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

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Colombian communities‘ land. This land, 42,792 hectares plus 9,880 square meters in
Curvaradó and 51,870 hectares plus 9,236 square meters in Jiguamiandó, has lucrative
resources on it – including oil palm – valued at almost 100 trillion Colombian pesos
(about $50 billion 50 ).
Although the Colombian government has resolved most of the legal issues
surrounding the return of lands to Afro-Colombian communal territories, and some of the
land has been returned to the communities, security issues in the region have prevented
many community members from returning to their land. In addition, the process to void
the titles of the illegal occupiers and remove the current occupiers, has slowed down the
process of returning the lands to the communities. Currently, the military provides
security in the area. Due to lack of infrastructure, the local police presence is limited.
The Colombian government is working to resolve the remaining legal issues and to
provide security to the communities.
Since its April 25, 2008, meeting in the Carmen del Darien municipality with
community representatives, the Colombian government commited to taking all the
necessary measures and legal proceedings to return the land to the communities.
Colombia‘s land agency (INCODER) and the Superintendent of Notaries and Registries
have presented demarcation and delimitation resolutions in order to effect a second round
of restitutions. At a November 24, 2008, meeting between government and palm oil
industry representatives from 16 companies, the government urged the representatives to
return the territories and consider them in arrears. Only one company agreed, offering to
voluntarily return 254 hectares. On February 16, 2009, the company transferred the land
back to the community council of Cuenca del Rio Curvarado, thereby marking the
beginning of restitution to the Curvaradó and Jiguamiandó communities. Two additional
companies later transferred an additional 1,021 hectares total.
The decision on whether custody action (―acción de tutela‖) could be used as a
means for effective restitution of community lands was initially directed to the Chocó
Administrative Dispute Tribunal, but after several transfers on competency grounds,
February 25, 2009, the sentence ordered it transfered to the constitutional court. The
MOI&J has submitted a document backing the validity of the custody action. The
Ministry of Agriculture has submitted a request to the Attorney General to study the
possibility of appointing a special agency to monitor the custody action.
At a June 6, 2008, meeting in Medellín of community, regional, and national
government representatives – sponsored by the MOI&J – participants agreed to (1)
50 At conversion rate of 1 USD = 2,000 COP
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