Colombia farmers accused of violent crimes over peaceful anti-mining protests

Colombia’s prosecution indicted 11 activists for crimes such as kidnapping and robbery amid their peaceful protests against South African mining company AngloGold Ashanti.

The locals were charged with multiple criminal offenses because of their protests against AngloGold Ashanti’s ambitions to mine for copper in Jerico, a town in southwest Antioquia.

The criminal charges were based on three complaints made by the multinational against more than 40 locals in an apparent attempt to quell their protests.

These complaints include accusations of kidnapping, theft, property damage and personal injury over incidents that allegedly occurred between May 2022 and December of 2023.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, 16 people from the mining company were retained for five hours by approximately eight locals “carrying machetes and sticks” during one of the incidents.

The locals allegedly told the mining employees that “they could not continue their activities because it was a protected area, a nature reserve” and surrendered them to police.

In a second incident, 15 cyclists and a guide were refused passage for approximately 20 minutes.

The hearing was suspended because the judge ordered the prosecution to be more specific about the crimes allegedly committed in the second incident, the locals’ defense attorney told weekly Semana.

At times it feels that we are talking about a road blockage. It is not clear how these people who are cited as victims were physically prevented from being able to move.

Defense attorney Oscar Correa

The eleven individuals singled out for prosecution are said to be key figures in the peasant struggle to protect their region’s natural resources.

A history of resistance

Residents of the region have been resisting mining projects by AngloGold Ashanti for over 15 years.

In December of 2023 more than 100 locals dismantled a mining platform that AngloGold Ashanti had secretly installed on the land owned by former Mayor Rafael Arteaga.

The undamaged platform was peacefully handed over to local police.

Locals claim that AshantiGold is trying to impose mining exploration without the community’s consent, a legal requisite, pushing forward a large-scale underground mining project for copper and gold.

This has never been a mining region. This is a land of farmers, and we want to keep growing food here.

Jerico residenf

Who is AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation.

According to 2023 numbers, it is the 7th largest gold-mining company in the world with operations on four continents.

Colombia’s Truth Commission holds AngloGold Ashanti responsible for financing paramilitary groups that murdered peasants and community leaders.

The company was also accused of destroying water sources and forcibly displacing thousands of people in Cauca,  province in the southwest of Colombia.