6th August is the date fixed for the eviction of the black community ed
´squatters in bad faith´ in a legal possession order taken out by Raúl
Fernando Ruiz Ordoñez and Jesús Sarria. Yet the presence of black
communities on these lands dates from 1636, since when they have worked
small gold mines which is today the only means of subsistence for
hundreds of families.

The black community´s territory in La Toma district consists of 7,000
hectares, some 6,500 hectares of which, including the cemetery, are
sought by Anglo Gold Ashanti for exploration purposes. The company has
found a fast-track to an immediate start to operations, via two mining
concessions together making up 403 hectares. They are concession EKE-151
(314 hectares) held by Raúl Fernando Ruiz Ordoñez, and concession BFC
021 (99 hectares) held by Héctor Jesús Sarria. Neither of these
concession holders are linked with the community, nor have they carried
out any mine exploration or exploitation activities. Rather, in the
light of the known interest of Anglo Gold Ashanti, these two gentlemen
have initiated a legal process of expropriation that will stop the
afro-colombian miners from developing the work that they have carried
out for generations in this district.

Anglo Gold Ashanti and the Canadian owned company Cosigo Resort have
been pressurising to take over other territorios in Suárez, and the
neighbouring municipalities of Buenos Aires and Santander. None of the
moves by these mining corporations respect the the right of the black
communities to /consulta previa/ (prior consultation) the guarantee set
out in ILO Convention 169, as recognised by Colombia´s constitution, and
elaborated in Law 70 passed in 1993.

This is not the first wave of evictions from this region. Back in the
1980s the construction of the nearby La Salvajina dam and reservoir
system displaced hundreds of families to the urban slums of Agua Blanca
in Cali and other cities. The environmental, economic, social and
cultural impacts of this hydroelectric project have still not been
addressed by the operating company CVC (Corporación Autónoma Regional
del Valle del Cauca) or the Colombian state. In 1994 the Salvajina
project was taken over by Energía Eléctrica del Pacifico-EPSA (in turn
owned by Spanish multinacional). EPSA tried to divert the Ovejas river
that runs by La Toma in order to augment Salvajina´s gnerating capacity.

Before Salvajina, the afro-colombians native to this region sustained
themselves through fishing, agriculture, ferrying and mining; after the
dam´s construction much of the best farming land was flooded under the
reservoir and there were drastic climate changes; both of which led to a
crisis in traditional farming. For most of the black community the only
remaining means of making a living was through artisanal gold mining.
Besides the predicted environmental impacts from the open cast mining
that Anglo Gold Ashanti and similiar multinationals want to undertake,
this artisanal mining would disappear and the black communities would be
displaced entirely from their territories.

In Judgement No 005 of 2009, Colombia´s Constitutional stated a number
of contributing factors tending to cause the displacement of
afro-colombians including structural exclusion, the pressures generated
by big mining and agriculture, and deficient legal protection for the
collective territories of the black communities. The Constitutional
Court drew special attention to the situation of the black communities
who are the ancestral inhabitants of Buenos Aires and Suárez as an
emblematic case; these communities are a clear and living example of the
risks pointed out by the Court of the vulnerability of territorial
rights, the loss of social and cultural control by the communities, the
violation of their right to prior consultation, and the absence of
registration of ancestral territories that even now have not been
recognised as collective property.

The Constitutional Court ordered that there be effective participation
of the communities, and set in motion a plan of monitoring that would
take into account the general factors and the specific risks identified
in its judgement 005. The Court ordered that the territorial rights of
the afro-colombian communities be protected through the design of a plan
to be implemented by 30 October 2009, characterising the lands as
ancestral territory, of ethnic signficance and part of the patrimony of
these communities.

The artisanal gold mines constitute one of the last common goods still
conserved by the black communities of northern Cauca. Their eviction
from La Toma would be one more link in the historic chain of unjust
expropriations that should be blocked by determined action by all the
communities.

We call on all afro-colombian organisations, leaders and other social
sectors nationally and internationally to take action to demand:

1. That the Colombian Ministry of Mines and Energy revoke the mining
concessions EKE-151 held by Raúl Fernando Ruiz Ordoñez and BFC 021 held
by Héctor Jesús Sarria, on the grounds that has not been prior
consultation with the black communities living on these territories.
2. That the Ministry of Mines and Energy definitively stop the order to
evict the black communities of the Corregimiento (district) La Toma,
located in Suárez municipality in the north of Cauca department.
3. That the Ministry of the Interior, Justice and Social Action
immediately fulfil the the Constitional Court Judgement No 005, by
formulating an action plan of attention and protection of these
communities, putting in place the measures organised by the Court to
protect the territory and the patrimony of the communities.
4. In the case of any process concerning the exploration and
exploitation of mining resources, and other projects and political or
administrative measures that might affect the black communities, the
application of Consultation with Free, Prior and Informed Consent in
accord with ILO Convention 169 and the national Constitution.
5. That the Ministry of the Interior adopts measures for the protection
of the life and security of community leaders in the region.

With our traditional affirmation of Life, Happiness, Hope and Freedom /
Con nuestra tradicional afirmación de Vida y Alegría, Esperanza y Libertad

CONSEJO COMUNITARIO DE LA TOMA
ASOCIACION DE CONSEJOS COMUNITARIOS DEL NORTE DEL CAUCA
PALENKE DEL ALTO CAUCA
PALENQUE EL KONGAL
CONSEJO COMUNITARIO CUENCA DEL YURUMANGUI
CONSEJO COMUNITARIO CUENCA DEL MAYORQUIN
CONSEJO COMUNITARIO MAYOR CUENCA DEL ANCHICAYA
CONSEJO COMUNITARIO CUENCA DEL CALIMA
CONSEJO COMUNITARIO BAJO MIRA Y FRONTERAS
CORPORACION PALENQUE SIGLO XXI
PROCESO DE COMUNIDADES NEGRAS EN COLOMBIA PCN
FEDERACION AGROMINERA DEL SUR DE BOLIVAR
CORDINADOR NACIONAL AGRARIO. CNA
CORPORACION SEMBRAR
ASOCIACIÓN NOMADESC

CAMPAÑA PROHIBIDO OLVIDAR
CED INS
PAZ CON DIGNIDAD