Symposium on internally displaced persons and peace in Colombia

At the invitation  of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria and its Center for International Solidarity, two members of AEDIDH participated in a workshop on the problems of IDPs and peace building in Colombia. The event took place at the "Casa de Colon" in Las Palmas.

The documentary film entitled "Invisible" by Javier Bardem, which includes a chapter devoted to the plight of IDPs in Colombia, was screened.

The two speakers were introduced by Mr. Carmelo Ramirez Marrero, Director for Institutional Cooperation and International Solidarity of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria.

Prof. Carmelo Faleh Perez, Secretary General of AEDIDH commented in detail the highlights of the documentary and how the peaceful resolution of conflict in Colombia could be correctly achieved by applying the provisions contained in the Luarca Declaration on the Human Right to Peace.

The second speaker, Mr. Carlos Villán Durán (President of AEDIDH), made a statement on behalf of the AEDIDH in which he denounced Mrs. Aminattou Haidar's unlawful detention in Laayoune. Mrs. Haidar is a human rights champion of the Saharawi people, who had also participated in the cycle of conferences scheduled for the “Gran Canaria Solidarity”.

In his presentation , Mr. Villán Durán  explained the origin and the nature of the internal conflict that Colombia has suffered for 40 years . According to him, President  A. Uribe is  pursuing security policy, in which the "Plan Colombia" has negative effects because it fosters the impunity of perpetrators of human rights and humanitarian violations . To end the conflict, Mr. Villán Durán agreed with Prof. Faleh on the relevance of implementing the Luarca Declaration on the Human Right to Peace to settle the armed conflict in Colombia and to respect the basic needs of vulnerable groups, among which there are 4 million of internally displaced persons.

The Director for  Institutional Cooperation and International Solidarity of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria then opened an extensive exchange of views between the attendees and the two speakers. There was a lively and interesting debate on the crisis that suffers Colombia, as well as the situation in other Latin American countries and the Occupied Territories in the Middle East and in Western Sahara. All the participants in the debate emphasized the need to respect the right of the Saharawi and Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination, as a prerequisite for the enjoyment of Human Rights of these and other peoples that live under colonial or foreign occupation.

On 13 November 2009 , the newspaper " La Provincia" published (on page 16) an article featuring an interview with the President of AEDIDH. On the two days following the publication of the article, several local radio stations broadcasted further interviews with the President of AEDIDH.