[IPSM] Paramilitaries and Impunity in Colombia: Speaking tour by Willington Cuesta and Anna-Maria Lozano (organized by PASC and CCDHAL)

[Jaggi Singh]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2004 00:21:54 -0400 (EDT)
From: la CLAC! <clac at taktic.org>

[Please post and forward ... For more info, visit the PASC website:
http://projet-colombie.ath.cx]

Two representatives of grassroots communities in Colombia will be in
Quebec to present testimonies of a country torn apart by impunity and
paramilitaries -- October 14-26, 2004

Activities organized by the PASC (Projet Accompagnement Solidarité
Colombie) and the CCDHAL (Comité Chrétien pour les droits humains en
Amérique latine):


PRESS CONFERENCE
Friday, October 15, 11am
Maison St-Pierre, room 112
1212 rue Panet


PUBLIC PRESENTATION (in French)
Saturday, October 16, 2-6pm
UQAM, Room A-2790
Pavillon Hubert-Aquin
1255 rue St-Denis


VIGIL AT THE COLOMBIA CONSULATE
Wednesday, October 20, 1-2:30pm
In front of the Colombia Consulate in Montreal
1010 Sherbrooke West


PUBLIC PRESENTATION (in English)
Thursday, October 21, 6-9pm
McGill University
Cultural Studies Building
3475 Peel


BENEFIT SHOW FOR THE FREEDEOM OF "PASAJEROS"
(A Colombian music group imprisoned under
accusations of rebellion and terrorism)
With CAGIBI et GENR'RADICAL
Thursday, October 21, 9pm-3am
Bar La Place à Côté
4571 Papineau,
$6 in advance, $8 at the doors


BACKGROUND TO THE SPEAKERS : WILLINGTON CUESTA AND ANNA-MARIA LOZANO

Willington Cuesta, 29, is a peasant leader and the Vice-President of the
Council of the Jiguamiando Basin, which brings together 23 communities.
Like all members of these communities, Willington was forcibly displaced
in 1997 during "Operation Genesis", a joint deployment of Brigade 17 of
the Colombian Armed Forces and paramilitary groups. The creation of the
Council in 2000 coincided with the return of communities to their
ancestral lands, and the development of a proposal aiming to create
humanitarian zones that would symbolize the principle of protection of the
distinct civilian populations living within an armed conflict.

An educator for the Inter-ecclesiastical Commission of Justicia y Paz,
Anna-Maria Lozano has worked for many years with the communities of
Cacarica and of Jiguamiando, in the Colombian region of Choco. She is a
member of the interdisciplinary team of the Commission that supports
different peasant communities desiring to obtain protection as granted by
international humanitarian law to civilian populations living within an
armed conflict.

For interviews, or to meet with our two guests, please contact Vilma
Munguia of the Comité Chrétien pour les droits humains en Amérique latine:
(514) 387-2541 # 238