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$200Q \ : Pr(X)Ftna)0=^$ J^^TOCnc^ 200q \ : pr(X)ftna)0=^ NATIONAL AUTHORITY OF INDIGENOUS GOVERNMENT (ONIC) OF COLOMBIA Ana Manuela Ochoa Arias PERMANENT FORUM ON INDIGENOUS ISSUES Eighth Session New York, May 18-29, 2009 Human Right Madame Chair, many thanks. Distinguished Brothers and Sisters: We, the Indigenous Peoples of Colombia, are currently suffering from one of the worst humanitarian crises as a consequence of structural discrimination, the implementation of regressive public policies, the ineffectiveness of land law. Democratic Security Policy and the Colombian armed conflict, all of which has engendered, in the past 7 years alone, 1244 assassinations of Indigenous people throughout the country, 71,149 forced displacements from Indigenous territories, a status of near-extinction for 18 Indigenous Peoples\ a 75% malnutrition rate for Indigenous children,^ and 609 Indigenous deaths caused by lack of medical attention between 2002 and 2008.^ In 2009, the violence affecting Indigenous Peoples has greatly increased, affecting Peoples living in border areas (Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador) due to the militarization of their lands, the fumigation of illegal crops, and the displacement and death of their Indigenous brothers and sisters divided by State boundaries. Last year, these acts of violence provoked a large demonstration in which more than 15,000 people participated. Everyone will remember that the State treated this demonstration as an act of war, leaving more than a hundred Indigenous persons wounded and several dead. In this context the criminalization of Indigenous Peoples and their organizations was fomented by high- ranking officials within the Government, who compared our organizations to terrorist groups. In the last few months, the State has decided to promote the creation of new Indigenous organizations, which constitute a new risk factor for the disintegration of the national Indigenous movement. The situation of Indigenous women is even more dire and complex. 128 women have been murdered, 68 cases of sexual violence have been reported, and the children of Indigenous women are killed even before birth {During its survey tour, the humanitarian minga found the body of Blanca Patricia Guanga Nastacuas, 18 years old, who was eight months pregnant; at the moment of her death; her stomach was cut open with a sharp blade to remove the baby, which was found by the side of her body). There currently exist more than 400 constitutional applications for protection, some of which have been waiting for over 15 years, going well beyond the reasonable extent of time established by the Interamerican System for the Protection of Human Rights. Even though the Ministry of Culture has provided our villages with radio stations, these stations have not been sustainable as the government has prohibited them from advertising to secure ' GUANANO, WIBA, SIKUANI, SALIBA, MAIBEN, MASIWUARE, YAMALERO, TSIRIPO, YARURO, AMURUA, WIPIWI, EDURIA, COFAN, CARIJONA, GUYABERO, BORA, NUKAK MAKU, SIRIANO. ^ National Information System of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) [Sistema de Informacidn Naciona! de la Organizacion Nacional Indigene de Colombia (ONIC)]. maintenance revenue. Recently, this same Ministry has decided to seize the records of projects coming from Indigenous villages as a result of the debts acquired by these Indigenous radio stations. It is important to stress the negative impacts of the dismantling of approved rights and the subsequent declaration of unconstitutionality of laws such as the Rural Development Statute and the General Forest Law. The Colombian Constitutional Court has used as examples the existence of deceptive consultations (such as the Motilon Bari case). Likewise, the Colombian Government is carrying out a variety of development projects that affect Indigenous Peoples, who themselves have not been consulted. (For example, on the Cano Mochuelo Indigenous Reservation in the Casanare Region, there have been 4 "development" projects conducted without consultation: channeling the Meta River, oil exploration and exploitation, agroindustrial cultivation of palm and pine, and the creation of a protected area.) In January 2009, the Colombian Constitution Court declared that the Indigenous Peoples are in danger of becoming exterminated both physically and culturally by the internal armed conflict; and they ordered the formulation of plans for the safeguarding of 34 of these Peoples. Finally, we wish to express that State support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has not been a unilateral decision; rather, the State responds to the pressure exercised by Indigenous organizations and Colombian civil society; and we hope that this support will translate into actions in favor of the Peoples and their organizations. RECOMMENDATIONS: That the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: 1. Conduct an urgent mission to the Colombian State to have them recognize the grave humanitarian situation in which the Peoples find themselves in this country. 2. Even though they may accompany the visit of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples, Jaime Anaya. 3. Urge the Colombian Government to invite the Special Representative of the Secretary General for the Prevention of Genocide for an in situ visit. 4. Inform the Permanent Forum concerning what measures are being taken by Colombia to investigate in an efficient and impartial way these assassinations, as well as the threats made against Indigenous organizations and their leaders. 5. Urge the Colombian State to implement in an integrated way the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 6. Recommend to the Colombian Government the development of a public policy on Prior Consent in Colombia with the participation of Indigenous Peoples. .

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