Three months ago, the members of the Corporate Liability and Sustainable Peace (CLASP) Lab drafted an open letter expressing our deep concern for Jani Silva's life and safety. We denounced death threats that Jani had received from the criminal armed group Comando de la Frontera in connection to her work as an environmental defender of the Campesino Reserve of the Amazon Pearl of Putumayo, Colombia. Today, we write again after Jani and her family were forced to flee the territory she has defended for decades. She received information about an imminent assassination plan against her.
Jani is a member of the CLASP Lab, a “social lab” that CAL, Dejusticia, the African Coalition for Corporate Accountability, and the Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz co-convene. Jani and her organization, ADISPA, work to defend their territory from the human rights and environmental abuse by Chilean-owned oil giant Amerisur Resources Plc, including water and land contamination, displacement, and alleged violations of free, prior, and informed consent.
As we noted in our previous letter, Colombia is one of the most dangerous places in the world to defend human rights and the environment. At least 101 social leaders have been killed in Colombia so far this year, a number that has doubled since our last letter.
In the wake of imminent death threats against Jani, the CLASP Lab has written an open letter urging:
1. The Colombian and Chilean governments to investigate and hold GeoPark and Amerisur accountable for their impacts on human rights and the environment in Putumayo and their connection to the endangerment of human rights and environmental defenders including Jani and her colleagues at ADISPA;
2. Amerisur to provide information on its adherence to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights;
3. The United States government to urge the Colombian government to protect Jani and ADISPA, and ensure they may freely associate and defend human rights;
4. The United Nations Development Programme to investigate the situation and commit to not renewing its project with GeoPark in Putumayo, which it suspended for human rights concerns a week after initiating the partnership earlier this year;
5. The Colombian government to take comprehensive measures to protect Jani’s safety and provide these measures without interruption, in accordance with Colombian and international law;
6. The Colombian government to take comprehensive measures to protect all members of ADISPA and ensure that their freedom of association is not infringed;
7. The Colombian government to address the significant increase in threats and violence against human rights and environmental defenders in Colombia, including through providing better protections for defenders, and by addressing the underlying causes of threats and violence; and
8. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to monitor the situation and meet regularly with Jani and ADISPA to implement effective protection measures.
The open letter is available in English, Spanish and French.
