Indigenous Peoples, Afro-Colombian Communities and peasant farmers in Colombia have taken a range of actions, including cases before the Colombian Courts in an effort to safeguard their human, cultural and environmental rights. Despite winning these cases companies manage to circumvent the implementation of the Court Orders.

Indigenous, Afro-Colombian and peasant leaders take immense risks in pursuing legal cases in an effort to ensure that the rule of law functions in Colombia. The UN report that between 1 January to 23 August 2020, 97 human rights defenders (HRDs) were reported as being killed because of their work to defend human and environmental rights.

This event will take the Carbones del Cerrejón Limited (Cerrejon) Coal mine as a case study. Cerrejon is jointly owned by British and Swiss registered companies: Glencore, BHP and Anglo American.

In this virtual event you will hear from an Indigenous leader whose community is close to the Cerrejón coal mine in La Guajira, Colombia; a lawyer who is supporting the communities from one of the most important human rights law firms in Colombia; a civil society activist from a highly-respected Civil Society Organisation and former UN Special Rapporteur about these issues.

Panel of Speakers

• Rosa Maria Mateus – Collective of Lawyers of Jose Alvear Restrepo (CAJAR)
• Jenny Ortiz – Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular / Programa por la Paz (CINEP/Peace Programme)
• Misael Socarras Ipuana – Wayuu Indigenous Peoples, Community Leader La Gran Parada
• Michel Forst – Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders

Evento 24 _Caso de Cerrejón_

Register:

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