E443110EN ANSWER GIVEN BY HIGH REPRESENTATIVE VICE PRESIDENT

E443110EN ANSWER GIVEN BY HIGH REPRESENTATIVE VICE PRESIDENT






QE


E-4431/10EN

Answer given by High Representative / Vice President Ashton

on behalf of the Commission

(31.8.2010)




The Commission has raised the case in question with the Colombian Government, in the context of its regular dialogue. Human rights are a constant and important feature of this as part of a dedicated dialogue mechanism established in April 2009.

According to the information at the Commission’s disposal, non-industrial mining in the La Toma area is currently been carried out by a number of Afro-Colombian communities, which however have never made use of their right, provided under Colombian law, to request legal title providing for the exploitation of the lands in question. Such title was subsequently granted to a private person, who attempted to have these communities removed from the lands.

Informed of the situation, the Colombian Human Rights Programme is supporting the Afro-Colombian communities in question, and the local Ombudsman’s Office (Defensoría del Puebla) has launched a legal action aimed at preventing their displacement, pursuant to decision (‘auto’) no. 5 of the Constititutional Court for the protection of displaced Afro-Colombians, and of displaced persons in general. The order for the removal of the Afro-Colombian communities has since been suspended by order of court, and a suspension of the legal title awarded to the above-mentioned private person is being considered, in accordance with the new Code on Mining of February 2010 which provides that mining permits which do not respect the rights of traditional miners in the area in question are null and void.

The Honourable Member may rest assured that the Commission will continue to monitor developments in La Toma very carefully, and will urge the Colombian Government to take measures for the effective protection of the legitimate rights of traditional miners there. More generally, it will continue to insist on the respect for the rights of Colombia’s ethnic minorities, as well as for human rights in general, be it in the context of its human rights dialogue with the Colombian Government, or of the trade agreement between the EU and some Andean countries. As the Honourable Member is aware, the latter contains a robust human rights clause, which will, where necessary, permit the unilateral and immediate suspension of concessions in case of human rights violations in the signatory countries.









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