I'm watching my time master.
Ultimately, you will be facing a big dilemma as a result of many contradictory statements. Committee members will need to know what interests stakeholders have. It is worth noting that the Colombian government has mounted a major campaign to improve its image on the international stage. According to a research paper prepared by the Canadian Council for International Cooperation, the Colombian government apparently paid millions to three US-based firms to lobby on its behalf. There is a great deal of information about how statistics are presented.
It is also important to consider what independent human rights organizations are saying, groups like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations. I am not saying that we must discount the information presented to us by government representatives, only that we need to ask ourselves where their interests lie.
I don't think it will be difficult to figure out how to conduct a human rights impact assessment. There are certain institutes in Canada that specialize in such matters. Amnesty International and Rights and Democracy are two such organizations. The latter is based in Montreal and has done several reviews of mining investments. The United Nations also has resources that it can assign to this task. It will take more than just a few days or weeks to do an assessment. The participation of Colombia's civil society will be crucial in order to hear the people's side of the story. Models for conducting assessments can be used for this purpose.