OPEN LETTER TO EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS ON THE DELICATE HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN COLOMBIA

Paris, May 4, 2021

At the initiative of Colombian civil society associations, movements, and organizations, we would like to draw your attention to the serious human rights violations currently taking place in Colombia. Since April 28, 2021, Colombians have responded massively to the national strike. They are demonstrating peacefully, against an unjust tax reform bill presented by President Iván Duque, in the midst of a health crisis, but also against the increase in poverty, the reduction of public investment and against the new wave of sustained violence that the country is experiencing due to the non-implementation of the peace agreements signed in 2016. We warn about the serious human rights abuses committed by the Colombian police. Between April 28 and May 3, human rights organizations denounced 26 murders, 56 disappearances and 9 victims of sexual violence by ESMAD members (special anti- riot forces). In five days of protests, 761 arbitrary detentions were reported, as well as numerous cases of police violence, including 56 cases of gunfire against peaceful and unarmed demonstrators. These actions by the Colombian police have become systematic in repressing social protest, as was also the case in the November 2019 and September 2020 demonstrations. At the beginning, Colombians demonstrated against the tax reform now withdrawn by President Ivan Duque. However, the social protest continues today against the reform of the health and pension system and, more globally, against the deterioration of the living conditions of Colombians. We wish to express our deepest concern about the resurgence of violence and the dramatic weakening of the rule of law in Colombia. We ask the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the International Criminal Court, the United Nations, the signatory countries of the peace agreement, the , the governments and parliaments of European countries to issue a statement demanding an end to the violence in Colombia by the government of Iván Duque. Additionally, we urge to send an international verification commission to ensure that the human rights of citizens are respected and that crimes against humanity do not go unpunished. Moreover, we would like to draw the attention of the international community to remain attentive to the evolution of the situation in the country, as we observe with great concern the deterioration of the human rights situation. Every 48 hours a human rights defender or a community or political leader is assassinated in Colombia. According to a UN report of March 4, 2020, Colombia is the country in Latin America where most human rights defenders are killed. The humanitarian and political situation is constantly deteriorating. According to several Colombian NGOs, since the signing of the Peace Accords in 2016, more than 1000 social, environmental or political leaders have been killed. The European Union has politically and financially supported the peace agreements in Colombia. This support was ratified in a resolution passed unanimously in January 2016 in the European Parliament and was reiterated by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs in a debate in January 2018. We call on European governments to question President Iván Duque on the implementation of the peace accords, as well as on the use of the funds that Europe has earmarked for this purpose. Finally, we ask them to question the Colombian government on the serious human rights situation in the country to ensure the safety of its citizens and the opposition.

SIGNATORIES

French Parliament Jean – Luc Mélenchon – Deputy of La France Insoumise-Chair of the parliamentary group Mathilde Panot – Deputy of La France Insoumise- Vice Chair of the parliamentary group Daniele Obono – Deputy of La France Insoumise Benedicte Taurine - Deputy of La France Insoumise Clémentine Autain - Deputy of La France Insoumise Éric Coquerel - Deputy of La France Insoumise Alexis Corbière - Deputy of La France Insoumise Caroline Fiât - Deputy of La France Insoumise Loïc Prud’homme - Deputy of La France Insoumise Bastian Lachaud - Deputy of La France Insoumise Adrien Quatennens - Deputy of La France Insoumise Michel Larive - Deputy of La France Insoumise François Ruffin - Deputy of La France Insoumise Muriel Ressiguier - Deputy of La France Insoumise Sabine Rubin - Deputy of La France Insoumise Hugo Bernalisis - Deputy of La France Insoumise

German Federal Parliament : Heike Hänsel- Deputy of DIE LINKE – Vice Chair of the parliamentary group - Deputy of DIE LINKE - Deputy of DIE LINKE - Deputy of DIE LINKE - Deputy of DIE LINKE

Victor Perli - Deputy of DIE LINKE - Deputy of DIE LINKE - Deputy of DIE LINKE - Deputy of DIE LINKE - Deputy of DIE LINKE - Deputy of DIE LINKE - Deputy of DIE LINKE - Deputy of DIE LINKE - Deputy of DIE LINKE

Parlamento Europeo: - Germany- Deputy of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen Erik Marquardt - Germany- Deputy of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen Helmut Scholz - Germany - Deputy of DIE LINKE Dietmar Köster - Germany - Deputy of Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD)

Nikolaj Villumsen- Denmark- Deputy of The Red-Green Alliance -Vice-Chair GUE/NGL I Giner - Catalonia - Deputy of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya Pernando Barrena - Spain - Deputy of PODEMOS Manu Pineda - Spain - Deputy of PODEMOS Idoia Villanueva Ruiz -Spain - Deputy of PODEMOS Maria Eugenia Rodriguez Palop - España - Deputy of PODEMOS Leïla Chaibi- France- Deputy of La France Insoumise Manon Aubry- France - Deputy of La France Insoumise Manuel Bompard- France - Deputy of La France Insoumise Anne-Sophie Pelletier- France - Deputy of La France Insoumise - France - Deputy of Europe Écologie - France - Deputy of Europe Écologie Benoit Biteau- France - Deputy of Europe Écologie Massimiliano Smeriglio -Italy- Deputy of Partito Democratico Mick Wallace -Ireland - Deputy of Independents for Change Clare Daly- Ireland- Deputy of Independents for Change Charles Goerens- Luxembourg- Deputy of Parti Démocratique

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