Liza Martinez
Universidad del Rosario’s Environment and Human Rights Research Group
Bogota, Colombia
I am excited to write this blog—the first of a series I will produce over the next twelve weeks. I am one of the 2016-2017 Gallatin Human Rights Fellows, and this summer I will go back to my native country, Colombia, to work alongside the Universidad del Rosario and its Environment and Human Rights Research Group.
The Environment and Human Rights group is working to create awareness of the possible consequences of using mercury in gold mining. It also works toward providing ways to help informal miners abide by the country’s legal frameworks.
My project focuses on the existing tension between the state’s ability to protect, respect, and enforce the right to health and water for individuals who live in areas where gold mining is practiced (Antioquia), with the state’s need to exploit the country’s natural resources as a means to economic development.
What interests me most about my project is the opportunity to work with a group of researchers who examine environmental issues through the lens of human rights. I have always had a keen curiosity about issues related to water, and with my medical background, I have always seen the health side of the story. This is my first opportunity to get involved in a project that looks at water from a different angle.
All the above have motivated me to pursue this project, and I still have many unanswered questions. For example, to what extent can individuals affected by water contaminated with mercury be identified? How can reparations be provided? To what extent can these legal tools be used by individuals? And most importantly, is the water contamination issue overshadowed by the economic gains made from the gold market?
One of the biggest challenges that I anticipate is being accepted by the community, because building trust with them might require more time than I have. However, the work the university has done previously with them might ease my access to them.
If you are interested in Colombia, its water, gold, and the havoc that the use of mercury in the informal mining sector is causing, please follow my blogs. You will have access to uncurated information from the point of view of a native Colombian woman!
For additional resources, you can visit the following websites:
http://www.ddhhur.com/index.php?idVar=semillero
Photo Sources:
1) https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5dcYzvXUMJo/hqdefault.jpg
2) https://images.vice.com/vice/images/articles/meta/2016/05/25/stephen-ferry-fotografia-colombia-oro-libro-1464215110.jpg?crop=1xw:0.84375xh;center,center&resize=1050:*