Human rights at St. Clare's

In our previous Human Rights session, we learned about a community in Colombia called the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. This is a community created as a result of the ongoing civil war in the country. As the name of the community suggests, they are a non-violent group with the main principle of acting in peace. Their standpoint in the civil war is neutral, however none of the conflicting sides are willing to accept this, and the community is therefore under constant hostility.

The peace community was established in March 1997 by 500 displaced villagers, and since then more than 170 members have been killed or disappeared, as well as facing threats and sexual assaults. The people living in the community are in constant danger, as the authorities have failed to protect them. Today the community counts for nearly 1,500 members and through the help from the community they have been able to retrieve some of the land that was taken away from them during the civil war.

To support the members of the community, the Human Rights Group took some action. We took a group photo with each student holding a piece of paper with the quotation: Apojo a la Comunidad de paz de San José de Apartadó, which translated into English means: I am supporting the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. The picture will be sent to Amensty International, who will make it into a big poster and then forwarded to the community in Colombia. Furthermore, we each wrote a letter to the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, where we expressed our support for the group as well as emphasizing their need for improved safety. We hope that the letters will pressure the government into protecting the community and their human rights.

By: Katja Knudsen and Emilie Ødegaard
IB students

January