On February 15, 2024, the Colombian fishing and environmental association FEDEPESAN announced that its members would be forced to collectively move away from the areas they inhabit in the lakes and rivers around the city of Barrancabermeja. In recent years and also in the first two months of 2025, members of FEDEPESAN have been subjected to numerous harassments, threats, robberies, extortions and even assassination attempts by armed groups seeking control of the waters for their own benefit or retaliating against FEDEPESAN for denouncing possible cases of pollution and corruption. Amnesty International is calling on the Colombian police to ensure the safety of FEDEPESAN members and prevent their displacement.
What’s the problem?
The members of the fishing and environmental association FEDEPESAN (Federación de Pescadores Artesanales Ambientalistas y Turísticos del Departamento de Santander) who live near Barrancabermeja are at risk of being evicted. This applies in particular to fishermen who fish on the lake of Ciénaga de San Silvestre and the rivers Sogamoso and Magdalena, Caño San Silvestre, Caño Rosario and Quebraza El Zarzal in the area around Barrancabermeja (Magdalena Medio region).
On February 15, 2025, the fishermen of FEDEPESAN announced that they were forced to leave their territory. They have been harassed for years and have already been threatened in 2025. The authorities are not doing enough to protect FEDEPESAN members.
Among the many harassments to which members of FEDEPESAN are subjected are telephone and direct threats – sometimes in the form of blackmail, sometimes because they are seen as an obstacle by armed groups seeking control of the region’s lakes and rivers. They have also been attacked in the past for denouncing water pollution or possible cases of corruption that run counter to environmental protection measures in their area. Given these circumstances, members of FEDEPESAN are afraid to go fishing and are therefore unable to earn an income or feed their families. This situation threatens their fundamental rights, including the rights to work, food and security, as well as their land rights.
Please stand up for the fishermen and environmentalists of FEDEPESAN!
Link to action (german): Website von Amnesty International
Background
The Magdalena Medio region comprises an extensive valley through which the Magdalena River flows. Oil is one of the most important economic resources in the region. The town of Barrancabermeja is located in the heart of Magdalena Medio in the province of Santander. The largest refinery in the country operates there. The area is also home to agribusiness, mining, livestock farming and other economic sectors. Due to its fertile soil and abundance of valuable resources such as oil and water, the Magdalena Medio region in northern Colombia is considered strategically important and there are frequent clashes between state authorities and armed groups. In the Magdalena Medio region, there has also been a tradition of grassroots mobilization and a commitment to human rights for decades. The combination of trade union organization, feminist and civil society movements and the defence of human rights has led to a strong local civil society. This commitment against various forms of injustice on the one hand and the dispute over territorial, political and economic control in the region between various interest groups – including armed ones – on the other have created a breeding ground for violence against human rights defenders, which has been ongoing since the 1980s, if not longer. In recent years, Magdalena Medio has seen an alarmingly high number of acts of violence against the civilian population, particularly homicides. All of this occurs against the backdrop of clashes between at least four armed groups in the region, including the Ejército Gaitanista de Colombia (EGC) group, also known as AGC or Clan del Golfo, currently the largest armed group in the country with the most extensive control over the region.
The Federación de Pescadores artesanales, ambientalistas, y turísticos del departamento de Santander (FEDEPESAN) is active on Lake San Silvestre near the town of Barrancabermeja. FEDEPESAN has in the past reported water pollution by regional companies and the presence of armed groups seeking control of the area and its waters. In connection with FEDEPESAN’s activities, the chairperson, Yuly Velásquez, has experienced numerous forms of violence documented by Amnesty International. These include a threat in November 2020, damage to her home by gunfire in January 2021, intimidation during protests in August 2021, an attack with a firearm in May 2022 and another in July 2022 (in which a security guard of her protection program was injured). In June 2022, Amnesty International called on the government to protect FEDEPESAN through an Urgent Action. Amnesty International has documented shortcomings in the implementation of the protection program provided by the Colombian government to Yuly Velásquez through the National Protection Unit (UNP) due to her high risk, and asked for better protection given the high risk she faces. Yuly Velásquez was awarded the Amnesty International Human Rights Award in Germany in 2024.
n February 2024, March 2024 and January 2025, Amnesty International appealed to the authorities to provide protection and carry out effective judicial investigations. This was preceded by threats from the armed group EGC against FEDEPESAN and the human rights organization CREDHOS, which supports FEDEPESAN on the ground.
In January and February 2025, FEDEPESAN reported various threats against its members to the authorities, which increased the fear among the organization’s fishermen. However, these threats did not receive adequate attention from the local authorities, including the police. Faced with these circumstances, FEDEPESAN issued a public statement on February 15 in which it declared that it would be forced to leave its territory with its families. This eviction would not only jeopardize their ability to continue sustainable fishing, but would also make their commitment to environmental protection on the lake and the San Silvestre River impossible.