June 7, 2021

To: Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

Copy: Marc Garneau (Minister of Foreign Affairs), Karina Gould (Minister of International Development), Michael Chong (Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet, Foreign Affairs), Garnett Genuis (Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet, International Development), Jack Harris (NDP Foreign Affairs Critic), Heather MacPherson (NDP International Development Critic), Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe (Bloc International Cooperation Critic), Elizabeth May (Green Party), Ambassador Marcel LeBleu (Ambassador to Colombia), Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Dear Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,

On May 5, 2021, fifteen Canadian university professors wrote to Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau with regard to the current crisis in Colombia. Today, 228 academics from across the country (listed below) are following up on this letter and calling you to show international leadership in favour of human rights in Colombian. Canada must take concrete action to urge the Colombian government to resolve the present crisis through dialogue.

Since the start of a national strike on April 28, Colombia has been engulfed in a deepening crisis of violence and state repression. Serious human rights abuses have been committed by Colombian security forces in response to the huge peaceful rallies held in major cities, accompanied by demonstrations and spontaneous roadblocks in towns and villages around the country. The Paro Nacional was launched against the government’s plan to increase sales tax from 5% to 19% on basic goods such as coffee, chocolate and sugar. But it also reflects frustration against the government’s catastrophic management of the pandemic, proposals to dismantle the public health system, levels of poverty having soared to 42.5%, the lack of implementation of the 2016 peace agreement with the FARC guerrilla, and the unremitting murders of social leaders.

President Ivan Duque has unleashed a staggeringly counter-productive use of force. To this date, 1,649 arbitrary detentions of protesters by the police have been reported, as well as 1,248 assaults, 45 deaths, and 25 cases of sexual violence, all at the hands of security forces. Hundreds of videos posted on social media show the police firing live ammunition at protesters, often accompanied by plainclothes officers and armed civilians using firearms. The government’s response raises extreme concerns in terms of its legality, necessity and proportionality, as voiced by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights.

As academics based in Canada concerned by this situation, we ask you, as Prime Minister, to take a strong stand against the repression of protestors in Colombia. In his only statement on the crisis on May 9, Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau expressed concern for “the disproportionate use of force by security forces” as well as “acts of vandalism and attacks directed against public officials”. While at least two police officers and one police inspector have died since the protests began, the scale of violence committed by government forces is far greater. Many of us wrote to Minister Garneau on May 5 and feel that Canada has the responsibility to take concrete action to bring this violence to an end.

President Duque and his influential mentor Álvaro Uribe Vélez (President from 2002 to 2010) have repeatedly sought to delegitimize the Paro Nacional as hosting criminals, manipulated by foreign interests seeking to destabilize the country, and generating fake news destined to mislead the international community. Despite the dismaying number of reported abuses and their disproportional impact on women, the poor, Indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombians, President Duque has repeatedly expressed total support for the police and the army. On May 28, Decree 575deployed the army in eight departments and 13 cities to support the police in dismantling roadblocks, a move deemed unconstitutional by the Colombia Commission of Jurists. On June 6, President Duque then announced a welcome plan to reform the National Police, which however does not contemplate removing the police from under the Defense Ministry’s authority.

The current situation intensifies the already alarmingly high level of violence. More than 1,100 social leaders and human rights defenders have been assassinated since the signing of the peace agreement in 2016. Most of the victims belonged to rural, Indigenous, Afro-Colombian, and environmental organizations. The first few months of 2021 have seen the most violence in recent years, with 28 massacres. Fifty-five members of the US Congress have already called for the suspension of assistance to the Colombian police as well as the sales of weapons and training to the Mobile Anti-Disturbances Squadron (ESMAD). Italian lawmakers recently wrote wrote to the International Criminal Court’s Prosecutor to request an investigation into the current events.

In view of Canada’s particularly close relationship to Colombia, we call on you to take the strongest possible stance for human rights. Canada’s free trade agreement with Colombia specifically includes reporting on human rights, Canadian mining companies own $1.383 billion in assets in Colombia, and Canada vouched to support the implementation of the 2016 peace agreement. As academics committed to Canada exercising positive leadership in the world, we view the following actions as urgent:

• Canada must immediately go beyond its May 9 statement to urge the Colombian government to respect the fundamental human rights of protesters, to allow the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to conduct a transparent country visit on June 8-10 with direct access to victims and their organizations, to commit to implementing the Commission’s recommendations, and to resolve the present crisis through dialogue.

• Canada must also review any current or projected cooperation with the Colombian police or military and prohibit any future sale of weapons or light-armoured vehicles by Canadian companies until Colombia has reformed its National Police, among others to abolish the ESMAD and to foreclose the application of military justice to police officers.

• Lastly, Canada must seize this opportunity to reassess its foreign policy in Colombia, including the nexus between trade, foreign investment and human rights. Specifically, Canada must afford local communities an effective remedy in Canada against Canadian individuals and corporations whose actions compromise human rights and thus interfere with democratic dialogue.

We thank you for the consideration given to this letter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Leila Celis
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Université du Québec à Montréal
celis.leila@uqam.ca

Christopher Campbell-Duruflé
Doctoral Candidate, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
c.campbell.durufle@mail.utoronto.ca

Luis van Isschot
Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Toronto
luis.vanisschot@utoronto.ca

Daniel Tubb
Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of New Brunswick
dtubb@unb.ca

List of Signatories

1. Leila Celis, Professor, UQAM
2. Christopher Campbell-Duruflé, Doctoral Candidate, University of Toronto
3. Luis van Isschot, Associate Professor, University of Toronto
4. Daniel Tubb, Associate Professor, University of New Brunswick
5. Nora Nagels, Professor, UQAM
6. José Antonio Giménez Micó, Professor, Concordia University
7. Bonnie Campbell, FRSC Professor Emerita, UQAM
8. Marie-Christine Doran, Professeure titulaire, Université d’Ottawa
9. Stephen J Randall FRSC Professor Emeritus, faculty Professor, University of Calgary
10. Diana Cissé, Phd student, University of Ottawa
11. Darren O’Toole, Associate Professor, University of Ottawa
12. Karine Vanthuyne, Associate Professor, University of Ottawa
13. José Del Pozo, professeur associé, UQAM
14. Marcos Ancelovici, Professor, UQAM
15. Amin Perez, Professor, UQAM
16. Vincent Romani, Professor, UQAM
17. Marcelo Otero, Professor, UQAM
18. Salvador Herencia-Carrasco, Human Rights Clinic of the HRREC, University of Ottawa
19. Janik Bastien Charlebois, Professor, UQAM
20. Jean-Marc Fontan, Professor, UQAM
21. David Longtin, Doctoral Candidate, University of Ottawa
22. Daviken Studnicki-Gizbert, Associate Professor, McGill University
23. Issiaka Mandé, Professor, UQAM
24. Cristina Rojas, Professor, Carleton University
25. Colin Scott, Director, Centre for Indigenous Conservation and Development Alternatives, McGill University
26. Marie Nathalie LeBlanc, Professeure & titulaire de la Chaire de recherche sur l’islam contemporain en Afrique de l’ouest, UQAM
27. Elsa Galerand, Professor, UQAM
28. Bob Whitney, Professor of History, University of New Brunswick
29. Martin Gallié, Professor, UQAM Fellow, University of Ottawa
30. Magali Uhl, Professor, UQAM
31. Frédérick Guillaume Dufour, Professeur, UQAM
32. Camilo Gomez, Ph.D.C. McGill University, Director Manguare.red
33. Michel Roche, professeur, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi
34. François Bergeron, Professor, UQAM
35. Marie-Dominik Langlois, PhD candidate, University of Ottawa / École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)
36. Anne Latendressse, UQAM
37. Pilar Riaño-Alcalá, University of British Columbia
38. Rémi Bachand, UQAM
39. Michel Lacroix, UQAM
40. Pierre Mongeau, UQAM
41. Michèle Nevert, UQAM
42. Myriame Martineau, professor, UQAM
43. Brian Pentz, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto Scarborough
44. Geneviève Dufour, Université de Sherbrooke
45. Susan Spronk, University of Ottawa
46. Simone Davis, University of Toronto
47. Anahi Morales Hudon, professeure, Université Saint-Paul
48. Gaële Gidrol-Mistral, Professor, UQAM
49. Laurie Guimond, Professor, UQAM
50. Viviane Weitzner, Adjunct Professor, McGill University
51. Débora Krischke Leitão, professor, UQAM
52. Mario Blaser, Memorial University
53. Francine Descarries, Professor, UQAM
54. Laura Tozer, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto Scarborough
55. Catherine des Rivières-Pigeon, Professor, UQAM
56. Martin Hébert, Professeur, Université Laval
57. François Roch, Professor, UQAM
58. Katherine Zien, Associate Professor, McGill University
59. Gavin Fridell, Canada Research Chair & Associate Professor, Saint Mary’s University
60. Martin Petitclerc, Professeur, UQAM
61. John Kirk, Professor, Dalhousie University
62. Elizabeth Fitting, Associate Professor, Dalhousie University
63. Rachel Chagnon, Professeure, UQAM
64. Kate Ervine, Associate Professor, Saint Mary’s University
65. Jean Leclair, professeur titulaire, Université de Montréal
66. Shirley Roy, professeure, UQAM
67. Frédéric Mégret, Professor, McGill University
68. Ricardo Peñafiel, Professeur associé, UQAM
69. María Mercedes Gómez, Assistant Professor, Saint Mary’s University 
70. Sid Ahmed SOUSSI, UQAM.
71. Shin Imai, Professor Emeritus, Osgoode Hall Law School
72. Rebecca Cook, Professor Emerita, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
73. Andrés Arteaga. Assistant Professor, Saint Mary’s University
74. Charmain Levy, Professor, Université du Québec en Outaouais
75. Gaby Hsab, Doyen, UQAM
76. Tania Pierre-Charles, doctorante, UQAM
77. Geneviève Pagé, Professor, UQAM
78. Kristin Norget, Associate professor, McGill University
79. Marie-Christine Dugal, doctorante, University of Saskatchewan
80. Guillaume Tremblay, Chargé de cours, Université de Montréal
81. Bruce Broomhall, Professor, Department of Law, UQAM
82. Martha Balaguera, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto Mississauga
83. Paul Eid, Professor, UQAM
84. David A. Fernández, Librarian, University of Toronto
85. Arturo Chang, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto Mississauga
86. Francine Descarries, Professor, UQAM
87. Maïka Sondarjee, Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa
88. Catalina Rodriguez, Assistant Professor (CLTA, 2022), University of Toronto Mississauga
89. Audrey Rousseau, Professeure, Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO)
90. Etienne Roy Grégoire, Professeur régulier, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC)
91. Anne-Emanuelle Birn, Professor, University of Toronto
92. Anne Doran, Professeure, Institut de Pastorale des Dominicains
93. Marc-André Anzueto, Professeur, Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) 
94. Geneviève Dorais, Professeure, UQAM
95. Michèle Nevert, Professeure, UQAM
96. Thérèse St-Gelais, Professeure, UQAM
97. Manuel Balán, Associate Professor, McGill University
98. Kevin McMillan, Associate Professor, University of Ottawa
99. Catherine Gosselin, professeure, UQAM
100. Jean-François Hamel, professeur, UQAM
101. Matthew Hawkins, Instructor, Carleton University
102. Xavier Lafrance, Professeur, UQAM
103. Andrés Garcia Posada, Doctorant , Université d’Ottawa
104. Tamara J. Walker, Associate Professor, University of Toronto
105. Élisabeth Abergel, professeure, UQAM
106. Melanie J. Newton, Associate Professor, University of Toronto
107. Maxwell A. Cameron, Professor, University of British Columbia
108. George Dei, Professor, OISE, University of Toronto
109. Claude Morin, professeur retraité, Université de Montréal
110. Nancy Thede, professeure associée, UQAM
111. Cynthia Milton, Professor, University of Victoria
112. María Méndez, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
113. Michelle Bonner, Professor, University of Victoria
114. Chantal Ouellet, professeure, UQAM
115. Frédéric Fournier, Professor, UQAM
116. Claudia Diaz Rios, University of Toronto
117. Sophie L. Van Neste, professeure agrégée, INRS
118. Amanda Perry, Champlain College-Saint Lambert
119. Laurent Colantonio, professeur, UQAM
120. France Dubé, Professeure, UQAM
121. Jutta Gutberlet, Professor, University of Victoria
122. Kevin Coleman, University of Toronto Mississauga
123. Ana Maria Peredo. Professor, University of Victoria
124. Sébastien Rioux, Professeur, Université de Montréal
125. Martine Delvaux, Écrivaine, Professeure, UQAM
126. Pablo Policzer, University of Calgary
127. Marc Bigras, professeur, UQAM
128. Christophe Hohlweg, UQAM
129. Toby Leon Moorsom, University of New Brunswick
130. Mauricio Garcia-Barrera, Associate Professor, University of Victoria
131. Rachel Goffe, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
132. James Tanaka, Professor, University of Victoria
133. Jodie Gawryluk, Associate Professor, University of Victoria 
134. D. Stephen Lindsay, Professor, University of Victoria
135. Djaouida Hamdani Kadri, UQAM
136. Simon Granovsky-Larsen, Associate Professor, University of Regina
137. Danu Anthony Stinson, Associate Professor, University of Victoria
138. Donald Kingsbury, University of Toronto
139. Shauna Sweeney, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
140. Sheila Gruner, Associate Professor, Algoma University (Adjunct Carleton U)
141. Stephen Brown, Professor/Professeur titulaire, University of Ottawa/Université d’Ottawa
142. Claudia Alexandra Duque Fonseca, Docteure en anthropologie, diplômée du Département d’anthropologie et du Centre de recherche en aménagement et développement de l’Université Laval à Québec
143. Audrey Laurin-Lamothe, professeure adjointe, Département de science sociale, York University
144. Louise Boivin, professeure, Université du Québec en Outaouais
145. Pierre Beaudet, professeur, Université du Québec en Outaouais
146. Chandler Davis, professor, University of Toronto
147. Noémie Boivin, diplômée de la maîtrise en droit, UQAM
148. Greg Albo, professor, Politics, York University
149. Sara Gold, McGill Law Graduate 
150. Rachel Hatcher, UQAM
151. Donald Swartz, Professor [ret], Carleton University
152. Thomas Collombat, professeur, Université du Québec en Outaouais
153. Priscyll Anctil Avoine, PhD Candidate, UQAM
154. Virginie Thériault, Professeure, UQAM
155. Natasha Wawrykow, Assistant Professor, University of Victoria 
156. Julie Lavigne, Professor, UQAM
157. David Mandel, Professeur associé, UQAM
158. Roxana Paniagua Humeres, Professeure, Sociologie, Collège de Maisonneuve
159. Tyler Shipley, Professor of Culture, Society and Commerce, Humber College 
160. Jeffrey Pilcher Professor of History, University of Toronto
161. Berenice Villagomez, Undergraduate Coordinator, University of Toronto
162. Natalie Kouri-Towe, Assistant Professor, Concordia University
163. Harry Glasbeek, Professor Emeritus, York University
164. Ruby Dagher, Long-term Part-time professor, University of Ottawa
165. Jean François Mayer, Associate Professor, Concordia University
166. Hugh Thomas, professeur, Université du Québec à Montréal
167. Jenni Carolina Perdomo Sánchez, doctorante, Université de Montréal
168. Me María Rodríguez, McGill Law Graduate & LL.M Candidate
169. Marsha Runtz, Associate Professor, University of Victoria
170. Christophe Reutenauer, UQAM
171. Geneviève Hervieux, Professeure, UQAM
172. Fatiha Sadat, Professeure, UQAM
173. Sam Gindin, Professor Emeritus, York University
174. Réjane Blary, professeure, Université de Montréal
175. Véronica Gomes, doctorante, UQAM
176. Colette Smart, Associate Professor, University of Victoria
177. Julián Durazo Herrmann, UQAM
178. Comité exécutif du Syndicat des professeurs et professeures de l’Université du Québec à Montréal
179. Louise Chim, Associate Teaching Professor, University of Victoria
180. Isabelle Larrivée, doctorante, UQAM
181. Myriam Dubé, professeure, UQAM
182. Catherine LeGrand, Associate Professor (Post-Retirement), McGill University 
183. Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier (Associate Professor), University of Victoria
184. Stéphanie Bernstein, Professor, UQAM
185. Mélissa Blais, Professor, Université du Québec en Outaouais
186. Ana Maria Seifert, conseillère syndicale en santé et sécurité au travail. PhD en santé communautaire, UQAM
187. Dario Perinetti, professeur titulaire, UQAM
188. Alissa Trotz, Professor, University of Toronto
189. Elizabeth Vibert, Associate Professor, University of Victoria
190. Anita Girvan, Assistant Professor, Athabasca University
191. David DePoe, Adjunct Professor, Ontario Institute For Studies in Education
192. Paola Bohórquez, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
193. Dunja Baus, Assistant Professor, York University. 
194. Marlene Bernholtz, Assistant Professor, York University
195. Andrea Levy, Ph.D. History, Concordia University
196. Paola Carrion-Aviles, PhD student, McGill University
197. Emily MacLean, MSc, PhD(c), McGill University
198. Néstor E. Rodríguez, Associate Professor, University of Toronto
199. Pierre Beaucage, professeur émérite, Université de Montréal
200. Christa Japel, professeure, UQAM
201. Louis Gaudreau, professeur, UQAM
202. Karine Rosso, Chargée de cours, Université de Sherbrooke 
203. Astrid V. Perez Pinan, Assistant Professor, University of Victoria
204. Donna Mergler, Professor Emerita, UQAM
205. François Crépeau, Hans & Tamar Oppenheimer Professor of Public International Law, McGill University
206. John Bedoya, University of Bradford
207. Mathieu Perron-Dufour, Professeur, Université du Québec en Outaouais
208. Lindsay DuBois, Associate Professor, Dalhousie University
209. Nancy Turgeon, chargée de cours, UQAM
210. Gordon Laxer, Professor Emeritus, University of Alberta
211. rosalind hampton, Assistant Professor, OISE, University of Toronto
212. Dolores Figueroa Romero, CIESAS Ciudad de México
213. Dominique Leydet, professeure, UQAM
214. Paul Kellogg, Professor, Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies, Athabasca University, Edmonton
215. Camille Denicourt-Fauvel, Chercheure doctorante, Sciences Po Paris
216. Simon Pierre Boulanger Martel, PhD Candidate, Université de Montréal
217. Pascale Dufour, Professeure, Université de Montréal
218. Carmen Umana-Kinitzki, PhD student, McGill University
219. Adelle Blackett, Professor, McGill University
220. Madeleine Gauthier, graduate student, McGill
221. Katia Forgues, Graduate Student, McGill
222. Catherine Potvin, Professor, McGill University
223. Mathieu Guillemette, Graduate Student, McGill University
224. Véronique Fortier, professeure, UQAM
225. Catherine Costigan, Professor, University of Victoria 
226. Benoît Lacoursière, secrétaire général et trésorier, FNEEQ-CSN
227. Marie Langevin, Professeure, UQAM
228. Elena Basile, Sessional Lecturer, York University and University of Toronto
229. Audrey Dahl, professeure, UQAM
230. Ximena Cuadra Montoya, doctorante, UQAM
231. Nicole Meier, MSc Candidate, McGill University
232. Marco Alberio, Professeur, Université du Québec à Rimouski/Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna
233. Jonathan Barker, Profesor Emeritus, University of Toronto
234. Luz Janeth Ospina M., Ph.D -Instructor, University of Lethbridge
235. Nicolas Renaud, Part-Time Professor, Concordia University
236. María Constanza Guzmán, Associate Professor, Glendon College, York University
237. Carlota McAllister, Associate Professor, York University
238. Gillian McGillivray, Associate Professor, Glendon College, York University
239. Ian Martin, Associate Professor, Glendon College, York University
240. Marlon Valencia, Assistant Professor, Glendon College, York University
241. Claudio Jaramillo, PhD candidate, OISE, University of Toronto
242. Antoinette Gagné, Associate Professor, OISE, University of Toronto
243. Gabriel Ricardo Nemogá S. Professor, University of Winnipeg
244. Christopher Luederitz, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, McGill University
245. Kelci Harris, Assistant Professor, University of Victoria

This content has been updated on October 2, 2022.