Operation Dragon: “A case of alarming and shameless impunity,” says lawyer Jorge Molano

PBI speaks with attorney Jorge Molano about so-called “Operation Dragon” in which union leaders, human rights defenders and political leaders were the objects of a campaign to discredit them and an alleged assassination plot in...[more]

Social Movements in Colombia

The majority of the marchers who took to the rainy streets of Bogota at the end of April with flags and picket signs calling for peace and social justice —some 50 and 80 thousand of them—had travelled up to 20 hours by bus from...[more]

Timeline

1996-97

Forced displacement of approximately 3,000 inhabitants from the Curbaradó and Jiguamiandó River Basins.

2000

The Constitutional Court requested that the Ministry of Interior provide adequate protection measures for...[more]

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights orders protection for the communities

In 2003, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights granted provisional measures to these communities, ordering the Colombian State to "adopt such measures as may be necessary to protect the life and the right to humane treatment...[more]

Death threats

According to information from the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission, the leaders demanding the return of their land have received threats on an ongoing basis over the last several years. For instance, Enrique Petro...[more]

Murder of community leaders

As the communities have organised to defend their rights, selective murders of leaders have increased.1 In 2010, nine small-scale farmers who were leading processes to recover seized land were murdered in Urabá.2

Orlando...[more]

The violent seizure of land continues

Despite being a collective territory in which land may not be bought or sold, different companies have been able to acquire land in the Curbaradó and Jiguamiandó River Basin.1 In fact, in February 2011, the Superintendent of...[more]