THE ACTIONS FOR CHANGE COALITION (APC) REQUESTS THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT TO SUSPEND THE FORCED ERADICATION OPERATIONS DURING THE COVID-19 CONTINGENCY IN ORDER TO GUARANTEE THE RIGHTS OF RURAL POPULATIONS
The COVID-19 pandemic places the Colombian State in an exceptional situation, where there is a duty on the part of the government to take rigorous measures to contain its expansion and to guarantee the right to life, to health in connection with the life and survival of its inhabitants.
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Despite the measures implemented by the national government to face this emergency [1] , several organizations in the departments of Catatumbo, Caquetá and Putumayo have denounced the intensification of forced eradication operations in those departments, specifically in municipalities where they were signed. Collective agreements within the framework of the Comprehensive National Program for the Substitution of Crops for Illicit Use (PNIS), which to date have not been fully complied with by the national government. This non-compliance, added to the ignorance of the isolation measures against the COVID-19 pandemic, has caused in recent days various violations of the rights of rural populations:
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In the village of Nueva Granada, Municipality of Puerto Asís in Putumayo, in the framework of the national quarantine, on March 19 Marco Rivadeneira, an emblematic leader who promoted the substitution of crops in the department and sought alternatives for those who had remained, was assassinated. outside of crop substitution programs. The murder of Marco Rivadeneira, according to COCCAM data, brings to 60 the number of people killed for leading substitution processes in Colombia. Three days after the events, on March 22, the arrival of members of the security forces was reported, who, using handpumps, began to fumigate coca leaf crops with glyphosate. [two]
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In Caquetá, according to public complaints from the Coordinator of Coca, Marijuana and Poppy Growers (COCCAM) and the Departmental Coordinator of Social, Environmental and Peasant Organizations of Caquetá (COORDOSAC), despite the health crisis, since March 23 In the Palestinian village, Unión Peneya Inspection in the municipality of Montañita, members of the National Army carry out forced eradication operations using force, through shots, against the cultivating population [3] .
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Finally, according to information from the Catatumbo Peasant Association (ASCAMCAT) and COCAM, last Thursday March 26, within the framework of a mobilization against forced and violent eradications, Alejandro Carvajal was assassinated in the Santa Teresita village, township Victory in the municipality of Sardinata, Norte de Santander by members of the National Army. The responsibility for this homicide has already been recognized by the institution [4] .
Faced with the aforementioned context, the APC coalition requests the Colombian government:
Investigate the facts and punish those responsible for the murders of Marco Rivadeneira and Alejandro Carvajal, as well as the threats and use of force by the National Army against rural populations in Catatumbo, Caquetá and Putumayo.
Attend to the mandatory preventive isolation measures ordered by the Presidency and suspend forced eradication operations, in order to avoid COVID-19 infections, with the aim of guaranteeing the right to health and food security of the rural population, considered a population at risk.
Respect and advance in the fulfillment of the voluntary substitution agreements signed with the peasant communities.
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SINCERELY
COALITION OF ACTIONS FOR CHANGE
Contact: Paula Aguirre Ospina
Telephone: 3115410078.
Email: paulaaguirre@elementa.co
[1] Ministry of the Interior. Decree 457 of 2020 by which health emergency instructions generated by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and the maintenance of public order are given. Published on March 22, 2019.Available at: https://id.presidencia.gov.co/Documents/200323-Decreto-457.pdf
[2] See: Anti-narcotics Police carry out glyphosate fumigation with spray bombs in the village of Nueva Granada, Puerto Vega-Teteye Corridor, Puerto Asís, Putumayo. COCCAM-Putumayo communiqué, March 21, 2020.
[3] See: Firing the National Army carries out forced and violent eradication of coca leaf crops in the Palestinian village, Peneya Union Inspection in the municipality of La Montañita, Department of Caquetá. COCCAM statement of March 25, 2020.
[4] See: Extrajudicial execution in the framework of violent and forced eradications in Catatumbo. Statement from ASCAMCAT and COCCAM of March 26, 2020.