FOR Peace Presence's 1st Annual Report
The Fellowship of Reconciliation Peace Presence, an organization founded and supported by branches of IFOR, is dedicated to providing safety, political visibility and solidarity to communities and individuals in Colombia who are working to promote human rights, peace and justice has released it's first ever annual report as a new independent organization.
The full report can be found here. Here are some of the excerpted highlights of the report:
-454 days of physical accompaniment provided to 5 communities, 3 organizations, and 2 human rights defenders plus 65 political advocacy meetings on their behalf in Colombia.-In response to growing threats against environmental and land rights activists, FOR Peace Presence began accompanying four new groups in their struggle for life, land, and dignity: Tierra Digna, ASOTRACAMPO, the Nilo community, and the Interchurch Peace and Justice Commission (in the first-ever urban Humanitarian Space, Puente Nayero!).
- -FOR Peace Presence researcher John Lindsay-Poland, in conjunction with "Coordinacion Colombia-EEUU-Europa" released their report about U.S military assistance and "false positive" killings in Colombia. Lindsay-Poland testified on the subject to a Colombian Congressional hearing.
- -Two speakers' tours featuring our Colombian partners in three U.S. cities (and at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights!) to discuss a breadth of issues, including involuntary displacement by development projects in Colombia, anti -militarization, and rap & youth movements.
- -Two FOR Peace Presence delegations brought international visibility to the struggles of our partners in Colombia, including by documenting a displacement in El Tamarindo as it took place, and by conducting advocacy meetings with diplomatic and Colombian authorities on issues of conscientious objection, forced displacement, and protectionary measures for human rights defenders.