Colombia: Guarantee safe return of displaced fishers

[Tilly lavenas]

Dear Friends

Please send this letter on behalf of 26 families in northeastern Colombia who have been forced to abandon their homes and livlihood. Due to its location and valuable resources like oil and water, the region is considered strategic. Interest groups and armed factions have clashed over territorial, political, and economic control. This has resulted in violence against, among others, human rights defenders.

Thanks! Tilly & Guy

Adith Rafael Romero Polanco 

Director of the Unit for Victims 

Carrera 85D 46A-65 

Bogotá DC, Colombia 

E-mail: servicioa...@unidadvictimas.gov.co

 

Dear Mr. Director, 

I'm deeply concerned about the displacement of 26 families, who rely on fishing near the lakes and rivers surrounding Barrancabermeja. This dispossession happened despite the warnings made by the Federation of Artisanal, Environmentalist, and Touristic Fishermen and Women of Santander (FEDEPESAN) in February. The families said they had to leave their territory due to the violent pressure they have endured for years and the neglect by the authorities. 

I urge you to do everything you can to protect the forcibly displaced families, including those of FEDEPESAN, and ensure they are allowed to return safely to their territory and fishing activities. 

Yours sincerely, 

Please send a copy of your letter to the ambassador in your country:

HE Daniel García-Peña

Embassy of Colombia

1724 Massachusetts Ave, NW

Washington, DC 20036 

eestado...@cancilleria.gov.co

Note: the US and Colombia have recalled their respective ambassadors but we don’t think it should impact our action.

HE Roy Leonardo Barreras

Embassy of Colombia

3 Hans Crescent

London SW1X 0LN 

elon...@cancilleria.gov.co

For more information about Amnesty’s Urgent Action 16/25, 3 July: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr23/0079/2025/en/