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Call for letters on Free Trade Agreement with Colombia

Rebecca Bartel
03/12/2010

On Wednesday, March 10, the Honourable Peter Van Loan, Minister of International Trade, and the Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Veteran's Affairs and Minister of State (Agriculture), put forth Bill C-2, the Colombia-Canada Free Trade Agreement as Parliament's first order of business. 

Colombian Brothers and Sisters, partner organizations and Anabaptist churches have voiced their deep concern around this potential trade deal, which would go into effect immediately. They have shared that the "closed-door" policy on debates and information pertaining to the deal have created a cloud of uncertainty around the possible effects that this pact will have on Colombian economy, the dire human rights situation and the humanitarian crisis that is currently facing the country. Colombians have also voiced their concern that basic processes of prior consultation with marginalized groups in society - such as the indigenous and the afro-colombian community - will not be respected and greater foreign direct investment without proper impact assessments - particularly in the extractive industry - will contribute to an exacerbation of the violence around land rights and the massive displacement of populations from resource rich territories. 

Despite Colombian Government affirmations that paramilitary structures have been dismantled and that the country is "safer" thanks to democratic security policies, partners have documented grave human rights abuses in many territories throughout the country where paramilitary continue to operate with more or less impunity. 


In September of 2009, the Special Rapporteur to the United Nations on the situation of human rights defenders,  Margaret Sekaggya, visited Colombia and declared that “"patterns of harassment and persecution against human rights defenders, and often their families, continue to exist in Colombia. Some of these violations are allegedly to be attributed to guerillas, new illegal armed groups and paramilitary groups which human rights defenders say have not been dismantled… according to several sources, law enforcement authorities have committed violations against human rights defenders too, or have shown complaisance with violations committed by private actors against defenders... I am in particular deeply concerned about the widespread phenomenon of threats from unknown authors against human rights defenders and their families."


The Christian Centre for Justice, Peace and Non-violent Action (Justapaz) documented 6 assassinations of pastors in 2009 solely in the department of Córdoba by paramilitary groups that have re-armed. The same groups have been named responsible for massive displacement in the same Department. According to local churches and communities, FIVE church communities were forced from their land, or 1,230 people. This is representative of a systemic pattern that exists in numerous other departments and it is particularly alarming that these assassinations have occurred in the very department where the negotiations for a Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration process with the AUC took place.

According to the Colombian Commission for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES), Colombia is now home to 4, 915, 579 internally displaced persons. This is the largest registered number of IDPs, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, now surpassing Sudan. This is the best hidden and most violently silenced humanitarian crisis in the Western Hemisphere.

This is NOT an environment which is conducive to healthy foreign investment, nor is it an environment in which Colombians will beneift from greater Canadian exports competing in local markets in unfair economic coniditions. 

Faith Reflection
People of faith all over the world are calling for international trade and investment systems that respect and promote the dignity of the human person as created in the image of God, ensure the well-being and development of people in all nations as children of God, foster gender and racial equity before a God who loves and values each of us equally, and lead to environmental sustainability, for which we are charged as stewards of God's creation. 

Call to Action
In the resources section please find 4 letters - An open letter from Colombian Church denominations to Canadian Government, a letter to Minister of International Trade Peter Van Loan, to Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon and a sample letter for your MP. Please send these letters by email, fax or snail-mail.

Visits, e-mails, phone calls, faxes and letters are all good ways to contact your legislators. Postal mail travels slowly, but letters have long-term impact. Be sure to include your mailing address in all correspondence to confirm your residency in a particular constituency.

We are grateful for copies of your correspondence and any responses you recieve! Please send them to rbartel@colombia.mcc.org and stefancherry@mennonitecc.ca.

Find out who your Member of Parliament is:



Thank you!

In Christ, Lord of Justice and Peace.

Rebecca Bartel