Article by PBI-Canada

PBI-Colombia has posted on its Instagram page: “PBI accompanied the Small-Scale Farmer Association of the Cimitarra River Valley (ACVC) which on April 9, the National Day of Memory and Solidarity with the Victims of the Armed Conflict, made the socialization of the report ‘They wanted to kill us’ to the Commission for the Clarification of the Truth, in the village of Puerto Matilde in the municipality of Yondó, Antioquia.”

ACVC-RAN notes on its webpage: “The event was presented by the president of the Truth Commission Father Francisco José de Roux (Father Pacho), the Regional Corporation for the Defense of Human Rights (CREDHOS), the Middle Magdalena Development and Peace Program (PDPMM) and the peasant of the Peasant Reserve Zone of the Cimitarra River Valley. It also features international accompaniment from International Action For Peace IAP and Peace Brigades International PBI.”

“This report talks about the impacts in the context of the armed conflict on the peasant movement of the Middle Magdalene. An effort by the peasant to contribute to the clarification of truth from memory and analysis of facts relating to persecution, stigmatization, and forced displacement to the peasant movement between 1990 – 2010. Events and affectations were also presented to peasant women highlighting the important role each of them has played during the struggle and agricultural resistance of the peasant movement.”

It adds: “The ACVC submitted a series of requests to the Commission for the Clarification of Truth and the Colombian State which are placed in the historic claims of the peasant. That the state recognizes its responsibility, that the right of truth is guaranteed, that progress in international jurisprudence is recognized, that the state complies with the legal recognition of the ZRC-VRC, and that there are guarantees for life and work.”

PBI-Colombia has previously explained: “For more than twenty years the ACVC has been striving for a dignified life for peasant families affected by Colombia’s internal conflict. It promotes the implementation of the Peace Agreement as a strategy to achieve structural changes in the Colombian countryside. One of its prime initiatives is helping small farmers substitute coca leaf plantations with environmentally sustainable agricultural projects.”

PBI-Colombia has accompanied ACVC since 2007.

On April 9, the @ACVCRAN made the socialization of the report ‘They wanted to finish us’ at the @ComisionVerdadC and @FranciscoDeRoux. Our IAP team was present to accompany the event together with @Credhos_Paz, @PDPMM1 and @PBIColombia.”

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