The IICP organized a three-day seminar on land restitution together with GTZ (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit) and Colombian organizations. The event “Víctimas del despojo, Iniciativas para saldar la deuda” (Victims of deprivation, initiatives to settle a debt) took place in Bogotá, Colombia, from November 24th to 26th. It was opened by the Procurador General and closed by Vice-President Angelino Garzón who will be responsible for coordinating activieties around the restitution of approximately six million hectares of land illegally occupied. Betreen three and four million people have been internally displaced in Colombia, most of them peasants and farmers, by paramilitary troops, guerillas or government forces. President Juan Manuel Santos who took office in August of 2010 surprisingly put land restitution on the top of his agenda.

The seminar brought together politicians, high ranking government officials, academics, human rights activists, international experts and displaced persons. Around 500 persons assisted and took part in the discussions around possible solutions within the legal framework of the state. Part of the land taken by force is occupied by paramilitary leaders and industrial farmers who grow oil palms or sugar cane while the rightful owners live in the slums of the cities and depend on meager aid
packages.

IICP’s Ralf Leonhard invited international experts from Peru, Guatemala, Italy, Hungary and Belgium and organized the logistics.

A documentation of the seminar can be found on the website of CODHES (Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento): www.codhes.org