Caso: Denuncia ante la CIDH (Comisión) de Ivan Medina Claros contra el Estado Miembro República de Colombia Fumigaciones

Abstract

The aerial and indiscriminate spraying with toxic herbicides carried out by the Colombian State within the framework of an anti-narcotics strategy for the forced eradication of illicit crops, and the effects that these cause on the humanity of people, especially those who reside in Departments considered as conflict zones, is a controversial State policy nationally and internationally due to the devastating effects on the Amazon ecosystem and the implications on the health of the people who inhabit this region, especially when, prior to the fumigations, no warning is given to the inhabitants so that they take measures to safeguard them from being the direct object of aerosolization of the chemicals used in these operations.

In Colombia, unfortunately, there is no clear scientific evidence on the effects that glyphosate causes on people's health. Circumstance of which the Colombian State relies to declare itself unharmed in the face of the liability proceedings that are initiated against it. This constitutes a clear ignorance on the part of the Colombian State, of the precautionary principle in decisions about the environment and public health. Circumstance that in turn translates into a flagrant violation of the American Convention on Human Rights, according to which, the Colombian State is called upon to assume its position as guarantor and obliged to respect the life and physical integrity of the people who reside in his territory.