25 signatures reached
To: The Colombian Environment Minister Gabriel Vallejo Lopez. Contact at Tweeter: @MinAmbienteCo or FB:Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible
Give back the RANCHERIA RIVER to people
We request the Minister of Environment Mister Gabriel Vallejo Lopez to take immediate action on the Guajira drought situation by (1) Opening the El Cercado dam gates that restrict the flow of water from the Rancheria River. (2) Carrying out an investigation on the causes of the drought and the responsibilities of the private industry in it (3) Temporary suspend all underground water intakes made by el Cerrejon Mine until a final solution is reached to provide wáter to the community.
Why is this important?
In Colombian La Guajira, a region north of the country and home to one of the largest indigenous peoples of Colombia, the Wayuu, a silent extermination is going on. The Wayuu are dying of thirst and hunger because large landowners and mining companies have privatized and deviated the main river of the region, the Rancheria, and have left them without water. Cerrejón Coal Mine, the biggest coal open mine in the world, and other firms have also placed a dam on the Ranchería River and make extensive use of the underground water sources for their mining operation.
La Guajira is currently suffering from one of the worst man caused droughts. The Wayuus claim that 14,000 (14 thousand) people have already died of starvation and thirst, especially children and the elderly. The Wayuu community has filed a complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights -CIDH-, OAS, based in Washington, by the violation of their fundamental rights vital. Indigenous traditional authorities, through their legal representative Javier Rojas Uriana, requested the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to dictate urgent precautionary measures enabling them to regain use of the Rancheria River to stop the current mortality by starvation of children and older adults.
The El Cercado dam gates that restrict the flow of water from the Rancheria River, should be opened immediately. El Cerrejón is also asked to suspend immediately underground water intakes for its operations. Wayuus communities point to Cerrejón as the main culprit of the drought of nearly nine wells, as dynamite explosions used in mining operations create cracks and dry wells, not to mention coal ash falling into the water.
The unpublished documentary “The stolen river” by Colombian journalist Gonzalo Guillén, will be represented to the Inter-American Commission as evidence. See trailer at: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=stolen+river+Gonzalo+Guill%C3%A9n
The Cerrejon mine claims that is acts under the United Nations Global Compact, Voluntary Principles, and the Global Reporting Initiative, among other guiding principles. Cerrejón create the Cerrejón Foundations System to work for the sustainability of the department of La Guajira. Cerrejon belongs to BHP Billington, Xtrata and Anglo American mining companies.