Stop Blood Coal
With the 'Stop Blood Coal campaign' PAX aims to make a difference in the lives of tens of thousands people who have become victims of paramilitary in the mining area of Cesar, Colombia. We support these victims in their search for truth and reconciliation and push mining companies to take their responsibility and contribute to actual remedy for the victims.
From 1996 to 2006, residents of the Cesar mining region of Colombia, from which European power utilities source most of their coal, have suffered greatly from paramilitary violence. At least 3100 people have been murdered, 55,000 farmers have been driven from their land and hundreds of people have disappeared. Even today, the atrocities faced by victims and their surviving relatives have never been acknowledged, let along compensation being awarded.
Perpetrators and witnesses have declared under oath in legal processes and to PAX (as registered in The Dark Side of Coal report) how the Cesar-based Drummond and Prodeco mining companies have supported the paramilitary forces with finance, equipment and information. The mining companies deny any involvement, but those victims of human rights violations who stand up for their rights, are still being threatened. PAX expects that governments and energy companies, in their role as buyers, hold their suppliers - the coal mines - accountable for the situation of the victims.
Nieuws
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Enel suspends blood coal imports
04-05-2017 Europe’s biggest energy company, Italian multinational Enel, has suspended imports of coal from the Cesar mining region Colombia. Enel CEO Francesco Starace stated this at the annual stockholders meeting in Rome. The announcement was made in the context of investigations into the human rights impact in the coal mining region of Cesar and Enel’s de-carbonization strategy.
Natural Resources, Conflict & Human Rights Colombia -
Vattenfall hits the right notes on blood coal
28-04-2017 At its annual general meeting in Stockholm, the Swedish energy company Vattenfall showed a willingness to help solve the human rights abuses involved in the extraction of coal from the Cesar mining district of Colombia.
Natural Resources, Conflict & Human Rights Colombia -
PAX optimistic after Vattenfall investigation
30-03-2017 The Swedish energy company Vattenfall has concluded an investigation into the human rights impact associated with coal mining in Colombia. PAX accompanied the investigators for part of their mission and witnessed first-hand their good, critical questions and that they allocated sufficient time for a thorough inquiry.
Natural Resources, Conflict & Human Rights Colombia
