Two years after the end of investigations on natural resource extraction activities carried out by multinational companies and their impact on Colombian peoples’ rights, the Peoples’ Permanent Tribunal (PPT), a non-binding non-governmental body which is part of the Basso Foundation’s international chapter, will hold a hearing from July 21 through 23, 2008 in Bogota. A preliminary inquiry, the fifth one so far, into the mass slaughter of Colombia’s indigenous populations will take place before the hearing in the Kankuamo protected indigenous community, in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. During the hearing, several multinational companies and their countries of origin, Colombian government agencies and international financial institutions will stand trial to determine whether they can be held accountable for having violated rights to life, dignity, health; to social, political and economic self-determination; right to sovereignty and food security; land rights; environmental rights; rights to access essential services; native peoples’ and workers’ rights. The jury, presided over by Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, will include prominent internationally-renowned figures in the legal and social fields.
