15-03-2017

Swedish energy company Vattenfall is carrying out a three-week investigation into human rights violations associated with coal mining in Colombia. This week they are visiting the Cesar coal region, where thousands of people have been murdered and tens of thousands driven from their land…The majority of European coal imported from Colombia comes from this region, including the coal used by Vattenfall…Two Corporate Social Responsibility experts from the energy company are now in Cesar speaking to past victims of human rights violations, to activists currently being systematically threatened, and to the mining companies Drummond and Prodeco. They have already held discussions with the Colombian authorities in Bogota, the country's capital…It is vital that the energy companies see and hear for themselves the problems surrounding the blood coal that they import: tens of thousands of victims of paramilitary violence are still waiting for recognition and compensation, while threats to people standing up for their rights continue.