Colombia: Laboratory of war - Repression and violence in Arauca

This report discusses the Colombian region of Arauca. Control over Arauca is seen as vital by all the armed actors in Colombia because of its strategic, economic, military and geographical importance. It has also attracted the attention of the United States, which helps fund the military protection of the Caño Limón oil pipeline which runs through Arauca and which is partly owned by the US oil company Occidental Petroleum. As a result the civilian population, human rights activists, and community leaders have been subjected to vast human rights violations.