Coredocito,
the site where a camp is being built at a distance of three hours
from the community.” (1)
On
February 24 to 28, the communities will be holding a consultation
for the defence of their territory, an internal decision-making
process in which men, women, the elderly and young people over the
age of 14 will be able to voice their opinions and decide whether
or not to allow the mining company onto their land. The consultation
will take place with the oversight of national and international
social, human rights, environmental and civil society organizations,
who will participate as observers and guarantors.
The
National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) declares: “We
do not need gold to live, but we do need corn and plantains, so
let’s drink chicha (corn liquor) and plant corn. MULTINATIONALS
OUT OF COLOMBIA! Muriel Mining Corporation out of indigenous and
Afro-Colombian territory!”
To support the protest of the Embera indigenous
people and other communities affected by Muriel Mining, Rainforest
Rescue has organized a campaign that you can join through its Spanish
language website at: http://www.salvalaselva.org/protestaktion.php?id=346
(1)
“La Muriel Mining Coporation, atropella y desconoce las autoridades
indígenas en la mina Cerro Carra de Perro”, statement by ONIC, in
Noticias de Censat, Agua Viva, http://www.censat.org/noticias/2009/2/6/La-Muriel-Mining-Coporation-atropella-y-desconoce-las-autoridades-indigenas-en-la-mina-Cerro-Carra-de-Perro/
