Indigenous Peoples in Colombia continue to suffer violent attacks as a result of the ongoing conflict, and last year, the Awa peoples faced two massacres that took the lives of unarmed families.
In July 2009, in the midst of this violence, the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples traveled to Colombia to meet with Indigenous leaders and to shed a light on human rights abuses. As the days of his visit approached, MADRE supported the work of La Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia (ONIC), a leading Indigenous Peoples' rights organization in Colombia, to gather testimonies. We also helped to ensure that the voices of a group of Indigenous women would be heard by the Special Rapporteur, facilitating their travel to the capital.
Recently, we received an update. September's edition of the newsletter of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues shared some disturbing news. In July 2010, representatives of the Permanent Forum visited Colombia for a follow-up investigation on the conditions for Indigenous Peoples and determined that it was "serious, critical and deeply worrisome." Indigenous Peoples are still confronting persistent human rights abuses that include murder, kidnapping, displacement, forced recruitment and other threats. The investigation by the Forum also uncovered extreme abuses against women, including sexual violence.
Read the rest of the "Message Stick," the Permanent Forum newsletter, here.
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