Thousands participate in Victims’ Marches all around Colombia

On Saturday 6th March, International Day for the Victims of State Crimes, thousands of victims’ relatives, social organisations and concerned citizens took part in marches all around Colombia . The marchers voiced their opposition to the government’s Democratic Security policy which has seen the complete militarization of civil society, large–scale systematic human rights violations, and massive displacement during Alvaro Uribe’s 8 years as President. They also protested the bubble of impunity surrounding almost all cases of human rights violations committed against the civil population by the army and paramilitary death squads aligned with the government.



Prosecutors in Colombia are investigating more than 1200 ‘false positive’ extrajudicial execution cases, where state forces murder civilians and dress them up in guerrilla uniforms to claim cash rewards offered by the government in return for dead ‘enemy combatants’. Meanwhile, despite the supposed demobilisation of paramilitary death squads they remain active and several respected NGOs have reported that they are growing at an alarming rate. Of the 35,353 paramilitaries who supposedly demobilised in 2003 and 2004, only 698 (1.98%) have been convicted for their offences, despite them being responsible for some of the most horrific, large scale violent crimes against humanity in recent human history. The National Movement of Victims of State Crimes (MOVICE) issued a statement voicing its concern that the vast majority of candidates in May’s Presidential election have vowed to continue with the Democratic Security policy.

This was the third year that Colombia’s victims have marched, and victims talked of the fear and harassment which they must conquer in order to demonstrate in public. “We are treated as criminals and enemies of the state rather than victims. Something must be done about the threats and violence against victims’ families in Colombia” said one victim’s relative who asked not to be named.

Social and Communitarian Minga continues to walk the word

More than 500 representatives of social organisations from all over the country met in Santander department, Northeast Colombia on 19th, 20th and 21st February to define the Minga’s agenda for 2010. The participants in three days of intense debate were indigenous, Afro-Colombian and Campesino community members, trade unionists, miners, students, women’s groups, human rights defenders, youth organisations, petrol workers and urban community organisation representatives.

The Social and Communitarian Minga is a broad-based social process which began in October 2008 with unprecedented mobilisations led by the country’s indigenous movements culminating in 40,000 participating in a 2-week march between the cities of Cali and Bogota. Along the way the Minga held public rallies in various towns and cities to discuss the social and humanitarian crisis in the country, in a process dubbed ‘walking the word’. The Minga seeks to unite all social sectors in protest over the systematic human rights abuses which occur in the country, and the humanitarian and social crisis created by the policies of President Alvaro Uribe’s government, whilst also proposing an alternative model for the country based on social justice, respect for human rights and the environment, and ‘bottom-up’ democracy.

The meeting, which took place in the city of Bucaramanga and the towns of Giron and Piedecuesta, defined three key moments for the Minga to work towards in 2010. Events will be organised in May based around May Day, and protests will also be held around the country in July to counter the government’s celebrations of 200 years of “independence”. This year’s key event is October’s Peoples’ Congress, a large-scale event which will ‘legislate for the people’ due to repeated governments’ failures to legislate in favour of the large majority of the Colombian population.

There were also a series of cultural events and public protests, including a march in Piedecuesta and a rally in Giron. Locals in the towns were intrigued and supportive towards the mingueros, with some entering to participate in the events. Delegates heard about some of the problems being faced by the local populations, including a planned giant rubbish tip which is already displacing people from poor neighbourhoods in Giron. They heard the moving account of a trade unionist from the national oil workers union USO about the strike which British Petroleum workers are currently carrying out in Casanare, and the police repression which they have met with. BP has so far refused to enter into any negotiation with the workers (for more info see Colombia Solidarity Campaign website).

One of the topics discussed this weekend was the importance of international participation in the Minga, and it is hoped that this year’s agenda will have strong international participation and lead to the internationalisation of the Minga.