Even as rescuers struggled through the mud, the military were destroying the miners’ houses to stop them returning – and arguments over mining became re-ignited.

Local and national government are looking at how they can regulate, or more likely ban, small-scale miners from dangerous areas. However, as the Catholic Church and environmental NGOs point out, the government is still seeking to license large-scale miners in place of the artisanal miners: how much better would these companies be in dealing with such difficult tropical conditions?

The disaster  happened in the region of Xstrata‘s planned Tampakan project. The companies involved in Tampakan continue to lobby for lifting  the open-pit mining ban that would affect the project. It has also occurred on the island where tribal leaders have recently reiterated their call for the end of large-scale mining activities, believing it will lead the destruction of ancestral domain, environment, and life.

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=10894.

The industry body, ICMM, regards these workers as “stakeholders” in corporate enterprises, without requiring a radical change to the nature of commercial mining. See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=9890.

Earthworks wants to improve small scale gold mining practices, but doesn’t quite see this happening as it should.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=9891.

Dutch think tank, SOMO, asks why jewellery manufacturers aren’t adopting measures to change conditions under which coloured gem finders are forced to work. See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=9884.

Communiqué to national and international public opinion:

Continued extermination of members of Fedeagromisbol

Two artisanal miners have been assassinated in the south of Bolivar.

We, the organizations below, reject and denounce to public opinion the following facts:
1. On the 10th February 2010 towards 7 in the morning the brothers OMAR ALONSO RESTREPO OSPINA and JOSE DE JESUS RESTREPO, 26 and 40 years old respectively, both artisanal (smallscale) miners and members of FEDEAGROMISBOL, and OMAR ALONSO also president of the Community Action Committee in the hamlet of Dorado, left Montecristo municipality in the direction of Caucasia Antioquia, in order to buy parts for their vehicle. They arrived at Nechi at about 10a.m. that same day and continued their journey to Caucasia.

2. According to the locals the brothers were accosted by a group of armed men about 20 minutes from Nechi municipality and taken to an unknown place. Some versions of the events held the paramilitaries that operate in the area responsible.

3. Some people from Dorado went to the municipality of Nechi to find out the whereabouts of the Restrepo brothers and the police informed them that they knew of a place where there were two bodies, a place known as Parcela de Londres. However this place was too large to find them.

4. Yesterday, 12th February, during the night, the dead body of OMAR ALONSO RESTREPO OSPINA was found in the Cauca River in the municipality of Achi, and today in the early morning, the dead body of JOSE DE JESUS RESTREPO RESTREPO was found in the Cauca River, in the municipality of Guaranda. Both bodies were found with visible signs of torture.

5. These assassinations are part of a long string of acts of aggression against the people of the south of Bolivar, such as the assassination of ALEJANDRO URIBE CHACON on the 19th September 2006 and others which we consider to be actions which are part of a strategy to force us to leave our territories, as part of a larger more macabre alliance between the national government and the gold mining multinationals such as ANGLO GOLD ASHANTI and palm companies such as Grupo Dabon who are trying to take control of the natural resources in the south of Bolivar.

6. We hold the Colombian state responsible for these occurrences. The state has refused to continue dialogue with the communities in the south of Bolivar in the form of the Forum for Dialogue and, on the contrary, has continued to militarize the region and openly permit the actions of paramilitary groups.

We condemn outright these assassinations and all actions which try to force the people of the south of Bolivar from their land.

We are calling out to all sister organizations to denounce this to the authorities, demanding firm responses to, and investigations of, the assassinations, and an immediate end to the aggression against the people of this region.

We also ask that the relevant departments of state do everything in their power to clear up the questions around these crimes and punish those responsible.

FEDERACION AGROMINERA DEL SUR DE BOLIVAR
COMISION DE INTERLOCUCION SUR DE BOLIVAR
MOVICE – CAPITULO SUR DE BOLIVAR – SUR DEL CESAR
CORPORACION SEMBRAR
REDHER – COLOMBIA
ORGANIZACIÓN FEMENINA POPULAR
COORDINADOR NACIONAL AGRARIO-CNA
ORGANIZACIÓN INDIGENA DE COLOMBIA – ONIC
RED FRENTE A LA GRAN MINERIA
CORPORACION AURY SARA MARRUGO
INSTITUTO NACIONAL SINDICAL – INS
NOMADESC
CAMPAÑA PROHIBIDO OLVIDAR
RECALCA
COMISION INTERCLESIAL DE JUSTICIA Y PAZ
AIDA
RED ANTORCHA
RED REVUELTA
CENSAT- AGUA VIVA
ASOCIACION MINGA
CORPORACION COLECTIVO DE ABOGADOS LUIS CARLOS PEREZ
OBSERVATORIO DE TRANSNACIONALES
ECOTIERRA
CORPORACION COMPROMISO
CONCIENCIA CAMPESINA
OBSERVATORIO SOCIAL Y AMBIENTAL

13 February 2010

COMUNICADO A LA OPINION PUBLICA NACIONAL E INTERNACIONAL
CONTINUA EXTERMINIO CONTRA FEDEAGROMISBOL
ASESINADOS DOS AGROMINEROS EN EL SUR DE BOLIVAR

Las organizaciones abajo firmantes denunciamos y rechazamos ante la opinión pública los siguientes hechos:

1. El día 10 de febrero de 2010 hacia las 7 de la mañana los hermanos OMAR ALONSO RESTREPO OSPINA Y JOSE DE JESUS RESTREPO de 26 y 40 años respectivamente de profesión agromineros y socios de FEDEAGROMISBOL y OMAR ALONSO presidente de la Junta de acción comunal del corregimiento el Dorado y fiscal de la Asociación agrominera del corregimiento el Dorado ; salieron del municipio de Montecristo hacia Caucasia Antioquia, con el fin de comprar unos repuestos para un vehículo de su propiedad. Llegaron a Nechi hacia las 10 de la mañana del mismo día y continuaron el viaje hacia Caucasia.

2. Según versiones de pobladores de la región los hermanos fueron abordados por un grupo armado a 20 minutos del municipio de Nechi y llevados con rumbo desconocido. Algunas versiones señalaron como responsables a paramilitares que operan en la región.

3. Pobladores del Dorado se trasladaron hacia el municipio de Nechi con el fin de Indagar sobre el paradero y la suerte de los hermanos Restrepo la policía les informe que conocían de la presencia de dos cadáveres en el sitio conocido como Parcela de Londres pero que el sitio era muy extenso para ubicarlos.

4. Ayer 12 de febrero en las horas de la noche en el rio Cauca a la altura del municipio de Achi fue hallado sin vida el cuerpo de OMAR ALONSO RESTREPO OSPINA y hoy en las horas de la mañana en el río cauca a la altura del municipio de Guaranda fue hallado sin vida el cuerpo de JOSE DE JESUS RESTREPO RESTREPO. Ambos cuerpos fueron encontrados con visibles signos de tortura.

5. Estos asesinatos hacen parte de una larga cadena de hechos de agresión contra los pobladores del sur de Bolívar como lo fue el asesinato de ALEJANDRO URIBE CHACON el 19 de septiembre del 2006 y otros tantos que se vienen presentando en el marco de lo que consideramos una estrategia integral para el despojo del territorio por parte de una alianza macabra entre el gobierno nacional y las multinacionales del oro como la ANGLO GOLD ASHANTI y palmicultoras como el Grupo Dabon que pretenden apoderarse de los recursos naturales del sur de Bolívar.

6. Responsabilizamos de estos hechos al estado colombiano que se ha negado a continuar dialogando con las comunidades del sur de Bolívar en el marco de la Mesa de Interlocución y al contrario continua militarizando la región y permitiendo abiertamente la acción de los grupos paramilitares.

Rechazamos rotundamente estos asesinatos y todas las acciones tendientes a despojar a los pobladores del sur de Bolívar de su territorio.

Llamamos a las organizaciones hermanas a que se pronuncien ante las autoridades exigiendo acciones firmes de esclarecimiento de los asesinatos ocurridos y que cesen inmediatamente las agresiones contra los pobladores de la región.

A los organismos de control del estado a ejercer los mecanismos necesarios para que estos crímenes sean esclarecidos y los responsables castigados.

FEDERACION AGROMINERA DEL SUR DE BOLIVAR
COMISION DE INTERLOCUCION SUR DE BOLIVAR
MOVICE – CAPITULO SUR DE BOLIVAR – SUR DEL CESAR
CORPORACION SEMBRAR
REDHER – COLOMBIA
ORGANIZACIÓN FEMENINA POPULAR
COORDINADOR NACIONAL AGRARIO-CNA
ORGANIZACIÓN INDIGENA DE COLOMBIA – ONIC
RED FRENTE A LA GRAN MINERIA
CORPORACION AURY SARA MARRUGO
INSTITUTO NACIONAL SINDICAL – INS
NOMADESC
CAMPAÑA PROHIBIDO OLVIDAR
RECALCA
COMISION INTERCLESIAL DE JUSTICIA Y PAZ
AIDA
RED ANTORCHA
RED REVUELTA
CENSAT- AGUA VIVA
ASOCIACION MINGA
CORPORACION COLECTIVO DE ABOGADOS LUIS CARLOS PEREZ
OBSERVATORIO DE TRANSNACIONALES
ECOTIERRA
CORPORACION COMPROMISO
CONCIENCIA CAMPESINA
OBSERVATORIO SOCIAL Y AMBIENTAL

13 febrero de 2010

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=9870.

From the human rights team of the Process of Black Communities and other organisations:

6th August is the date fixed for the eviction of the black community in La Toma, in the Suárez municipality in north Cauca, Colombia. La Toma´s Afro-descendant inhabitants have been declared ´squatters in bad faith´ in a legal possession order taken out by Raúl Fernando Ruiz Ordoñez and Jesús Sarria. Yet the presence of black communities on these lands dates from 1636, since when they have worked small gold mines which is today the only means of subsistence for hundreds of families.

The black community´s territory in La Toma district consists of 7,000 hectares, some 6,500 hectares of which, including the cemetery, are sought by Anglo Gold Ashanti for exploration purposes. The company has found a fast-track to an immediate start to operations, via two mining concessions together making up 403 hectares. They are concession EKE-151 (314 hectares) held by Raúl Fernando Ruiz Ordoñez, and concession BFC 021 (99 hectares) held by Héctor Jesús Sarria. Neither of these concession holders are linked with the community, nor have they carried out any mine exploration or exploitation activities. Rather, in the light of the known interest of Anglo Gold Ashanti, these two gentlemen have initiated a legal process of expropriation that will stop the afro-colombian miners from developing the work that they have carried out for generations in this district.

Anglo Gold Ashanti and the Canadian owned company Cosigo Resort have been pressurising to take over other territorios in Suárez, and the neighbouring municipalities of Buenos Aires and Santander. None of the moves by these mining corporations respect the the right of the black communities to consulta previa (prior consultation) the guarantee set out in ILO Convention 169, as recognised by Colombia´s constitution, and elaborated in Law 70 passed in 1993.

This is not the first wave of evictions from this region. Back in the 1980s the construction of the nearby La Salvajina dam and reservoir system displaced hundreds of families to the urban slums of Agua Blanca in Cali and other cities. The environmental, economic, social and cultural impacts of this hydroelectric project have still not been addressed by the operating company CVC (Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca) or the Colombian state. In 1994 the Salvajina project was taken over by Energía Eléctrica del Pacifico-EPSA (in turn owned by Spanish multinacional). EPSA tried to divert the Ovejas river that runs by La Toma in order to augment Salvajina´s gnerating capacity.

Before Salvajina, the afro-colombians native to this region sustained themselves through fishing, agriculture, ferrying and mining; after the dam´s construction much of the best farming land was flooded under the reservoir and there were drastic climate changes; both of which led to a crisis in traditional farming. For most of the black community the only remaining means of making a living was through artisanal gold mining. Besides the predicted environmental impacts from the open cast mining that Anglo Gold Ashanti and similiar multinationals want to undertake, this artisanal mining would disappear and the black communities would be displaced entirely from their territories.

In Judgement No 005 of 2009, Colombia´s Constitutional stated a number of contributing factors tending to cause the displacement of afro-colombians including structural exclusion, the pressures generated by big mining and agriculture, and deficient legal protection for the collective territories of the black communities. The Constitutional Court drew special attention to the situation of the black communities who are the ancestral inhabitants of Buenos Aires and Suárez as an emblematic case; these communities are a clear and living example of the risks pointed out by the Court of the vulnerability of territorial rights, the loss of social and cultural control by the communities, the violation of their right to prior consultation, and the absence of registration of ancestral territories that even now have not been recognised as collective property.

The Constitutional Court ordered that there be effective participation of the communities, and set in motion a plan of monitoring that would take into account the general factors and the specific risks identified in its judgement 005. The Court ordered that the territorial rights of the afro-colombian communities be protected through the design of a plan to be implemented by 30 October 2009, characterising the lands as ancestral territory, of ethnic signficance and part of the patrimony of these communities.

The artisanal gold mines constitute one of the last common goods still conserved by the black communities of northern Cauca. Their eviction from La Toma would be one more link in the historic chain of unjust expropriations that should be blocked by determined action by all the communities.

We call on all afro-colombian organisations, leaders and other social sectors nationally and internationally to take action to demand:

1. That the Colombian Ministry of Mines and Energy revoke the mining concessions EKE-151 held by Raúl Fernando Ruiz Ordoñez and BFC 021 held by Héctor Jesús Sarria, on the grounds that has not been prior consultation with the black communities living on these territories.
2. That the Ministry of Mines and Energy definitively stop the order to evict the black communities of the Corregimiento (district) La Toma, located in Suárez municipality in the north of Cauca department.
3. That the Ministry of the Interior, Justice and Social Action immediately fulfil the the Constitional Court Judgement No 005, by formulating an action plan of attention and protection of these communities, putting in place the measures organised by the Court to protect the territory and the patrimony of the communities.
4. In the case of any process concerning the exploration and exploitation of mining resources, and other projects and political or administrative measures that might affect the black communities, the application of Consultation with Free, Prior and Informed Consent in accord with ILO Convention 169 and the national Constitution.
5. That the Ministry of the Interior adopts measures for the protection of the life and security of community leaders in the region.

With our traditional affirmation of Life, Happiness, Hope and Freedom /
Con nuestra tradicional afirmación de Vida y Alegría, Esperanza y Libertad

CONSEJO COMUNITARIO DE LA TOMA
ASOCIACION DE CONSEJOS COMUNITARIOS DEL NORTE DEL CAUCA
PALENKE DEL ALTO CAUCA
PALENQUE EL KONGAL
CONSEJO COMUNITARIO CUENCA DEL YURUMANGUI
CONSEJO COMUNITARIO CUENCA DEL MAYORQUIN
CONSEJO COMUNITARIO MAYOR CUENCA DEL ANCHICAYA
CONSEJO COMUNITARIO CUENCA DEL CALIMA
CONSEJO COMUNITARIO BAJO MIRA Y FRONTERAS
CORPORACION PALENQUE SIGLO XXI
PROCESO DE COMUNIDADES NEGRAS EN COLOMBIA PCN
FEDERACION AGROMINERA DEL SUR DE BOLIVAR
CORDINADOR NACIONAL AGRARIO. CNA
CORPORACION SEMBRAR
ASOCIACIÓN NOMADESC

CAMPAÑA PROHIBIDO OLVIDAR
CED INS
PAZ CON DIGNIDAD

RECOMMENDED ACTION / ACCION SOLICITADA
Please send to the following emails/ Estos son los correos de los
funcionarios que debieran comunicarse
Ministro del Interior y de Justicia Fabio Valencia fabiovalencia@mij.gov.co.
Ministro de Minas y Energía Hernán Martínez menergia@minminas.gov.co
Dirección para asuntos de Comunidades Negras, Afrocolombianas, Palenqueras
y Raizal. Rosa Carlina García drnegrasafroraizalypalem@mij.gov.co
Human Rights Director / Dirección de derechos Humanos. Rafael Emiro
Bustamante dhdirector@mij.gov.co
Viceministro de Justicia Miguel Antonio Ceballos Arévalo
vicejusticia@mij.gov.co
Viceministra del Interior Viviana Manrique Zuluega viceinterior@mij.gov.co
Secretaria general María del Pilar Serrano Buendía sgeneral@mij.gov.co
Send copies and for any other information contact / Si se requiere la
comunicación favor hacerlo al correo pcnkol_bogota@renacientes.net

Translated by Colombia Solidarity Campaign. The Campaign adds: please also send a brief message with the above demands to the Colombian Embassy in your country.