memorandum of justification concerning human ... - Just the Facts

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Under Decree 982 of 1999, the Colombian government declared a social
emergency in the indigenous communities in Cauca, created a commission dedicated to
indigenous policy, and agreed to return a little over 8,000 hectares of land to these
groups, 1,000 of which would be titled in Caldoto (Cauca). This decree was a bit
different than the Nilo Agreement since, in this case, the government decided which
lands to buy and title.
The government notes, with regard to this decree, that, since 1996, indigenous
groups in Cauca have taken over land and farms that are considered private property,
without the permission of the legal owner. This is considered a crime under Colombian
law. To address this situation, Congressional representatives from Cauca included in the
National Development Plan for 2006-2010 a section that established that land
expropriated illegally by indigenous groups would be turned over to them, and that
funding set aside to purchase land for the groups would be used to compensate the
owners of these lands and farms. Using this mechanism, 4,000 of the 8,000 hectares
owed by the government were returned to indigenous groups in Cauca. However,
indigenous groups in Cauca are not considering these 4,000 hectares as additional land
under the provisions of the decree and argue the government still owes them the
remaining hectares.
The indigenous groups in Cauca continue to believe that two farms in the
department, ―La Emperatriz‖ and ―Japio,‖ should be turned over to them. However,
these are private properties, owned by sugar cane farmers who are actively using the land.
The owners of these properties have complained to the government on numerous
occasions that members of indigenous groups have trespassed on the property and
destroyed their crops. In response to these complaints, at a 2008 community council
meeting in Popayán, President Uribe pledged to compensate the owners for the damages.
Since the indigenous groups do not recognize the legal owners of the land, Uribe‘s pledge
further enfuriated the indigenous groups. They said that in compensating the legal
owners, the government was funding terrorists.
The Colombian government reports that the MOI&J and other government
agencies have met with indigenous groups in Cauca 17 times in the last three years to
review pending government obligations. However, with tensions heightened, the groups
decided to protest in lieu of another meeting.
Frustrated at the Colombian government‘s alleged failure to respond to their
demands for the return of ancestral lands, investigations into indigenous deaths, and
concerns over the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, between 9,000 and 15,000
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