CREDHOS has posted on Facebook:
“With much excitement and mixed feelings, we launched our mini-series documentary; ‘The Wounds of the River’, an audiovisual piece that highlights the voices of victims, artisanal fishermen, women, defenders and human rights defenders, who narrate the victimization against the region and our most important river artery: the Magdalena River.
This documentary series travels through the territorial realities of 8 municipalities in the region and about 32 testimonies of people who bravely decided to raise their voices, tell their stories and vindicate the Magdalena River.
In this launching, the victims and communities of Magdalena Medio were present, who were the protagonists of this mini-series.
This documentary is the result of the advocacy of the Regional Coordination of Case 08, in which we participated and have set a precedent for the victimization of the Magdalena River to be recognized.”
The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) is a tribunal that is responsible for administrating justice for crimes committed before December 1, 2016, in the context of the internal armed conflict that began in May 1964.
MSN explains: “It addresses the alliances between members of the security forces and paramilitary groups to commit crimes against humanity and war crimes against the civilian population. Homicides, massacres, forced displacement, forced disappearance, torture, threats, sexual and gender-based violence, murders, massacres and land dispossession.”
The José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR) further specifies: “Figures from the JEP indicate that in this macro-case there were 15,710 victims of crimes attributed to members of the security forces, 56,502 to paramilitaries and 280 to other agents of the State. The crimes being investigated in this case are: massacres, homicides, sexual violence, illegal detentions, torture, forced disappearances, dispossession and forced displacement.”
The JEP report THE ENVIRONMENT AS A SILENT VICTIM A diagnosis of the effects of the post-peace agreement (2017-2022) published in July 2022 notes the judicial decision that “RECOGNIZE(s) the Magdalena River, its tributaries as an entity subject to rights to protection, conservation, maintenance and restoration by the State, [the Bogota-based energy company] Enel-Emgesa and the community.”
That report also notes: “The natural environment is the silent victim of the armed conflict that still persists in Colombia. Precisely, the Investigation and Indictment Unit has counted at least 283 damages to nature since the signing of the Peace Accord [in June/August 2016] until May 30, 2022.”
PBI-Colombia has accompanied the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) since 1994.
Published by Brent Patterson on