As you may be aware, in the last couple of months, two small-scale campesino farmer community leaders have been killed in Colombia. Both were notable in that they were prominent campaigners against large scale mining. César García was actively involved against the La Colosa gold mining project in Cajamarca, Tolima. He was gunned down on 2 November by an unknown gunman, in the presence of his young daughter. Aldelinda Gómez was assassinated in Alamaguer, Cauca, on 30 September, and her 16-year old son was injured in the attack. The Colombian government has been ineffective at investigating these crimes. Yesterday, 4 MPs from different parties tabled an Early Day Motion to urge the Colombian authorities to conduct a rigorous and independent investigation to identify the perpetrators of these crimes.
The text of the early day motion is here: http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2013-14/746
Please, contact your MP, either by email, letter, Twitter, or even organise a face-to-face meeting, and ask him or her to sign this EDM. This will put pressure on the Colombian government to investigate these tragic crimes with the seriousness they deserve. It’s easy to find out how to contact your MP, just consult this website: http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/
There is more background information at these links:
