The organizations point out that this practice generated various environmental damages, which include the destruction of bread crops and medicinal plants, as well as the contamination of rivers and streams.
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS – SCOTT DALTON
The Special Jurisdiction for Peace summoned four former governors of Nariño to provide testimonies about the implementation and impact of the fumigation of illicit crops with glyphosate, between 2000 and 2013 in said department. This procedure is part of the investigations carried out by the Truth Recognition Chamber in case 02, which investigates the crimes allegedly committed by the Public Force in Tumaco, Ricaurte and Barbacoas (Nariño).
The former governors cited were Parmenio Cuéllar Bastidas (2001-2003), Eduardo Zúñiga Eraso (2004 – 2007), Antonio Navarro Wolff (2008 – 2011) and Raúl Delgado Guerrero (2012 – 2015), who must appear before the JEP on the 17th and June 25th. In addition to this, the Jurisdiction invited the victims of the municipalities affected by these violations of human rights, committed through the eradication of crops, to be accredited in the case.
The judicial investigation carried out by the Recognition Chamber has managed to identify more than 400 serious acts allegedly committed by State agents, of which 98 would have occurred during the implementation of the forced eradication strategy with glyphosate. According to the reports provided by victims, indigenous, Afro-Colombian, peasant and human rights organizations, these events generated serious effects on the civilian population, property, territory and nature. The organizations point out that this practice generated various environmental damages, which include the destruction of bread crops and medicinal plants, as well as the contamination of rivers and streams.
According to the Jurisdiction, these types of practices caused forced displacements and “compromised the living conditions of the communities, exacerbating situations of vulnerability and social conflict.” For this reason, this macrocase has a territorial methodology that has gender, ethnic, racial, territorial and environmental approaches.
In 2015, on the recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO), aerial spraying with glyphosate was suspended in Colombia and in 2017 the Constitutional Court defined the conditions that had to be met to resume it. However, this practice is not yet prohibited in the country by any law.
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