«Il n‘y a pas un monde développé et un monde sous-développé, mais un seul monde mal développé»
As an association acting as an interface between partner organisations and the UN international system, CETIM has continued to make use of the UN’s mechanisms for the protection of human rights in relation to different situations and specific violations. Here are some extracts.
Repression, racism et rights violations of indigenous communities in Bogotá
CETIM and Z-Dok.org, in collaboration with representatives of the indigenous communities of Colombia, have brought a complaint to different United Nations human rights protection mechanisms. This procedure aims to condemn repression, racism, and human rights violations of indigenous communities living in the national park in Bogotá since September 2021. The majority are people who were displaced during the armed conflict in Colombia or as a result of exploitation projects for natural resources on their ancestral land. The situation of the people living in the national park in Bogotá has been condemned in Colombia for the past several months, and around the world. CETIM and its partners are worried that to date, the dialogue between the district and the 15 indigenous communities living in the park has had no positive outcome. After six months living without decent accommodation, the people are living in the park in deplorable conditions, violating their rights as indigenous people, but also their economic, social and cultural rights (food, healthcare and accommodation in particular), they are quite simply exhausted. In light of this situation, our organisations have decided to make use of the UN mechanisms to demand assurances of dialogue, a dignified life, and respect for human rights, as well as immediately seeking to find a solution that is favourable to these communities.
Violation of peasant rights in Colombia
FENSUAGRO, la Via Campesina, CETIM, Friends of the Earth International and FIAN International submitted a report to human rights protection mechanisms aiming to condemn the violation and repression of the Colombian peasantry and more precisely, persecution targeting the National Federation of Agricultural Farming Unions (FENSUAGRO). In fact, despite a peace process that was initiated in 2016 to end armed conflict in Colombia, the issue of land access and its use is still unresolved, perpetuating the cycle of violence in Colombia. Since 2019, the country has been experiencing an exponential increase in the number of representatives of social movements being killed by paramilitary groups.These executions are primarily linked to conflicts over land, territory and natural resources; it is estimated that around 80% of homicides are of social leaders in rural areas. Since the peace treaty was signed (2016) up until March 2022, approximately 1000 peasant leaders have been killed.
Advocating for a follow-up mechanism on the Declaration on the rights of peasants
Invited by CETIM, Morgan Ody from La Via Campesina addressed the Human Rights Council to request the creation of a new follow-up mechanism for the UN Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas (UNDROP). In fact, since it was adopted in 2018, the UNDROP has given the communities, and humanity as a whole, a historic impetus. This new instrument could play a key role in tackling inequality and discrimination affecting rural areas, which make rural communities an extremely vulnerable
population. Since this instrument was adopted, efforts have been made to implement the Declaration at all levels. A new special procedure to monitor the implementation of this instrument is essential to support its tangible implementation on the ground, but also internationally.
Read the statement from Morgan Ody from La Via Campesina
Read the release from LVC and CETIM
Violations of the right to water in the north and east of the Syrian Arab Republic
The population in the northern and eastern regions of the Syrian Arab Republic are suffering as a result of systematic and generalised human right violations, which are primarily the result of a proxy war in the form of a foreign military presence and the involvement of major powers. In the framework of this current contribution, CETIM has looked at the issue of water rights in the north and east of Syria. The Syrian populations’ water rights, and in particular the peasant communities that depend on water for agriculture, are being systematically violated in the context of military occupation of the land by Turkey and pro-Turkey militias. This situation has had devastating consequences for the
fundamental rights of populations, and particularly for their economic, social and cultural rights.
Read the report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic
