US embassy cable - 03MONTREAL999

UNCLAS MONTREAL 000999 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAN AND WHA/AND 
 
E.0. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, SOCI, PREF, CA, CO 
SUBJECT: YOUTH GROUP VISITS CONSULATE ON PLIGHT OF AFRO- 
COLOMBIANS 
 
 
1.  Summary.  Two leaders of Black Youth in Action (BYIA), a 
Montreal NGO, paid a visit to the Consul General (CG) on 
Monday, July 21.   The purpose of the visit was to deliver a 
letter describing the displacement of the Afro-Colombian 
population in Colombia and to request the names of African- 
American civil rights leaders to whom BYIA could lobby for 
the protection of the Afro-Colombians.  The CG provided a 
suggested list of organizations to BYIA on July 25.  End 
summary. 
 
2.   BYIA, also known as Jeunesse Noire En Action (JNEA), 
was founded in 1999.  It is a political and civic 
organization composed of Black youth with family, 
organizational and interest ties to Africa, the Caribbean, 
North America and Latin America.  BYIA is "dedicated to 
integrating Black youth in the social and political life of 
Quebec Province and Canada."  The BYIA membership age range 
is from 13 to 30.  The group has been successful recently in 
getting its views heard around Montreal and other parts of 
Quebec Province. 
 
3.  BYIA Founder and Political Coordinator Peter Flegel and 
BYIA member Karl Didier informed the Consul General about 
the organization's numerous initiatives in the past year. 
The group expressed concern to Montreal Mayor Tremblay about 
"racist" remarks made by Municipal Councillor Jeremy Searle 
in a borough council meeting; launched a letter-writing 
campaign to complain to the Editor-in-Chief of Quebec City's 
major paper, Le Soleil, about a cartoon depiction of two 
Black Francophones; launched a campaign in Montreal high 
schools to combat violence; participated in the United 
Nations Working Group on People of African Descent; engaged 
municipal, provincial and federal government leaders about 
the unemployment rate of Black university graduates; and 
mobilized the Black youth vote in the 2003 provincial 
election campaign.  As a result of its efforts in the 2003 
provincial campaign, BYIA has gained the attention of 
Premier Jean Charest. 
 
4.  The primary purpose of the July 21 visit was to discuss 
what BYIA reports as "ethnic cleansing" of the Afro- 
Colombian population by the Colombian paramilitary forces. 
The BYIA representatives specifically noted a May 2, 2002 
bombing that resulted in the death of 119 Afro-Colombians 
and the serious injury of 98.  BYIA concluded that one of 
the main causes for attacks on the Afro-Colombian community 
is a link between the amended constitution that provided 
Afro-Colombians with collective land ownership rights in 
Choco Province and vested interests of Colombian and 
multinational companies in the petroleum, uranium and gold 
found in the area.  BYIA also noted that the Government of 
Colombia seeks to build a canal linking the Caribbean Sea 
with the Pacific Ocean through land owned by Afro- 
Colombians. 
 
5.  BYIA reports that Colombian organizations have warned 
that further attacks on the Afro-Colombian population are 
imminent. BYIA said that it has voiced its concerns to the 
Government of Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and 
International Trade (DFAIT), urging DFAIT to "pressure the 
Government of Colombia to protect the Afro-Colombians from 
paramilitary forces, to guarantee Afro-Colombian land 
ownership after the civil war has ended, and to implement 
social programs to assist the displaced Afro-Colombian 
population."  BYIA also has urged the Government of Canada 
to implement a moratorium on all deportations to Colombia. 
 
6. The two BYIA leaders closed their meeting with the CG by 
requesting assistance in establishing contact with major 
African American civil rights leaders, so that BYIA could 
"inform them about the plight of Afro-Colombians and 
encourage them to pressure the U.S. Government to protect 
people of African descent in Colombia." 
 
7.  The CG faxed Political Coordinator Flegel on July 25, a 
list and contact information for the following organizations 
with human rights advocacy and/or interest in issues related 
to the African diaspora: The National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People, The Congress of Racial 
Equality, The King Center, The Rainbow Coalition/Operation 
Push, The Carter Center and The Office of the Congressional 
Black Caucus. 
ALLEN