Violations of the Human Rights by Exxon
May 2002
A Report on the Systematic Violations of the Human Rights of the Indigenous, Afrocolombian and Campesino (peasant) peoples of the department of la Guajira, Colombia, by the Multinational Intercor, a subsidiary of Exxon.
From YANAMA, Organization of the indigenous people of la Guajira Committee in Solidarity with the town of Tabaco and with the People Displaced by the Cerrejón Mines (committee created by Yanama on August 9th, 2001)
By Remedios Fajardo Gómez (Wayuu indigenous leader) and Armando Pérez Araújo (Legal counsel and advocate of the communities affected by mining)
Location
The Wayuu people live on the Guajira Peninsula, in the northern part of the Republic of Colombia, South America, and have for more than 3,000 years. To date, the government has legally recognized Wayuu territorial rights to approximately 1,500,000 hectares (3,706,500 acres); but the land actually inhabited is greater, and the struggle continues to recover other lands considered essential. The current population is 150,000 Wayuu in Colombia and another 160,000 in Venezuela. We are the largest indigenous group in Colombia, as well as in Venezuela.
There are other non-indigenous ethnic groups in la Guajira, such as the black communities, known as afrocolombians, who have settlements throughout the peninsula and are particularly concentrated in the mining zone of Cerrejón and the southern part of the department. There are, as of yet, no official population figures for these communities, but they are estimated at more than 80,000. These communities are also affected and displaced by mining.
General information
In Colombia the Wayuu and the afrocolombian communities are affected by the open air coal mining carried out initially, and up until a few months ago, by INTERCOR, a North American multinational subsidiary of EXXON, and now by the new owners, BHP-Billiton , Anglo American and Glencore.
For 20 years the mines of Cerrejón, in la Guajira, were explored and mined by the Carbocol Association, Inc. and the North American multinational INTERCOR, a subsidiary of EXXON. Last year the Colombian government sold the property of the Colombian Coal Company, CARBOCOL Inc., to the companies BHP-Billiton , Anglo American and Glencore. That same month, April of 2002, Exxon sold to the Intercor consortium. Significantly, the same Intercor executives maintained their positions in the new associated enterprises that own all of the Cerrejón mines in la Guajira. This means that the same human rights violations, and the abusive racist and classist colonialist practices will continue against the indigenous, afrocolombian and campesino communities throughout the mining zone.
We strongly emphasize that Exxon, through its subsidiary Intercor, has been synonymous with arrogance, frustration, and violations of important and fundamental rights of indigenous, afrocolombian and campesino communities. Exxon has not acted alone. This period in the history of mining in Colombia has been marked by the open collaboration of government authorities at all levels. They have not only been sympathetic to the foreign mining company, but have gone out of their way to be complicit in the illegal development of the coal industry, and have participated in its cover-up.
Background
The land
The way in which control of the indigenous territories in the northern part of the peninsula was wrested for the construction of the port, the road and the railway was a spectacular maneuver of fraudulent dispossession. Intercor, along with its associate, the state company Carbocol Inc., came up with a legal instrument atypical in Colombian legislation and, of course, any legislation in the world when it comes to indigenous rights. They obtained from the Colombian government, that is to say the administration of the day, a declaration that indigenous territories were the property of the nation, and that as such these rightscould be used with out any formula or procedure other than simply harassing and terrorizing the population. For the development projects mentioned above Intercor abusively expropriated 1,159 hectares (2,864 acres) and one large strip 150 kilometers (93 miles) long by 250 meters (820 feet) wide for the construction of the railway, which are among the assets now ceded to the current owners of the northern zone of the Cerrejón mine.
Here it is worth making special mention of the resistance of a small group of 12 Wayuu families who, to this day, remain encircled by a chain link fence, very close to the port where the coal is exported. In spite of the humiliation that this has meant for all of the Wayuu people, they have managed to maintain some degree of sovereignty when it comes to their own ancestral lands.
Defenseless families in other indigenous territories in the southern part of la Guajira, and the areas known as afrocolombian and campesinos territories, have also faced coercion and illegal harassment. The outrages committed against the towns of Manantial, Espinal, Caracolí, Tabaco, Roche, Chancleta, Patilla y Tamaquitos[1] are characteristic of the way Intercor has abused communities throughout la Guajira.
The Right to Dissent
The arrogance, high-handedness and domination of Intercor have made dissent impossible. Those who dare to express opinions in opposition to the wishes and plans of the multinational, be they in the social, political or legal arena, become targets of a hostile campaign orchestrated by Hernán Martínez Torres, president of the company.[2] The treatment faced by our Yanama indigenous organization is typical. Our main leadership and legal counsel have received all sorts of attacks, persecution, threats, assassination attempts, discrimination, etc, simply because we have stood up and legitimately spoken out against the unjust and absurd expansionist policies of Intercor, and against the abuses that they and their allies have perpetrated against fragile communities. The team working under Hernán Martínez Torres has used every effort, and procedures of all kinds, to carry out these abuses. It is with sadness that we tell you that all of the assets of our Yanama indigenous organization were seized in retaliation for having dared to debate and denounce coal dust contamination in the community of Media Luna (loading port for the coal) and in the communities of Espinal and Caracolí, and for speaking out against other abuses suffered by indigenous people and campesinos of la Guajira living near the mine, the port, the highway or the railway. We are still suffering the effects of this seizure order, whose issuer has recently been prized with the presidency of the project by the new consortium of owners of the north zone of Cerrejón. When this happened we had to do all sorts of protests against the infamous decision of Intercor, carried out through Fundicar, which appears to be a social welfare foundation but is actually a front for the mining company, to seize the funds that Yanama had received from the Colombian Welfare Institute for a meals program for children. The Wayuu children who participated in this official program went for several weeks without food because of the cruel and inhumane attitude of the North American multinational.
The Resistance of Media Luna Community
The community of Media Luna is in the far south of the bay of Portete on the Caribbean Ocean, which surrounds the peninsula of la Guajira. To their misfortune, their ancestral lands were chosen as the site for the port of export for the coal of Cerrejón. The national government, through the Colombian Institute for Agrarian Reform, INCORA, issued Resolution No. 067 on September 3, 1981 and handed over to the multinational Intercor 1,195 hectares (2,953 acres) to build infrastructure such as the port, airport, train station and industrial park.
In 1980 750 Wayuus lived in Media Luna. They made their living primarily as shepherds, farmers and fishermen. They had 32 hectares (79 acres) dedicated to subsistence farming during the rainy season. Construction began in 1982 and the mining company and the community of Media Luna faced off in negotiations, which were full of strong arguments and physical threats. The community tried to receive fair compensation that would allow it relocate and move their cemeteries, but finally gave in without achieving their demands.
The affected Wayuu families relocated on either side of the area that they had originally requested. The air pollution, and the companys expansion needs, were such that several of the families who lived closest to the construction had to be relocated yet again. But this time some Wayuu did not want to give up the land or move their cemetery yet again, so seven families (42 people) stayed on their lands and ignored the companys demands. Given the situation the mining company has chosen to fence in the area these families live in, encircling them with a chain link fence, and locking them in with armed guards at the gate who report every move of the Wayuu and their visitors. Everyone who comes to visit them, even their own family, has to ask for permission from the camp bosses to get in. They are frequently denied water, none of them has been given employment, and their ability to build homes or water sources is limited. All of this has clearly been an attempt to harass the community so that they would leave. They never have. The community has continued to resist for 14 years, surrounded by a chain link fence as if they were in a Nazi concentration camp.
The Wayuu families who are chained in wont hand over their land for any amount of money. They are not trying to get a good price or other benefits with their intransigence. The truth is that the Uriana and Epinayu families that have stayed dont have anywhere else to go. All of the nearby land is occupied, out to far beyond where they have traditionally lived. If they leave the land the neighbors wont let them settle on their lands because theyll ask, Why did you give up the lands that juyá gave you? What have you come looking for now on our lands? The Wayuu who give up all of their land and end up landless lose status in the community and are considered beggars. Whats more, they lose their credibility and therefore are unable to assume community responsibilities.
The Relocation of Caracolí and Espinal
Caracolí and Espinal were two communities in the county (municipio) of Barrancas, in the southern part of la Guajira, which no longer exist. The mining company INTERCOR, subsidiary of Exxon, usurped 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) on which 350 Wayuu lived, most of whom were young people. These communities were very close to the coal mines. The environmental contamination, the noise, the constant explosions, the disappearance of the creeks such as la Rosita, Araña e gato, Bartolico, La Latica, San Vicente, and Reserva under a landslide of sterile materials, and the accumulation of garbage and toxic waste led the Ministry of Health to issue Resolution No. 02122 on February 22, 1991 whereby it decided: 1. The zone from the far edge of the pile of sterile material from the Cerrejón coal mine, North zone, area Tajo Sur, is declared uninhabitable due to the high concentrations of particulate material present in the area, which put at risk the health of the inhabitants who live in said strip...
2. This strip, from 1,000 to 4,500 meters (3,281 to 14,764 feet), is declared a risk zone for human and plant health, based on study results and the environmental control plan for the tajo sur, in which the concentration of particulate materials was shown to be well above permissible levels. These results were corroborated by measurements taken by Ministry of Health officials.
This very complicated and delicate situation put at risk the lives of several leaders who demanded better terms for negotiation of the relocation of the communities. Victoria Ballesteros Epinayu, Otilia Gonzalez Uriana, Nicolas Ballesteros Epinayu, and Angelito Lopez Wouliyu, were injured after an attempt on their lives that was set up to look like a traffic accident. The attorney Armando Pérez Araújo, was threatened on several occasions and followed constantly. Several law school students from the National University that were doing research in the community were harassed and forced to flee the area.
From 1984 to 1991 the health of the population deteriorated considerably. During this period 20 people died as a result of vomiting, diarrhea, hemorrhages, miscarriages, bronchitis, and birth complications. Toxic substances mixed in with the garbage poisoned four more: Helena Pushaina, Matilde Epieyu and Nuris Pushaina. Two died and the other two were permanently injured.
The open-air trash dump attracted bands of wild dogs that attacked the goats and herds. Because of this and other factors, such as the loss of water and degradation of the environment, the Wayuu lost more than 1,100 goats and other domestic animals. The Ministry of Health levied sanctions and placed new requirements on INTERCOR for not complying with the Revised Environmental Control Plan. The company made no attempt to discuss a solution to the problem, but limited itself to visiting two leaders who were highly suspect because they were thought to favor the company. They were offered employment and invited to eat and get drunk at company headquarters. This situation fostered discord and divided the community, and indeed the proposals presented were made more to divide the community than to achieve a solution to the problem.
In 1985
