South American states launch a joint alert system when Awá communities are attacked by armed groups.
Colombia and Ecuador launch a joint alert system aimed at protecting Awá indigenous communities of the attacks by armed groups in the border region between the two countries.
At a press conference Tuesday in the Colombian capital Bogotá, human rights defenders from the two countries announced the new system, which is designed to alert government and military officials in each country to possible attacks.
“The presence of illegal armed groups and organized crime in the cross-border area of Ecuador and Colombia has caused humanitarian consequences, especially against the nearly 29,000 members of the great Awá family who live in the area,” said the Colombian office. said the Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, on Twitter.
As illegal business activities like mining invade areas that indigenous communities call home, violence and intimidation followed by armed groups and criminal organizations.
1/4 The presence of illegal armed groups and organized crime in the cross-border area between Ecuador and Colombia has caused humanitarian consequences, especially against the nearly 29,000 members of the great Awá family who live in the area. pic.twitter.com/awQhsIFUSJ
— Ombudsman’s Office (@DefensoriaCol) March 7, 2023
Camargo said that the Awá communities have suffered assassinations, forced displacements and the threat of land mines. Children are also targeted for recruitment by armed groups.
He said that 14 indigenous community members were killed last year and some 10,000 had been displaced or confined as a result of the violence.
Armed groups, including dissidents from the now-disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and rebels with the National Liberation Army (ELN)—operate near the Ecuadorian border, as do drug trafficking groups.
In Colombia, leftist President Gustavo Petro has launched negotiations with armed groups, including the ELNafter decades of internal conflict.
“The possibility of carrying out their operations on a porous border —with gaps in state presence— favors the interests of illegal groups,” Camargo said.
He called on armed groups to end the violence and stop attacks on indigenous communities.
“We want to alert the Colombian State and the Ecuadorian State about these human rights violations… so that the necessary urgent measures are taken to prevent the violations from continuing,” said Ecuador’s Ombudsman, César Córdova Valverde.
Throughout Latin America, indigenous communities with long histories of violent persecution continue to face threats from a variety of actors.
In Brazil, federal authorities recently carried out operations to evict illegal miners from indigenous lands yanomami community.
As illegal businesses have made their way into Yanomami territory, residents have been subjected to violence and displacement, as well as disease and malnutrition.
