2001
The protection of the collective rights of the Afro-descendant community of Anchicayá, and compensation for the damage caused by the spillage of contaminated mud into the river, were demanded by a collective action. A constitutional action, which, in 2001, when the events took place, was not widely known in the Colombian legal system.
2009
Despite the legal victory obtained by the community in 2009, it failed to materialize. The planned reparation was blocked by a series of administrative and judicial procedures that failed to take into account the community’s state of vulnerability and special constitutional protection status.
2013
In 2013, several UN Special Rapporteurs – the Panel on People of African Descent; on Business and Human Rights; on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights; on the Right to Food, among others, presented the Colombian state with a series of questions to report on the case before the UN Human Rights Council. However, these questions were not answered in a timely manner by the State.
2018
In 2018, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights decided to handle case 13.166 “Afro-descendant community of the Anchicayá River” to jointly determine its admissibility and the merits of the case. In this scenario, a position is expected on: i) the vulnerability and state of defenselessness and abandonment of Afro-descendant communities; ii) the impact this has on access to effective justice; iii) the relationship between human rights and business, among other issues of interest.
2021
In July 2021, in a ruling by the Conseil d’Etat, compensation for communities was definitively recognized. However, its recognition is made from a perspective that contradicts what has already been proven during the administrative procedure.
In October 2021, the Anchicayá community was awarded the National Human Rights Prize for being the country’s collective process of the year.
2024
Since all legal avenues have been exhausted in Colombia, the fight now continues before the Inter-American human rights system.