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in the Senate: 2 of 108 senators are part of an indigenous community (although there is actually only 1 special indigenous constituency)in the House of Representatives: 2 of 171 representatives are from an indigenous community
The State does not provide political education, the indigenous communities do not have the necessary training to be able to participate in this decision makingThey are not provided with the necessary information, in fact, according to studies by the National Forum for Colombia, 22.4% of Colombians do not have information on the functioning of the spaces for participationThe State does not take responsibility for barriers which make participation difficult, such as a situation of vulnerability or language
Signing of the AgreementFiling of the bill before the Congress of the RepublicLegislative approval of the bill 📍 We are here Judgment of constitutionality Deposit of the instrument of ratification
Colombia
What is the Escazú agreement and why it’s important to get it ratified in Colombia?
⬇️Here you can understand what’s the Escazú agreement and why it is so important ⬇️
Colombia is the second country in the world with the highest number of murders of environmental leaders according to Global Witness.
The country is framed by an extractive economic model and illegal economies, where the exploitation of non-renewable natural resources has generated a series of conflicts. Given the state vision promoted by the national government, the extraction of mineral resources and oil has become the main economic activity of the country, which has caused a series of conflicts.
Current environmental issues ー click on the triangle to read!
There are many environmental problems in Colombia, such as illegal mining, deforestation, monocultures and illicit cultivation, the use of African palm in the generation of fuels, as mentioned before the extraction of mineral resources and oil has become the main economic activity of the country ー this has brought serious environmental problems.
Fracking nearby communities and endangering lives
Fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well. The process can be carried out vertically or, more commonly, by drilling horizontally to the rock layer, which can create new pathways to release gas or used to extend existing channels.
In Colombia the use of fracking would mean a risk for the nearby populations because it can generate damage to public health such as respiratory and hormonal problems.
On February 28th, 328 (issued by the Ministry of Mines and Energy) was generated and approved, which allows the realization of pilot tests of fracking, to subsequently pass to its formal and total approval in the country.
Estefany Grajales, a leader from Magdalena Medio, assures that the communities are not being informed nor do they have an active participation, since the approval of the Decree was a total surprise for them. She also stated that:
"In the decree the issue of social license does not appear anywhere and that is going to generate many more conflicts because where there is no participation, the socio-environmental problems are magnified".
Who are we protecting?
Colombia has protection laws, but still there are constant murders of social indigenous leaders and defenders of the land, who do not receive sufficient protection from the government.
In the first 5 months of 2020 more than 100 have been killed. 80% of those leaders belonged to peasant, community and/or ethnic rural organizations related to conflicts over land, territory and natural resources.
They also receive daily threats against their own lives and those of their loved ones, some have been forced to leave their territories along with their families. The threats also come in the form of telephone warnings like
“Tell Yury and Yule (social leaders) that over here they are saying that the order is to take them both down (kill them).”
These warnings come from who are fighting for control of the drug trafficking network and the territory.
The government isn’t making enough effort ー click on the triangle to read!
This year in May, the Attorney General's Office convened a virtual Table for Life, in which leaders from different regions of the country participated in order to present their demands to the national government.
The government is not doing enough to guarantee the protection of leaders and defenders, since the number of murders has been increasing exponentially over the months.
They are only “focusing” on the deaths, forgetting the other factors such as economic, political, environmental interests ー many leaders require the state to make an objective analysis of the situation because of this, along with that effective plans be implemented to stop the violation of human rights instead of continuing to propose militarization as the only way out.
The communities the government has no interest in feel ignored and left out, but in spite of this the denunciations do not stop and they continue fighting.
Indigenous participation
The number of indigenous representatives in the Senate and Congress is highly insufficient to carry out initiatives to benefit Colombia's indigenous communities. There is a great indifference and discrimination that exists on the part of the State towards these issues and the lack of political determination on the part of the congressmen.
Current indigenous political participation in Colombia:
The situation in the Amazon
In the Amazon, the indigenous communities do not have a voice in the decision-making process, because:
There is no entity that can effectively regulate the laws that exist to protect the indigenous communities, which should observe carefully the compliance of this type of policies. Many times companies make decisions about projects such as oil exploitation or deforestation. This is why we need to get the agreement ratified.
Let’s get it ratified!
✔️Colombia signed the agreement in December, 2019.
To integrate an agreement into the constitutional block in Colombia, the following steps must be taken:
On July 20 the government presented the bill to the congress so the ratification is getting closer.
Did you know?💡
Colombia signed the agreement after a lot of pressure from social and environmental groups.In November 2019 there were strong where one of the thousand reasons was the signing of the agreement.
Your voice matters!
We can help build a more equitable, transparent, and safe Colombia as well as in the Caribbean and Latin America, but only if you let it be known that you want Colombia to demostrate its leadership in the Latin America, serve its people, and ratify the Agreement.
⬇️Here’s how you can help ー take action collectively at the page (this makes it easier to complete everything)
Twitter storm❗
Send these click to tweets targeted at the Colombian governmental officials to urge them to ratify the Escazú Agreement!
Email storm📬
Normally the requests are sent by mail to the congressmen so it is a good tool to show what we want. Remember to vary the subject and some words so that it is not taken as spam. Here are email templates and links to help you email Colombia's congressmen easily! The links work best on a mobile phone, if you want to send an email from your computer, you can find all the templates and information you need below!
Send an email to the Colombian Congress to urge them to ratify the agreement! It will take less than a minute!
Click to send the email ⬇️📩
Please remember to add your name and your country where it says (name / country)!
If the links don’t work
Email template 1
Mail to:
Subject: Ratificación del Acuerdo de Escazú
Mi nombre es (your name) y soy de (your country in spanish) . Me dirijo a usted para pedirle que el acuerdo de Escazú sea ratificado antes del 26 de septiembre para que todos los colombianos tengan un acceso pleno y efectivo a los derechos resaltados en él.
La perdida de un millón de km cuadrados de selva en 25 años, que más del 68% de los suelos en sudamerica sufran de erosión por la ganadería extensiva, que más del 23% de las especies estén en vía de extinción, que el 70% del agua usada en las ciudades, la industria y la agricultura no tenga tratamiento alguno al momento de regresar a los ríos, lo que pone a 25 millones de personas en riesgo de contraer alguna enfermedad. (Además, resaltando que estás cifras no solo afectan a toda la región sino que además obligan a que los defensores que luchan para hacer un cambio estén más vulnerables que nunca pues solo en el 2017 fueron asesinados 116). Todo esto demuestra que la ratificación de este acuerdo no solo es urgente, si no necesaria para cumplir con los derechos básicos de los ciudadanos pues todo lo anterior está poniendo el riesgo una gran cantidad de derechos, incluyendo el derecho a la vida.
En Colombia, este acuerdo garantizara el reforzamiento de instrumentos normativos nacionales, tales como la Ley de Transparencia y Acceso a la Información Pública, y el Acuerdo Nacional (Objetivos 1, 2 y 4). Es un instrumento también para gestión anticipada de contingencias y conflictos socioambientales,lo que es muy necesario para el país, considerndo que más del 70% de los conflictos, reportados por la Defensoría el Pueblo, son de carácter socio-ambiental y se manifiestan en zonas extractivas, donde habitan comunidades campesinas e indígenas.
Como ciudadanos los elegimos a ustedes para que nos representen y dejar pasar la ratificación de un acuerdo tan importante como este es una clara muestra que no están velando por nuestro bienestar ni el de nuestras futuras generaciones.
Espero que lo considere, muchas gracias
(name).
Email template 2
Mail to:
Subject: Queremos el acuerdo de Escazú
Buenos días, soy (name) de (your country in spanish ) y hoy me dirijo a usted para pedirle que el acuerdo de Escazú sea ratificado antes del 26 de septiembre para que todos los colombianos tengan un acceso pleno y efectivo a los derechos resaltados en él.
Me cuesta pensar que un acuerdo tan importante todavía no sea haya ratificado en el país, pues no solo es el primer instrumento jurídico en materia de protección ambiental, si no también es un tratado de derechos humanos donde se reconocen los derechos de todas las personas, se proporcionan medidas para facilitar su ejercicio y, lo que es más importante, se establecen mecanismos para llevarlos a efecto. Si nos fijamos en la dramática situación actual del país, el acuerdo de Escazú es una oportunidad para lograr el cambio que todos queremos y necesitamos en Colombia.
Espero que lo considere y que haga lo posible para que este acuerdo sea ratificado.
Muchas gracias.
Email template 3
Mail to:
Subject: La ratificación del acuerdo de Escazú es urgente
Mi nombre es (name) y soy de (country in spanish) . Le estoy escribiendo este mensaje con el objetivo de pedir que no se deje de lado la ratificación del acuerdo de Escazú, pues si se tiene en cuenta la situación tanto de Colombia como de América latina y del caribe, es sumamente urgente y necesario.
Este acuerdo aspira a un mismo objetivo: que todos los países de la región cuenten con el mismo nivel de protección, garantía y promoción de los derechos de acceso, manteniendo como principio la soberanía permanente de los Estados sobre sus recursos naturales (artículo 3, Acuerdo de Escazú).
Sinceramente no encuentro razón válida para que el acuerdo no sea firmado y espero que usted haga lo posible para impulsar su ratificación. Cuento con usted para que me represente.
Gracias.
Email template 4
Mail to:
Subject: Escazú Ya
Buenos dias,
En un contexto en el que los actos de corrupción siguen saliendo a la luz y demuestran cómo afectan el desarrollo del país, es preciso que convenios como el Acuerdo de Escazú contribuyan al fortalecimiento de la gobernanza ambiental en Colombia, en favor de las poblaciones y el medio ambiente.
Si aun no lo ha hecho, le invito a leer el acuerdo de Escazú y reflexionar lo que significaría su implementación en nuestro país.
Usted se comprometió en representar a la población peruana en favor de los derechos humanos y la lucha contra la corrupción, este es momento de demostrar que sus promesas no quedaron solo en palabras y en verdad busca el bienestar de nuestra tierra!
Atentamente,
(name)
Thanks for your help!
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