MISSION REPORT -CHOCÓ- e July 2-5, 2019 e REPORT -CHOCÓ- e July 2-5, 2019 e * *Integrated by: ABColombia, Broederlijk Delen, Caritas Suiza, Christian Aid, Comité Noruego de Solidaridad con América Latina, Comundo, Fas- tenopfer, Federación Luterana Mundial, Fokus, Fondo de Acción Urgente para América Latina, Forum Syd, Fundación Sueca por los Derechos Humanos, Grupo de Trabajo Suiza Colombia -ASK!-, Heks-Eper, ICCO, International Action for Peace, Iglesia Sueca, kolko - Menschenrechte für Kolumbien, Latinoamerican Working Group, Llamamiento de Ginebra, Mundubat, Movimiento por la Paz -MPDL-en Colombia, OIDHACO, Oxfam, Paz con Dignidad, Peace Brigades International –PBI- (observadora), SweFOR (observadora), Swissaid, Terre des Hommes Suisse Credit: Germán Moreno / FLM 6 e Mission Report -Chocó- BETWEEN JULY 2ND AND 5TH, 2019, A DELEGA- TION OF INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY OR- GANIZATIONS PRESENT IN COLOMBIA CON- DUCTED A MISSION WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF OBSERVING THE HUMANITARIAN, HUMAN RIGHTS AND SECURITY SITUATIONS FACED by communities in the department of Cooperation Space for Peace platform Chocó. The mission consisted of rep- (ECPP). Members of the mission en- resentatives of the following organi- gaged in dialogue with ethnic-territori- zations: Swedish Movement for Rec- al authorities, staff from the Diocese of onciliation (SweFOR), Lutheran World Quibdó, grassroots and women’s orga- Federation (LWF), Diakonie - Colombia nizations as well as with departmental, Program, ACT Swedish Church, Wash- municipal and local civil authorities in ington Office on Latin America (WOLA), Quibdó and Bellavista (municipality of International Office for Human Rights Bojayá). The results of the mission are Action Colombia (OIDHACO) and the detailed in this report. Mission Report -Chocó-e 7 E CARIB MAR Acandi PANAMÁ Unguía Riosucio Escala Gráfica km Juradó Carmen del Darién (Curbaradó) ANTIOQUIA Bojayá O (Bellavista) C I F Í C Bahía Solano A (Mutis) P O N Medio Atrato A (Beté) É C O El Carmen QUIBDÓ Nuquí Atrato Alto Baudó (Yuto) (Pie de Pató) Lloró Río Quito (Paimadó) El Cantón del San Pablo Bagadó (Managrú) Certegui Unión Panamericana RISARALDA (Ánimas) Tadó CALDAS Medio Baudó Istmina Río Iró (Puerto Meluk) (Santa Rita) Condoto Medio San Juan (Andagoya) San José Bajo Baudó Nóvita del Palmar (Pizarro) Sipí QUINDÍO VALLE DEL CAUCA TOLIMA El Litoral del San Juan (Santa Genoveva de Docordó) 2012 Crédito: mapasinteractivos.didactalia.net 8 e Mission Report -Chocó- 2.1. Characteristics of ownership of 2,915,339 hectares, and 120 indigenous reserves located in 24 of the region Chocó’s 30 municipalities.2 The Department of Chocó is located on Colombia’s Pacific Coast and has a geo- Despite the fact that Chocó is one of the graphic area of 46,530 km2,. Its capital is most biodiverse places in the country and the city of Quibdó and it consists of 30 mu- the world, it also has the highest num- nicipalities distributed across five sub-re- ber of inhabitants with unsatisfied basic gions in the department: San Juan, Baudó, needs (NBI) in Colombia. 79% of the popu- Alto and Medio Atrato, Pacific Coast, Bajo lation have unmet basic needs compared Atrato and Darién. It borders the country to a national average of 20%3. Factors of Panama and the Caribbean Sea to the related to the high NBI deficit are asso- north by, the Departments of Antioquia ciated with historical problems including and Risaralda to the east, the Department marginalization, impoverishment, lack of of Valle del Cauca to the south by, and the citizen participation in public decisions Pacific Ocean to the west by. It includes and the continued violence of the Colom- jungle in the Darien region and the basins bian armed conflict. of the Atrato, Baudó and San Juan rivers. It has some of the highest rainfall and biodi- The Mission visited one of the munici- versity in the world, as well as one of the palities most affected by the armed con- country’s most important water sources, flict in Colombia: Bojayá. Located in the the Atrato River. sub-region of Medio Atrato with a pop- ulation of 10,099 inhabitants4, it is a ter- According to the latest DANE census ritory that due to its geostrategic loca- (2018), 515,045 people live in Chocó, of tion, connects the Bajo Cauca Antioqueño whom 61.2% are Afro-Colombians and with the Colombian Pacific Coast through 9.7% are indigenous. 49.1% of the pop- rivers. These rivers shape the life of the ulation live in Quibdó and 50.9% live in communities and their exchanges with rural areas of the department. The an- each other and the outside world. The re- nual growth rate is 1.99%1. A total of gion is also heavily used for drug traffick- 96% of the department consists of the collective territories of 600 afro-de- 2 Data from the National Land Agency (ANT). scendent communities, grouped into Statistics on collective territories located in Chocó (2008). 70 community councils with collective 3 Population data from DANE, 2015.. See: ht- tps://colaboracion.dnp.gov.co/CDT/Inver- siones%20y%20finanzas%20pblicas/Choc%- C3%B3%2015.pdf 1 Average projection from 2015 to 2020. ELC, Departmental Briefing for Chocó 2018; DANE 4 DANE: Municipal population projections by Projection 2005-2020. area 2005-2020. Accessed 1 May 2015. Mission Report -Chocó-e 9 ing and other illicit economies. In 2002 it ary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP suffered one of the most atrocious events by its Spanish acronym) guerrilla group in the history of the Colombian armed and the United Self-Defence Forces of conflict, The May 2nd Massacre, which in- Colombia paramilitary group (AUC by its volved clashes between the Revolution- Spanish acronym). 79 people were killed when a gas cylinder bomb exploded in the church located in the centre of the town5. Despite the fact that the victims’ organi- zations in the municipality have engaged in different processes with public institu- tions to demand truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition, cur- rently they are victims of recurring vio- lence and raised their concerns about the disproportionate worsening of the armed conflict in the zone during recent years. Different statements from ethnic-ter- ritorial organizations, churches and the Ombudsman’s Office support this claim. Bojayá One of the elements of the context ob- served by the Mission was the perma- nent presence of illegal armed actors in the territory, which is a dominant factor in the configuration of regional dynamics. Based on reports on the hu- manitarian impact of the armed conflict in Chocó that are periodically published by the Local Coordination Team, with support from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the data demonstrates changes in the department following the signing of the Peace Agreement signed between the Colombian Govern- Crédito: Milenioscuro | https://es.wikipedia. org/wiki/Archivo:Colombia_-_Choc%C3%B3_-_ ment and FARC-EP. These include a de- Bojay%C3%A1.svg 5 Victims Unit. 2019. 10 e Mission Report -Chocó- crease in the number of people affected ed that 11,300 people from 54 communi- by forced displacement, reducing from ties were victims of confinement during 6,956 in 2017 to 2,465 in 20186, and a the first half of 2019.9 total of 1,823 forcibly displaced people between January and September 20197. Among the factors that increase con- However, a more worrying trend is the finement is the presence of illegal groups increase in the number of people affect- within or near communities and the im- ed by confinement. This increased to minent risk they represent, as well as 16,681 from January to September 2019, armed clashes between illegal groups compared to 15,548 people who suf- such as the ELN and the AGC and between fered confinement in 2018, and 14,433 in these groups and the Colombian mili- 2017.8 The Ombudsman’s Office report- tary. The confinement events presented in Chocó are related to the presence of mines in the territory. This has forced the 6 OCHA. December 2018. See: https://www.hu- civilian population to isolate themselves manitarianresponse.info/en/operations/co- lombia/document/colombia-briefing-departa- from the sites of their livelihoods, usually mental-choc%C3%B3 located in rural areas, as well as from the 7 OCHA. Humanitarian impact of conflict and roads they habitually use to consume wa- armed violence in Chocó. January-Septem- ber 2019. https://www.humanitarianrespon- ter or collect food. se.info/en/operations/colombia/infographic/ impacto-humanitario-por-conflicto-y-violen- cia-armada-en-el-choc%C3%B3 8 Departmental Briefing Chocó, December 2018. The figures include facts on restrictions of access and limitations on mobility. The numbers of people affected by confinement includes: 13,263 in 2019, 11,370 in 2018 and zero in 2017. 9 Ombudsman’s Office. 2019. Mission Report -Chocó-e 11 The Mission identified causes, risks and the Peace Agreement between the Co- impacts of the humanitarian crisis in lombian government and the FARC-EP. Chocó, specifically on the ethnic peoples This is because territories previously of the department. After analysing this occupied by the FARC-EP guerrillas are information, the Mission categorized the being disputed by other illegal armed collected information and proposed the actors, such as the National Liberation following sections: human rights situa- Army (ELN) and the Gaitanista Self-De- tion and the humanitarian crisis, complete fence Forces of Colombia (AGC). This peace, organisational processes at risk, affects local social, political, economic loss of food security, forced recruitment dynamics and destabilises the daily lives and other effects of the conflict, gen- of the civilian population in both rural der-based violence and the government’s and urban areas.