Nine Columbian Environmentalists Massacred

Friends of the Earth-Australia, Friends of the Earth-Columbia, and the Permanent National Assembly of Civil Society of Columbia call upon the international community to condemn the massacre of nine environmentalists in Purace Province's National Park.

The environmental NGO Friends of the Earth in Columbia and Australia has called for the international community to condemn the government of Columbia for failing to protect the lives of nine environmentalists who were massacred in Columbia last week. The bodies were found last weekend in a ravine in the National Park of Purace.

The Permanent National Assembly of Civil Society denounced the government "the list of murdered environmentalists grows. One week ago, an environmentalist was killed in the Sierra Nevada and the press identified the murderers as the paramilitary groups. Nobody is found responsible for the crimes. Fear prevents the witnesses from identifying the murderers," according to Hildebrando Velez, Director of Friends of the Earth, Columbia.

"We demand the government take concrete and effective measures to avoid new massacres against the civil population and against those who work for peace, for social justice and the environment. We invite the international community to denounce these murders and demand that the government put an end to so much injustice."