Colombia Human Rights Report 2006

You can download the Colombia Human Rights Report 2006 in PDF format. Or read it in Spanish.

Introduction

In 2006 Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), based in Barrancabermeja, Santander, the principal city in the Middle Magdalena region continued a permanent presence in the Ciénaga del Opón with a group of displaced communities that returned to their homes in 2001. Due to CPT's strategic location close to five departments, CPT's work also included participation in verification commissions to various rural communities. The commissions, composed of representatives from human rights organizations, human rights lawyers, officials from various United Nations agencies and the local government, documented human rights violations. Additionally, mobile teams visited other regions of the country in response to specific community invitations.

CPT participated in meetings with governmental organizations and institutions, national and international NGO's, civilian and military authorities and diplomatic representatives in Colombia. At the international level, CPT shared experience and analysis of the Colombian context with Colombian solidarity coalitions including Americas Policy Group (Canada) and Latin America Working Group (USA), as well as with churches and ecumenical initiatives for Colombia. CPT's work in Colombia has led us to report the human rights violations we witness. A summary of those violations in 2006 follows.

In addition to Barrancabermeja and its surrounding areas, CPT visited diverse regions in Colombia: Montes de Maria (Sucre, Bolivar), Nariño (Ricaurte y Barbacoas), Bolivar (San Pablo, Santa Rosa del Sur, Simití, Morales, Arenal, Rio Viejo, Regidor, Barranco de Loba, Tiquisio, and Montecristo), Santander (Landazuri), and Antioquia (Remedios). Communities and social organizations in all these regions largely viewed the demobilization of paramilitary groups that proceeded in 2006 as unsuccessful. We heard and witnessed violations of Human Rights law and International Humanitarian Law by paramilitary groups, the FARC, ELN, and several branches of the Colombian Military. The experience of CPT highlighted the continued activity of paramilitary groups, some anonymously and others identified with new names, including the creation of Las Aguilas or Aguilas Negras -Eagles or Black Eagles- in February and La Mano Negra -The Black Hand- in April. These groups recruited demobilized paramilitaries and continued past paramilitary activity when they began to threaten leaders of the social and human rights organizations and selectively assassinate and promote "social cleansing" in Barrancabermeja. Ex-paramilitaries also began to work as private "security guards," charging "taxes" for this "work." Furthermore, the gasoline cartel continued to operate in the Ciénaga del Opón with armed accompaniment.

Report

Statistics

CPT accompanies the Coalition of Human Rights Organizations (Espacio de Trabajadores y Trabajadoras de Derechos Humanos) in Barrancabermeja. This coalition gathered the following statistics in 2006:

1. More than eighty-seven homicides have been committed in the region; seventy-one of these occurred in Barrancabermeja.

2. Sixty-seven of these homicides were committed with firearms.

3. More than 270 families (or 980 people) have been forced to displace from Barrancabermeja due to violence or threats.

4. Inhabitants registered more than 120 complaints of threats with the Regional Human Rights Ombudsman.

Events

CPT either witnessed or heard first-hand testimony of the following incidents:

SANTANDER

March 3, Barrancabermeja. Association of Displaced People of the Municipality of Barrancabermeja (ASODESAMUBA)[1] and the Popular Women's Organization[2] (OFP) denounced persecution against their members by the reorganized paramilitary groups.

March 24, Barrancabermeja. An unknown man shot Henry Murillo several times while he participated in a workshop for teachers. Henry survived, but is paralyzed from the waist down; he and his family displaced from their home as a result of the attempt on his life.

June, Barrancabermeja. The "Black Hand" targeted people who identify as gay or transgender, young people and people who use drugs. An activist for an LGTB group shared with CPT that two people killed in June were part of the LGTB community and others were forced to displace.

August 17-21, Miralindo, Landazuri. Community leaders spoke of death threats they and their families received, based on rumors that they signed a document requesting that the office of the president eradicate coca in the area.

August 5, Barrancabermeja. Paramilitaries kidnapped, tortured and threatened ASODESAMUBA1 member Vilma Cecilia Salgado Benavides for three days. After releasing her, they continued to send telephone threats until she displaced from the city.

Corregimiento Ciénaga del Opón, Barrancabermeja. Throughout the year, the CPT team observed activity of three armed groups in the region-the Colombian army[3], the guerrilla (FARC)[4] and paramilitaries[5]. The Colombian army conducted intrusive patrols, where the soldiers occupied civilian homes and patios, stole property, used kitchens and cut fences between pastures (April). The gasoline cartel was present in the communities throughout the year with paramilitary accompaniment. The same group set up illegal checkpoints where they stopped and searched the community motor canoe. The FARC guerrilla maintained presence all year and pressured people for food and collaboration.

June 27, La Colorada and La Florida, Ciénaga del Opón, Barrancabermeja. Armed paramilitaries killed Orlando Manuel Navarro while he was working on his farm. This assassination together with increasing threats against other members of the community led to the temporary displacement of four families and the permanent displacement of another.

December 24, Los Ñeques, Ciénaga del Opón, Barrancabermeja. Members of the Calibio Batallion detained two young men of the community, pressured them for use of their canoe, and harassed them to give information about the guerrilla location in the zone. The soldiers took pictures of them and fingerprints of a twelve-year-old boy.

BOLIVAR

February 18, Micoahumado, Morales. Members of CPT were stopped by a group of unidentified paramilitaries on their trip to Micoahumado while they were using a European Union car. The armed men asked for money in exchange for the use of the road.

May 18. Pueblito Mejía, Barranco de Loba. Townspeople reported that some demobilized paramilitaries continued to commit crimes together with active paramilitaries. A group of demobilized and active paramilitaries kidnapped four members of the community. The group later released the four due to the community's strong response to this act. The paramilitaries threatened the communities with violence if they continued asking for support and protection from different national and international organizations and government institutions. The CPT team visited one of several mass graves dug by the paramilitaries. Despite the presence of the government representative and a member of the MAPP-OEA[6] on this commission, the mass graves have yet to be excavated.

June 7-17, Micoahumado, Morales. Soldiers of the Batallón de Artillería de Defensa Aérea No.2 "Nueva Granada" - V Brigada (BAGRA) used schools for shelter, stole coca paste and accused members of the community of being guerrillas.

August 9-10, Olivares, Río Viejo. Community members reported a series of threats, forced displacements, and house burnings in the area. CPTers saw the burnt homes and death threats written in charcoal on walls. There is no clarity as to the group responsible.

August 26, Honda Alta, Corcovado, Morales. Soldiers of the BAGRA killed two unarmed and out-of-uniform guerrilla combatants-killing one as he fled and executing the other after he surrendered. In addition, the soldiers shot a child in the leg when they fired indiscriminately on the community. As both killings occurred outside combat, they constitute violations of international humanitarian law, as does firing on a civilian population.

September 19, Mina Gallo, Santa Rosa. Soldiers of the BAGRA assassinated community leader Alejandro Uribe. In response to the killing, 1300 miners from sixteen communities, their families and other residents converged on the regional seat of government, Santa Rosa. They demanded that the government investigate Uribe's death and respond to ongoing military abuses against civilians in the area. The authorities refused to honor the community's request to meet with them with no military personnel present, so the two groups did not meet. Community members reported to CPT that members of the BAGRA threatened them: "This will not be the only death that you will have, there will be more deaths of leaders."

December 3, Corcovado, Morales. CPT documented damaged legal crops due to aerial fumigations to eradicate coca plantations. Community members told CPT about a terrible odor during the fumigations and that many people became ill in the days afterward with headaches, stomach problems and "the flu".

ANTIOQUIA

April 3-11, Lejanias, Remedios. Community members testified during an assembly. Their testimony included seventy denouncements against people previously identified as paramilitaries but who had supposedly "demobilized." Twenty-five families had received death threats and at least two assassinations had occurred and one person had been disappeared. In addition, people had been arbitrarily detained; they often were hooded and tortured.

SUCRE AND BOLIVAR

February 24-28, Montes de Maria. CPT witnessed the situation of several families displaced by armed groups.

July 21-26, Montes de Maria. Rural communities complained of military[7] blockades of roads that prevent free movement and transport of food and medical supplies, massive and arbitrary detentions of community members without due process, fumigations of avocado trees, the main agricultural product of the region, and the lack of basic services such as electricity, clean water, health clinics, schools and road repair. Civic and military officials denied the allegations.

NARIÑO

June and July, Rural areas of Ricaurte. CPT received testimony of communities who displaced as a result of indiscriminant bombing by the military, including a school.

November 27, Ricaurte. CPT heard about fumigations in the area and illnesses that Awá Community members have suffered since the fumigations started. The nurse there described birth defects, bad skin rashes, breathing problems, diarrhea, and other symptoms.

December 10, Altaquer. The army[8] executed a young man already in their custody. Ten minutes before he was killed, the eyewitness saw him dressed in a white tee shirt and jeans and unarmed. The article in the December 17^th edition of "El Diario del Sur" reported that he was killed in armed combat.

December 15 and 17, Altaquer, Ricaurte. An Awá Community leader told CPT that she was tense and fearful for her life because of threats. Hers was the 6^th name on the death list of an Aug 9^th massacre. CPT visited the site of the massacre. The five victims were all taken from their homes and executed in the same place at the same time. The army was based less than 500 meters away.[9]

 

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Footnotes

[1] Asociación de Desplazados del Municipio de Barrancabermeja; Association of Displaced Persons of the Municipality of Barrancabermeja

[2] Organización Femenina Popular; Popular Women's Organization

[3] Batallón Plan Energético y Vial No. 7 "Rodrigo Antonio Arango Quintero" - (V Brigada), and Batallón de Ingenieros No 14 "Batalla de Calibío" (XIV Brigada)

[4] Compañía "Rafael Rangel", Frente 24, Bloque Magdalena Medio de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia

[5] Paramilitary groups unidentified with a specific name.

[6] Mission in Support of the Peace Process/Organization of American States

[7] Segunda Brigada del Ejercito, Fuerza Naval del Caribe -Primera Brigada de Infantería de Marina-, Policía de Sucre

[8] Grupo de Caballería Mecanizado No. 3 Gr. José Maria Cabal. Brigada No. 29 de Tercera División del Ejército de Colombia

[9] Grupo de Caballería Mecanizado No. 3 Gr. José Maria Cabal. Brigada No. 29 de Tercera División del Ejército de Colombia

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Colombia Human Rights Report 2007

You can download the Colombia Human Rights Report 2007 in PDF format. Or read it in Spanish.

Introduction

During 2007 Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), based in Barrancabermeja, Santander, the principal city in the Middle Magdalena region, continued a permanent presence in the Ciénaga del Opón with displaced communities who returned to their homes in 2001. CPT also maintained a long-term accompaniment of the communities of Micoahumado, Morales, Bolivar. The Federation of Agro-Miners of the South of Bolivar (FEDEAGROMISBOL) and the communities that compose this organization became a new focus of accompaniment, increasing CPT presence in the municipalities of Santa Rosa del Sur and Tiquisio, Bolivar. CPT participated as well in various verification commissions to rural communities in the Magdalena Medio. Composed of representatives from human rights organizations, human rights lawyers, officials from various United Nations agencies and the local government, these commissions documented human rights violations. Additionally, two CPT mobile teams visited Ricaurte, Nariño in response to invitations from the indigenous Awá people in that municipality represented by the Council of Elders of the Awá People of Ricaurte.

Alongside the accompaniment of communities, CPT worked closely with other organizations to promote respect for human rights and International Humanitarian Law through political advocacy. In Barrancabermeja, CPT continued to form part of the Human Rights Workers' Space, a regional coalition of human rights, social and ecclesiastical organizations. On a national level, the team participated in meetings with governmental organizations and institutions, national and international NGO's, civilian and military authorities and diplomatic representatives in Colombia. At the international level, CPT shared experience and analysis of the Colombian context with Colombian solidarity coalitions including the Americas Policy Group (APG) in Canada and the Latin America Working Group (LAWG) in the USA, as well as with churches and ecumenical initiatives for Colombia. CPT's work in Colombia has led us to report the human rights violations we witness. A summary of those violations in 2007 follows.

CPT visited the following departments and municipalities of Colombia: Antioquia (Remedios, Yondó), Bolivar (Arenal, Cantagallo, Morales, Regidor, Rio Viejo, San Pablo, Santa Rosa del Sur, Simití, Tiquisio), Cesár (La Gloria), Nariño (Ricaurte, Cumbal) and Santander (Barrancabermeja).

In the Middle Magdalena region, CPT continued to witness all armed groups ignoring the principle of distinction between civilians and armed actors, a distinction fundamental to International Humanitarian Law. Despite the demobilization of the paramilitary groups operating in the region, paramilitaries, demobilized and stillactive, persisted in threatening and harming the civilian population; they acted both unidentified and under various names including: Aguilas Negras, or Black Eagles; el Bloque Central de Bolívar de las Aguilas Negras, or the Central Bolivar Block of the Black Eagles; Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia-Bloque Central de Bolívar, or United Self-defense Forces of Colombia-Central Bolivar Block (AUC-BCB); and la Mano Negra, or the Black Hand. The army batallions Artilleriada Defensa Aerea No.2 "Nueva Granada" (Nueva Granada), Especial Energético y Vial No. 7 "Rodrigo Antonio Arayo Quintero" (BAEEV7), Infantería No. 4 "Antonio Nariño" (Nariño), and Ingenieros No. 14 "Batalla De Calibío" (Calibío), as well as the navy battalion Fluvial repeatedly and excessively used civilian spaces, heightening the already great risk to the civilian population. Furthermore, their use of unverified information as a basis for intelligence reports is cause for concern, as these reports are used in turn as the basis for issuing arrest warrants. Two guerrilla groups continued to violate civilian spaces as they operated in the region: Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP); and Ejército de Liberación Nacional, or National Liberation Army (ELN).

In Nariño, there has been heavy combat between the Battalion José María Cabal and the FARC throughout the year. The Battalion Cabal aerially bombed rural areas of Ricaurte, which caused massive displacement and continues to threaten further displacement. The FARC and other groups have used landmines and assassinations to intimidate the civilian population. Great numbers of displaced civilians are seeking refuge within both rural and urban Ricaurte but continue to live at risk of further violence.

Throughout Colombia, populations identified as at-risk-Afro-descended, indigenous, women and children-suffer from the armed conflict at a disproportionately high rate. The abuses cited in the following report demonstrate this pattern in the Middle Magdalena region, where Afro-descended Colombians make up perhaps as high as 75% of the population. Likewise, the population of Ricaurte is 80% indigenous, and the majority of the indigenous population lives in rural areas, where the events reported in this document took place. Both in Nariño and the Middle Magdalena, levels of physical and sexual violence against women and children are extremely high, frequently due to the generalized violence of the armed conflict. Violence against women and children, like violence against indigenous and Afro-descended Colombians is often hidden or considered of lesser importance and therefore tends to pass below the radar of formal documentation processes.

Report

Statistics

CPT works closely with the Observatorio de Paz Integral, or Holistic Peace Observatory (OPI), an organization that compiles statistics and information about the armed conflict in the Magdalena Medio. OPI's statistics for the first two thirds of 2007 are included here to give an overall picture of the civilian experience of the armed conflict.

Table 1. Actions against the civilian population of the Magdalena Medio region in the framework of the armed conflict, January to August, 2007

CATEGORY	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug					Total
Individual Threat	2	7	3	5	1			3					21
Collective Threat	5	8	1		2	3	2	4					25
Attack on Civilian Goods*		3	2		1		2						8
Attack on Goods Indispenable for survival*		1				1							2
Attempted Homicide		1		1		1							3
Civilian injured in bellum actions								5					5
Civilian killed in bellum actions		1											1
Forced Displacement	1			3	3								7
Massive Forced Displacement*	2	1				1	1						5
Arbitrary Detention		11	16	1									28
Injury	2	1	3	1	3	5	1	8					24
Extrajudicial Excecution	14	10	7	10	3	20	6	5					75
Assassination		4	2										6
Intencional Homicide							2						2
Pillaging*		1											1
Kidnapping
Torture		2	2			1	2						7
Use of Antipersonal Mines
Sheilding	1	1	1			1	1						5
Sexual Violence

Source: Political Violence Database, OPI.

* In these categories, the number refers to the number of events, rather than the number of victims.

Events

CPT witnessed or heard first-hand testimony of the following incidents:

SANTANDER

Corregimiento Ciénaga del Opón, Barrancabermeja. Throughout the year, CPT observed activity of three armed groups in the region-the Colombian army, the guerrilla and paramilitaries. The Colombian army conducted intrusive patrols, where the soldiers occupied civilian homes and patios, stole property, used kitchens and cut fences between pastures. Known paramilitaries accompanied the gasoline cartel, an organized crime ring which steals gasoline from a pipeline that passes near the Ciénaga del Opón. This cartel began to store and transport gasoline in large plastic bags covered by feedbags that float in the river, a severe risk to the environment. The same paramilitaries also set up illegal checkpoints in which they stopped and searched the community motor canoe. Meanwhile, the FARC guerrilla maintained presence in the area all year and pressured people for food and collaboration.

January 31, La Colorada, La Ciénaga del Opon, Barrancabermeja: Soldiers from the Navy Battalion Fluvial under the command of Sergeant Alemán occupied a civilian home. (Violation of the principle of distinction)

February, La Ciénaga del Opon, Barrancabermeja: Troops of the Battalion BAEEV7 occupied many civilian homes and shot a hole in a home. (Violation of the principle of distinction)

March 16, Los Ñeques and La Florida, La Ciénaga del Opon, Barrancabermeja: Paramilitaries, self-identifying as members of the AUC-BCB, an officially demobilized group, patrolled through the two communities and occupied civilian homes. Members of the Battalion BAEEV 7 marched intermixed with this group. (Violation of the principle of distinction)

March 31, La Ciénaga del Opon, Barrancabermeja: Seven men arrived at the Campo Alegre farm, four of them armed, wearing uniforms of a private security firm called "Aeroparque" and self-identifying as bodyguards of the others. Of the remaining three, one man identified himself as the son of the owner, and another as the owner's lawyer. These seven men destroyed the house of a resident with chainsaws, and sawed up logs that residents had harvested, rendering the logs commercially valueless. The men said they came "in peace" this time, but that the next time they would not. (Destruction of civilian goods, Threats)

May 24, 4:00 am, Barrancabermeja: Personnel of the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD) attacked a group of displaced people who had settled on a piece of municipal land a few days earlier, claiming it as land for housing. ESMAD fired tear gas upon the people, who were sitting in their plots of land, singing. The tear gas affected a two-month-old baby in a nearby home. A young man experienced convulsions due to the tear gas and a beating by the police. Both the baby and the young man required hospitalization. (Excessive use of force)

July 16, La Ciénaga del Opón, Barrancabermeja: Soldiers from the Navy Batallion Fluvial occupied a community celebration, carrying arms as they mixed into the civilian space. (Violation of the principle of distinction)

August 1, Barrancabermeja: The Central Block of the Black Eagles of Colombia sent an email threat entitled "Warning" to the Organización Femenina Popular, or Popular Women's Organization (OFP) and to the Comité Regional de Derechos Humanos, or Regional Committee on Human Rights (CREDHOS). In translation the threat reads, "BLACK EAGLES OF COLOMBIA, FOR OUR COUNTRY/ Social Organizations, unions, political parties, political leaders and human rights defenders...The decision in our bloc´s last meeting is to name as military targets in our area of control a group of people and organizations that we know in one way or another belong to groups of the extreme left... For this reason we warn organizations like: uso, ofp, asodesamuba, andas, PDA, acvc, and others that we will reveal soon. Also people such as david ravelo, gamboa, mario, claudia lines, kike, imat adala, lilia, William, johan, and many others that in our next communiqué we will make known...so we warn you to leave or abandon immediately your leftist activities or the well-named guerrilla proselytism, or we will enter in immediate action..." (Threat)

November 4, Barrancabermeja: Two armed and hooded men forced their way into the apartment of YOLANDA BECERRA, president of the Popular Women's Organization, ransacked the apartment, pushed Becerra, held a gun to her head and threatened to kill Becerra and her family if they did not leave the city within 48 hours. (Violation of the principle of distinction, Breaking and entering, Threat)

ANTIOQUIA

January 24, San Franciso, Yondó: Soldiers under Sergeant Rubén Ruiz from the Battalion Nueva Granada built and occupied trenches within two meters of civilian homes. (Violation of the principle of distinction)

March 25, Ojos Claros, Remedios: Soldiers from the Battalion Calibío asked two male youth who were cutting lumber, including 21-year-old Carlos Mario García, to ferry them across the Tamar river in the youths' canoe. After crossing, the soldiers separated the two boys and began to interrogate them individually. Seven soldiers took the 16-year-old youth down a path, put on rubber gloves and told him they were going to kill him; he escaped by swimming across the river. Later the body of Carlos, dressed in a uniform and with a rifle and munitions, was presented by the Battalion as a guerrilla killed in combat. The community then displaced because of fears of further violence to another town in the area. Since they displaced within the same area, the state does not recognize them as displaced people and therefore does not give them benefits. (Extrajudicial killing, Displacement)

May 9, Yondó: A demobilized paramilitary known as "Arturo" spoke in the city park to a young man who had gone to a meeting of victims of crimes of the state in Barrancabermeja several months earlier. "Arturo" said, "We know everyone who went to the meeting; we have a list from Ramon Isaza [demobilized paramilitary leader] of the people we are going to disappear." (Threat)

May 28, San Franciso, Yondó: Soldiers from the Batallion Nueva Grenada barracaded homes with sand bags and occupied them with other army gear, effectively using civilian homes as guard posts. (Violation of the principle of distinction)

BOLIVAR

December 8, 2006 (from testimony taken in May 2007), La Posa, Cantagallo: Army troops detained a woman in her house for hours, accusing her of being a guerrilla, and refusing her a drink of water. They then took her to a house 300 meters away, where a guerrilla deserter was present. She reported, "They said terrible things to me." The troops later released her. (Arbitrary detention, Inhumane treatment, Threat)

January 6, 2007, El Diamante, Paraíso, Simití: Paramilitaries stole 13 heads of cattle from the community. (Theft)

March 10, Mina Caribe, Santa Rosa del Sur: A group of soldiers under the command of Sergeant Segundo Vargas of the Nueva Grenada Battalion entered the town while the community was holding an Assembly. A civilian dressed in an army uniform and carrying a weapon patrolled with the soldiers and indicated individuals who were then questioned by the army. The army left only after the sergeant's commanding officer ordered the sergeant to leave as a result of a call from the local Human Rights Ombudsperson. In addition to violating International Humanitarian Law, this occupation of civilian space also violates an agreement signed between the government on October 30, 2006. (Violation of the principle of distinction, Use of illegal civilian informants in a military patrol)

April 14-15, La Posa, Cantagallo: Troops from the Battalion Calibío broke down the doors of the community center, broke locks, and ransacked the center. (Destruction of civilian property)

April 26, Santa Rosa del Sur: Troops of the Nueva Granada Battalion arrested Teófilo Acuña, the president of the Southern Bolívar Agricultural Miners' Federation at the Federation office. The arrest warrant was not signed by a district attorney, and was based on a military intelligence report using unverified information provided by guerrilla soldiers who had demobilized. The arrest order was overturned 10 days later by the judge reviewing the case, and Acuña was released. (Arbitrary detention)

Late April/May, La Posa, Cantagallo: A squadron of 300 soldiers with two demobilized guerrillas, entered the village. The soldiers obscured their identifying badges, both personal and battalion, but were most likely from the Battalion Calibío or the Battalion Nueva Granada, the two battalions that have regular presence in the zone. The soldiers said they were from Bucaramanga and uttered the following threats:

• To three or four people whom they called together: "It is better that you go, we are telling you as friends." One family displaced as a result of this threat; others named the fear it caused them.
• From several soldiers: "Don't be scared of us, but rather of the ‘Black Eagles' [a new paramilitary group] that is coming after us."
• From other soldiers: "Don't believe these stories about the ‘Black Eagles'; we are the ‘Black Eagles.'"
• From one of the demobilized guerrillas to a resident: "Don't walk alone, I am walking among the lions, I know why I say this."

(Threats, Forced displacement, Patrol without clear identification, Use of illegal informants)

May 3-5, La Posa, Cantagallo: Soldiers of the Battalion Calibío occupied a civilian house, and did not permit the woman of the house to cook during the day. (Violation of the principle of distinction)

May 9, Mina Proyecto, Arenal: Soldiers under Sergeant Reyes of the Nueva Granada Battalion stopped a member of the community of Mina Proyecto and told him, without giving a reason, that he could not travel out of the community. (Arbitrary detention, Restriction of free movement)

May 29, Micoahumado, Morales: Soldiers belonging to the insurgent group, the ELN, mined the road from Micoahumado to the village of La Guásima, in violation of accords signed with the community in 2005. (Violation of the principle of distinction, Use of unconventional weapons)

June, La Guasima, Micoahumado, Morales: Soldiers from the Nueva Grenada Battalion arrived at the home of a young mother, beat her and threatened to burn her 8-month-old baby. (Violation of the principle of distinction, Unnecessary use of Force, Threat)

June, La Garita, Arenal: A local resident reported that a demobilized guerrilla soldier had told him that troops of the Nariño Battalion were going to detain him. The resident claimed that the testimony against him was unfounded and provided by a demobilized guerrilla as a way to gain favor with the army. The resident said he feared leaving his home. (Threat)

Mid-June, Progreso Alto, Micoahumado, Morales: Soldiers of the Nueva Granada Battalion asked the drivers of three trucks to transport them from Progreso Alto to Micoahumado. (Violation of the principle of distinction)

June 22, La Plaza, Micoahumado, Morales: Under the command of Sergeant Monsate, soldiers fully uniformed and heavily armed occupied homes and camped in the community's cemetery, less than 100 meters from civilian homes. Despite petitions from CPT and community leaders, the soldiers did not leave the community. Additionally, soldiers demanded gasoline from one resident of the community, who refused to supply it, and they obliged a man to drive to pick up their supplies. On June 24, they moved camp to the opposite end of the community, surrounding a civilian home. (Violation of the principle of distinction)

July 6, La Plaza, Micoahumado, Morales: In the middle of the night, members of the ELN attacked troops from the Nueva Granada Battalion camped around a civilian house, which is home to five residents, including three children. During the several hours long battle, numerous bullets passed through the house, and several bombs exploded around it. None of the residents were injured, but bullets damaged their belongings and home. (Violation of the principle of distinction)

July 25, Puerto Coca, Tiquisio: Soldiers from Nariño Battalion occupied homes. (Violation of the principle of distinction)

July 26, La Plaza, Micoahumado, Morales: At least 30 armed and uniformed members of the ELN occupied civilian spaces, including civilian homes. (Violation of the principle of distinction)

September 18, Torero (La Punta), Santa Rosa del Sur: Along the highway on the way to the Punta from Santa Rosa, three heavily armed guerrilla soldiers, out of uniform, set up a check point. Later, in the Punta, a group of soldiers from the ELN arrived and did not allow anyone to leave the area for an hour. (Illegal checkpoint)

June to end of year, Garzal and Nueva Esperanza, Simití: Employees of the Barreto family returned to the township with the intention of removing legally titled residents from land they have farmed for decades. The family currently has title to the land in question due to irregular procedures at the municipal level. The employees are working the land and now occupy, amongst other places, the school of Nuevo Esperanza. Accompanied by known active paramilitaries, a member of the Barreto family has shown up in the communities. (Implicit threat, Appropriation of land)

November 29, Tiquisio, Bolívar: Troops of the Battalion Nariño camped within the limits of the village of Puerto Coca and watched television in a civilian home. Troops of the same battalion have been camped all year long on a hill in the middle of the town of Tiquisio Nuevo. (Violation of the principle of distinction)

CESAR

February 15, La Gloria: Three members of the Aguilas Negras forced two boat drivers to take them down the river. After arriving partway down the river, the paramilitaries allowed one of the boat drivers to return. They forced the other to take them to a stream, where they encountered the army. The two groups exchanged gunfire and the army killed the three members of the Aguilas Negras and the civilian boat driver. (Violation of the principle of distinction)

NARIÑO

March 21, Pasto, Ricaurte, and Tumaco: A group named "Nueva Generación," or "New Generation," sent an email threat to the Permanent Committee on Human Rights, the Corporation AVRE, the Council of Elders of the Awá People of Ricaurte (CAMAWARI), The Indigenous Unity of the Awá People (UNIPA), The Foundation for Peace and the Social Office of the Catholic Church of Tumaco. In translation the threat reads as follows: "NGOs of Nariño / Defenders of Narco-terrorists / R.I.P / We are not going to permit that the oppressive yolk of the guerrilla returns to the region. / We will not lose the conquered liberty because patriotic honor should be defended and respected. / All of those that work for narco-terrorist NGOs are duly warned. / Long live liberty, no to old terrorist oppression in the guise of human rights." (Threat)

April 25, Tallambi, Cumbal: Two women, Bertha Marín Hernández, and Zoraida Serafina Ortíz Gualpaz and a young girl, Jhoana Yuliza Muñoz Ortíz were killed by antipersonnel mines with unknown authors. (Use of illegal arms)

April 30, Cuaiquer Integrado la Milagrosa, Ricaurte: Members of the FARC-EP assassinated Ramiro Patiño, an indigeous man, and left his body surrounded by anti-personnel mines. (Extrajudicial killing, Use of illegal arms)

May 1, La Esperanza, Cuaiquer Integrado la Milagrosa, Ricaurte: Members of the FARC-EP assassinated Antonio Mauricio Guango Pai, an indigenous man. (Extrajudicial killing)

November 20, Ricaurte: In a meeting with members of CPT, Coronel Óscar Robayo, the commander of the Battalion José María Cabal in Ipiales, advocated the concentration of the Awá people of eleven extensive reserves of Ricaurte in a few population centers along the highway. When CPT asked if this "concentration" would be the equivalent of a massive displacement from ancestral lands of the Awá, Robayo did not deny it but argued that this would allow the army to clean out the guerrilla in the area. Robayo did not have a plan to protect the rights of the Awá people in their territory throughout the municipality. Additionally, Robayo said that if the Awá do not displace, the national army would not support them with any school or community projects. (Implicit threat)

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Colombia Human Rights Report 2008

You can download the Colombia Human Rights Report 2008 in PDF format. Or read it in Spanish.

Violations of International Humanitarian Law in Colombia

December 2007 to November 2008

Report prepared by Julián Gutiérrez Castaño, Christian Peacemaker Teams volunteer.

For a summary of International Humanitarian Law, see www.icrc.org/Eng/ihl.

Introduction

This report outlines violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL)¹ observed by Christian Peacemaker Teams in Colombia's Magdalena Medio region (Bolivar and Santander provinces) and Nariño province from December 2007 through November 2008. CPT had a presence in other Colombian provinces, but the cases that appear in this report are only in the three provinces mentioned.

This report documents only violations of IHL - cases related directly to Colombia's armed conflict. Human Rights violations are omitted. To include violations that took place outside the context of war would carry a totally different meaning beyond the scope of our work. This is not meant to ignore the ongoing problem of government inattention to violations of Colombians' most fundamental rights.

The IHL violations covered in this report were committed by the three principle actors in the Colombia's armed conflict: the Armed Forces (National Army, National Police, the Navy and other State institutions), paramilitary groups (Aguilas Negras, Autodefensas Gaitanistas, Autodefensas Bolivarenses, etc.) and guerrilla groups (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-Popular Army and the National Liberation Army). In practice, ongoing alliances and infractions of the Principle of Neutrality committed by the Armed Forces when they associate with paramilitaries to combat guerrillas or to attack civilian populations lend credence the recurring argument that there are really only two groups of armed actors in Colombia's armed conflict.

This report includes only cases of which CPT has direct knowledge, either by having witnessed the violation or by taking information directly from victims or witnesses. In some cases, victims' names are omitted for their safety. Because CPT's work is limited to certain areas within the provinces mentioned, and is concentrated particularly in the Magdalena Medio region, other sources should be consulted in order to complete the pictures of IHL violations within these departments. The Observatory of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law of the Colombia-Europe-United States Coordination Group (CCEEU) recently published the Final Report of the International Mission of Observation of Extrajudicial Executions and Impunity in Colombia; the Center for Research and Education in the Public interest (Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular, CINEP) publishes a semiannual report, Noche y Niebla, one of the most complete sources of national statistics. In the Magdalena Medio region, the Holistic Peace Observatory (Observatorio de Paz Integral, OPI) of the Magdalena Medio Development and Peace Program (Programa de Desarrollo y Paz en el Magdalena Medio, PDPMM), Corporación Sembrar, the Cimitarra Valley Peasants' Association (Asociación Campesina del Valle del Río Cimitarra) and the Regional Corporation for the Defense of Human Rights (Corporación Regional para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, CREDHOS), constitute the most reliable centers for the collection and dissemination of Human Rights and IHL violation reports.

Statistics

The following statistics provided by Holistic Peace Observatory (OPI) are documented violations of IHL committed in the Magdalena Medio region by the three armed actors identified earlier.

CATEGORY	TOTALS
Individual Threats	24
Collective Threats	5
Attack on Civilian Goods	1
Attack on Goods Indispensable for Survival
Attempted Homicide	1
Civilian Injured in Bellum Actions
Civilian Killed in Bellum Actions
Forced Disappearance	5
Massive Forced Displacement	2
Arbitrary Detention
Injury	20
Extrajudicial Execution	102
Assassination	32
Intentional Homicide	4
Pillaging	1
Kidnapping	2
Torture	4
Use of antipersonnel mines	2
Shielding	1
Sexual Violence
TOTAL	206

Accounts

BOLIVAR

San Luis, Simití, Bolívar. December 1, 2007

Presumed Perpetrator: National Army

Description: Execution of prisoners of war. Soldiers of the Luciano D'Lhuyar Battalion assassinated four paramilitaries of the Aguilas Negras, who had surrendered after engaging in combat in an inhabited rural area of San Luis, Simití. The executed paramilitaries' bodies were subsequently presented as if they had been killed in combat.

 

La Posa, San Pablo, Bolívar. December 28, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: National Army

Description: Intentional Homicide of Protected Persons. Soldiers of the Batalla de Calibío Battalion apprehended Parmenio Manuel Hernandez Anaya, a member of the Cimitarra River Valley Campesino Association, shot him in the back, dressed him as a guerrilla and presented him as having been killed in combat. The soldiers were accompanied by an informant.

 

Micoahumado, Morales, Bolívar. January 12, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries, National Army.

Description: Intentional Homicide of Protected Persons. An ex-guerrilla paramilitary known as "El Flaco Miguel," working as an informant for the Luciano D'Lhuyar Battalion, shot and killed David Salazar Laguna and wounded his son while the two were traveling on a motorcycle near the soccer field in Micoahumado. The assassination occurred while "El Flaco Miguel" was patrolling with soldiers. Later, Mr. Salazar was presented as a guerrilla killed in combat by the Luciano D'Lhuyar Battalion.

 

La Cooperativa, San Pablo, Bolívar. January 27, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: National Army.

Description: Intentional Homicide of a Protected Person. Soldiers of the Batalla de Calibío Battalion killed Miguel Angel González Gutiérrez, a 23 year-old member of the Cimitarra Valley Peasants' Association. The soldiers placed him in camouflaged clothing and presented him as a guerrilla killed in combat. Mr. González's father had been arrested a week before on charges of rebellion.

 

Puerto Rico, Tiquisio, Bolívar. February 3, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-Popular Army (FARC-EP)

Description: Kidnapped for Political Persecution, collective occupation. The FARC-EP kidnapped a leader of Puerto Rico and took his automobile, which served public transportation needs of the community. The leader and vehicle were freed following intervention by the community.

 

San Pablo, Bolívar. February 18 or 19, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries

Description: Intentional Homicide of Protected Persons. Paramilitaries of the Autodefensas Bolivarenses set up a checkpoint on the road between San Pablo and Santa Rosa and assassinated Miguel Eugenio Daza, leader of the Association of Small Cacao Producers of Southern Bolivar (Asociación de Pequeños Productores de Cacao del Sur de Bolívar, APROCASUR), and his driver, Jhon Martínez. They also killed community leader Wilmar Tabarez, who was traveling separately by motorcycle. (APROCASUR had helped 192 familias to switch from illicit crop cultivation to cacao.)

 

Alto Cañabraval, San Pablo, Bolívar. March 12, 2008

Presumed Perpetrators: National Army and Paramilitaries

Description: Violation of the Principle of Distinction, Collective Threats. Citizens of the communities of Bajo Cañabraval, La Florida and El Retorno denounced the presence of the paramilitary group Aguilas Negras. Denouncements against the National Army included occupation of civilian spaces over a period of several days by soldiers, attempts to recruit some members of the community as informants and making unsubstantiated accusations that others are guerrillas. Members of the community also denounced Army threats to send the Aguilas Negras to punish them.

 

El Paraíso, Simití, Bolívar. March 13, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: National Army

Description: Attack on Civilian Goods. National Army Soldiers burned several homes in the community of El Paraiso during illicit crop eradication operations under Plan Colombia.

 

Bolívar. April 10, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries

Description: Collective and Individual Threats. The Northern Colombia Block of the Aguilas Negras sent an email threat naming as military targets members of the Farmers and Miners Federation of Southern Bolivar (Federación de Agromineros del Sur de Bolívar, FEDEAGROMISBOL), Sembrar, the Magdalena Medio Development and Peace Program, the Tiquisio Citizens Process, and the priests of Tiquisio, Arenal and Rioviejo. The threat accused the social and religious leaders of being guerrillas, called them people undesirable to the Colombian government "who should be eliminated" and warned that they will kill a leader for each meeting or action they undertake in their social processes. The threat arose only one week after the same leaders met with the Government, which committed itself to taking protective measures for their labor. The Constituent Assembly of Micoahumado, one of those threatened, had to cancel a planned visit from journalists headed by Alfredo Molano. The threats resulted in the flight from the zone of Catholic Parish Priest Rafael Gallego and church workers Said Echavez and Martha Lucia Torres on April 27.

 

Puerto Rico, Tiquisio, Bolívar. April 25, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries

Description: Collective threats, Pillaging. Delia Castro and Jorge Tafur, leaders of the Tiquisio Citizens Process and the Farmers and Miners Federation of Southern Bolivar, were threatened with death by paramilitaries in Puerto Rico.

 

Mina Proyecto, Micoahumado, Morales, Bolívar. May 26, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: National Army, Paramilitaries

Description: Collective Threats, Pillaging. "El Flaco Miguel" organized a paramilitary group of at least 47 men with whom he began to threaten and extort the Mina Proyecto community. "El Flaco Miguel" is an ex-guerrilla paramilitary who works as an informant for the Luciano D'Lhuyar Battalion. The Paramilitary commander established his authority in his knowledge of the zone and its leaders from the time when he was a guerrilla. Residents also testified that he extorts while patrolling with and working for the National Army.

 

Puerto Rico, Tiquisio, Bolívar. June 18, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries, National Army

Description: Collective Threats. Two men on a motorcycle, one of them recognized a paramilitary named Alfredo Atehortua ("El Gato"), sought Delia Castro and Jorge Tafur, leaders of the Tiquisio Citizens Process and the Farmers and Miners Federation of Southern Bolivar, stating publicly that they "had signed their death sentences" by what had been said in a meeting in San Pablo. The two paramilitaries had been pursuing the two leaders while also being seen talking with soldiers of the Nariño Batallion.

 

Puerto Matilde. San Pablo. Bolívar. July 10, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Nacional Army

Description: Intentional Homicide of a protected person. Calibio Batallion soldiers assassinated campesino Aicardo Antonio Ortiz, a member of Cimitarra Valley Peasants' Association, in his home. They took his body, dressed it in camouflage, added weapons and accessories of the type used by guerrillas and presented him as a guerrilla killed in combat. Mr. Ortiz belonged to the Seniors Club and was anticipating an operation on a hernia he suffered. He was a member of the City Council and participated in the Buffalo Project, financed by the European Union.

 

La Y. San Pedro Frío. Santa Rosa. Bolívar. July 17, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: National Army

Description: Lack of identification of combatant status. A platoon of soldiers from the Luciano D'Lhuyar Battalion was patrolling in the zone together with individuals armed and uniformed like soldiers but whose faces were covered with black scarves. Platoon members acknowledged that this is a common practice in the zone.

 

San Pedro Frío. Santa Rosa del Sur. Bolívar. July 23, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: National Army

Description: Looting, no identification of combatant status. Soldiers from the Luciano D'Lhuyar Batallion were present in the town center during a community assembly with the Farmers and Miners Federation of Southern Bolivar (FEDEAGROMISBOL) and CPT. The troops eventually left, but the commander refused to identify himself, even taking the step of covering his nameplate and the insignias on his uniform. The same Army platoon had recently confiscated some explosives that the miners were transporting for mine excavation. The miners had obtained the explosives through an agreement between FEDEAGROMISBOL and the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

 

La Conformidad, Micoahumado, Morales, Bolívar. August 8, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: National Army

Description: Violation of the Principle of Distinction. Soldiers from the Luciano D'Lhuyar Battalion used civilian property as an encampment. When CPT members present took photos of the illegal occupation of the home, the Army attempted, without success, to take the camera from them.

 

Puerto Coca, Tiquisio. Bolívar. August 24, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: the State

Description: Collective threats of displacement. A group of campesinos from Puerto Coca that occupied a barren plot of land since 1988, faced a possible mass displacement provoked by State action in favor of a landowner who wanted the land back after having left it abandoned for more than 20 years. During this time the campesinos had occupied and made improvements on it.

 

Cantagallo, Bolívar. August 25, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries

Description: Intentional Homicide of protected persons. The paramilitary group Aguilas Negras assassinated 27-year-old Alexander Rodríguez, a resident of the village of Bajopatico, Catagallo, while he was traveling in a public bus in the town center of Cantagallo. An attempt to assassinate him two weeks earlier had been unsuccessful.

 

Puerto Matilde, San Pablo, Bolívar. September 30, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Fiscalía General (Federal Prosecutors), National Army

Description: Violation of the Principle of Neutrality. In the formation of a task force to investigate the death of a member of the Cimitarra Valley Campesino Association (ACVC), Federal Prosecutors excluded the participation of organizations that accompany the ACVC. The Prosecutors based the request on the need to carry out a neutral and impartial investigation. Ironically, participating in the commission was the Batalla de Calibio Battalion, whose soldiers are believed to have committed the assassination to be investigated.

 

Santa Rosa del Sur, Bolívar. October 17, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries

Description: Threats of death to protected persons. Fernando Lopez Henao, a recognized paramilitary from Santa Rosa del Sur, arrived at Residencia (hotel) Los Pinos inquiring about Teofilo Acuña, President of the Farmers and Miners Federation of Southern Bolivar, and saying "the time has come." Paramilitaries have made multiple threats on Mr. Acuña's life and he has been subjected to political and judicial persecution by the Colombian government.

 

NARIÑO

Ospino Pérez, Nariño. December 2, 2007

Presumed Perpetrator: Nacional Army, Guerrilla

Description: Violation of the Principle of Distinction. The National Army maintains a constant presence in the urban center of the municipality. Guerrillas have made numerous attacks on Army positions, and the Army has responded to the attacks, generating combat situations that put civilians' lives at great risk. Civilian leaders have urged the Army to change its positions to places that do not imperil the population. The Army has responded by accusing the civilian leaders of being guerrillas.

 

Pasto, Nariño. April 30, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries

Description: Collective threat. The Third Skinhead Force of Bogota (3ª Fuerza Skinhead Bogotá) of the Aguilas Negras sent a death threat against the Organization of Indigenous Unity for the Awa People (UNIPA). In the threat they accused them of being communists, guerrillas, Jews, unnatural enemies of God and used other expressions that do not bear repeating.

 

Pasto, Nariño. May 7, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries

Description: Collective threat. The Black Eagles paramilitary group threatened a group of students of Nariño University (Universidad de Nariño) with death. The threats coincided with a scheduled visit from Senator Piedad Córdoba, who canceled her visit due to the threats and to the withdrawal by Pasto's Chamber of Commerce of its commitment to provide an auditorium for the event when it became aware of the Senator's plan to be present.

 

El Verde, Barbacoas, Nariño. May 10, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: National Army

Description: Infraction of the Principle of Distinction. The National Army was camping in civil-ian homes located near the Pasto-Tumaco highway near El Verde, Barbacoas. In addition, they had parked four military tanks adjacent to the homes. The Army occupation of the residences put at risk the lives of the indigenous, since the FARC-EP is very active in the area.

 

Tumaco, Nariño. May 22, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-Popular Army (FARC-EP)

Description: Collective threats. The FARC-EP issued death threats to leaders of collectively held Afro-Colombian territories near Nariño's Pacific coast. In the threat they gave until the end of May to abandon their leadership positions, or in June they would begin to kill them.

 

Ipiales, Nariño. May 23, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: National Army

Description: Violation of the Principle of Distinction. An official of the Mecanizado Cabal Battalion accused the indigenous population of the Awa, displaced in the municipality of Ricaurte, of belonging to the guerrillas, although he stated that "even though they know who the displaced really are, they're not going to take any action against them."

 

Samaniego, Nariño. May 23 or 24, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-Popular Army (FARC-EP)

Description: Kidnapping for political persecution. A medical worker of the Ricaurte City Council was kidnapped by the FARC-EP in the municipality of Samaniego. Psychologist Dora Liliana Alvarez was serving the indigenous population of the Awa in Nariño municipality.

 

SANTANDER

Los Ñeques, Ciénaga del Opón, Barrancabermeja, Santander. December 27, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-Popular Army (FARC-EP)

Description: Violation of the fundamental guaranties. Members of FARC-EP accosted an adolescent woman of the community, took her to an isolated place and questioned her about a denouncement for sexual abuse against a family member that she had authorized to be registered with the Colombian Institute for Family Wellbeing. They warned her against taking action against the accused man.

 

Los Ñeques, Ciénaga del Opón, Barrancabermeja, Santander. January 4, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: National Army

Description: Violation of the Principle of Distinction, Lack of identification of combatant status. Seven soldiers from the Rafael Reyes Battalion occupied a property near the school of Los Ñeques. In the group was an armed and uniformed person with no symbols that would identify him as a soldier of the National Army.

 

Los Ñeques, Ciénaga del Opón, Barrancabermeja, Santander. January 18, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Unknown

Description: Intentional homicide of protected persons. A hired worker at a ranch along the Opón River arrived at 2:30 am to a neighboring ranch, saying that he had heard shots in a neighboring room in the house where he was sleeping. The following day, the worker and the neighbor returned to the house where the worker had heard the shots, and they found Orlando "El Cura" another worker, dead with several gunshot wounds to the head.

 

La Florida, Ciénaga del Opón, Barrancabermeja, Santander. January 20, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: National Navy

Description: Violation of the Principle of Distinction. Members of the Navy's Advanced River Post No. 31 (Puesto Fluvial Avanzado No. 31) camped in the school at La Florida. Additionally, they ignored community members' requests to investigate the January 18 assassination in Los Ñeques.

 

Ciénaga San Silvestre, Barrancabermeja, Santander. February 3, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: National Army

Description: Violation of Fundamental Guarantees by Forced Recruitment. Soldiers of the Nueva Granada Battalion, under the command of Jaime Jaimes, were recruiting young people that did not have their identification cards with them in the area of the Ciénaga San Silvestre. The commander stated that he did not need to confirm whether or not the young people were students because "students should be studying," even though this illegal recruitment he was being carried out on a Sunday.

 

Puerto Wilches, Santander. February 18, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: National Police

Description: Civilians injured in Bellum Actions. The National Police Riot Squad attacked striking employees of palm oil companies in Puerto Wilches using batons and tear gas.

Los Ñeques, Ciénaga del Opón, Barrancabermeja, Santander. March 5, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: National Army

Description: Violation of the Principle of Distinction, Collective and Individual Threats. Soldiers of the Batalla de Calibio Battalion were camping in the yard of a private home. They intimidated the community with a presumed list of guerrilla collaborators. They took a photo of a minor and accused him of being an informant to the guerrillas. Paramilitaries had assassinated the boy's father a number of years earlier.

 

Barrancabermeja, Santander. March 17, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: the State, Paramilitaries

Description: Collective Death threats. The Aguilas Negras paramilitary group sent written death threats to social organizations that led a nationwide march on March 6. In spite of the civil character of the march, high-ranking National Government officials had referred to it as a guerrilla march, putting at risk the lives of its organizers.

 

Barrancabermeja, Santander. May 8, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: National Army

Description: Violation of fundamental guaranties by forced recruitment. Soldiers of the National Army's 5^th Brigade recruited young people in the streets and a gymnasium in the city's northeast sector.

 

Barrancabermeja, Santander. June 1, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries

Description: Collective Death Threats. A group of hooded Aguilas Negras paramilitaries in a small truck threatened to kill seven young persons in southeastern Barrancabermeja. The paramilitaries also fired their weapons into the air. They later threatened five other young people in the Boston neighborhood in the city's northeastern quadrant.

 

Barrancabermeja, Santander. June 18, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries

Description: Attempted homicide. Two paramilitaries attempted to assassinate a demobilized paramilitary in the Versailles neighborhood, wounding him with a bullet. During the shootout a neighborhood youth was injured.

 

Barrancabermeja, Santander. July 12, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries

Description: Civilian Injured in Bellum Actions. A member of the Women's Popular Organization was attacked by a group of demobilized paramilitaries after an automobile accident. The group struck her head and chest, until other civilians came to intervene. Later, members of the same group began to patrol around the woman's home.

 

Barrancabermeja, Santander. July 21, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries

Description: Collective Threats. Members of the paramilitary group Heroes of Castaño patrolled the city in motorcycles and distributed death threats against leftist social organizations and union members of the city.

 

Barrancabermeja, Santander. July 30, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries

Description: Intentional Homicide, collective threats. The Presidents of the administrative subdivisions (comunas) of the City of Barrancabermeja warned that they would resign their positions if City Hall did not take effective action to protect them. The day before, Jorge Alberto Rodriguez, President of the Barrio (neighborhood) Ciudadela Pipaton, had been assassinated. The assassination occurred amid political tensions between the various City Council members and death threats against various comuna presidents.

 

Barrancabermeja, Santander. August 15, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Unknown

Description: Collective threats. Three men from an unnamed armed group carried out surveillance of a community vigil in Barrio La Liga. The vigil was held as a denouncement of an August 12 attempted murder that injured a psychologist, a passerby and two demobilized paramilitaries. The surveilling group was in a 4X4 vehicle with tinted windows and Bogotá license plate number OBF-304. Their presence intimidated many people at the vigil as well as others who decided not to attend to avoid the risk.

 

Barrancabermeja, Santander. August 22, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries

Description: Collective threats. The Aguilas Negras paramilitary group threatened the life of members of the youth organization La Legion del Afecto. In the threat they accuse the youth of impeding planned executions of drug addicts, homosexuals, prostitutes, and guerrillas. In addition they accused the members, by name, of belonging to these vulnerable groups as though it were a reason to assassinate them.

 

Barrancabermeja, Santander. August 28, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: National Police

Description: Violations of fundamental rights. In Barrancabermeja's Port area, agents of the Police Intelligence Department took people's photos, fingerprints and identification numbers for no apparent reason.

 

Puerto Wilches, Santander; Cantagallo y San Pablo, Bolívar. September 8, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries

Description: Collective Threat. A list of people threatened with death was distributed in the urban centers of the three above-mentioned municipalities. All of the persons named in the list belonged to vulnerable populations (street people, prostitutes, drug addicts, etc. and the list referred to them as disposables.

 

Barrancabermeja, Santander. September 17, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries

Description: Individual Threat. Two men arrived on a motorcycle at the house of a member of the Women's Popular Organization. When they informed that she was not found, they began to ring the bell excessively, hitting the door, threatening the women that answered and demonstrating that they knew where to find the social leader.

 

Barrancabermeja, Santander. October 30, 2008

Presumed Perpetrator: Paramilitaries

Description: Collective Threat. The paramilitary group Autodefensas Unidas Gaitanistas threatened death to members of the SINALTRAINAL food industry workers union in Barrancabermeja, as well as other civilian groups.

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Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday: “The battle-bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations” -Zechariah 9:10

On 17 April, 2011, Palm Sunday, Christian Peacemaker Teams invites churches to pray and act in solidarity with Colombians displaced by oil palm plantations.

CPT Colombia offers resources for worship, action, and prayer that allow worshipers to hear echoes of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem—and the events that soon followed—in the lives, struggles and deaths of people affected by Oil Palm and other industries that continue unjustly to remove them from their lands in Colombia and elsewhere.

Just as Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem brought wrath from governors and priests, to this day people’s just claims to a life with dignity on the land are taken as threats by the Powers that Be. Aware of the opposition, persecu­tion, and death they face, people from around the world are joining Jesus in publicly denouncing injustice everywhere. In Colombia, forty-five people have been killed since 2002 while trying to return to lands seized for corporate pillage; tens of thousands have been forcibly disappeared and four million displaced in the coun­try’s armed conflict.

The bittersweet triumphal entries continue.

How will the story end?

What can your Church do this Palm Sunday?

Here are three things:

1) Use the materials that are linked below for your Palm Sunday Service or Mass:

        1) Bulletin Insert

        2) Litany

        3) Sermon notes

2) Take action for the People of Colombia.  As a partner in the Days of Prayer and Action, CPT Colombia invites you to our government to pursue policies that protect communities at risk for displacement, small-scale farmers, and Colombian human rights advocates. You can request a packet of postcards to ask Congress for new U.S. policies toward Colombia.  Contact the Witness for Peace office:  jess(at)witnessforpeace(dot)org

3) Join our Prayer Network and Pray for the Christian Communities of Las Pavas and Garzal.  
We are looking for churches to commit to praying for two Christian communities every Sunday.

 

Learn about the struggle against Palm Oil:

Watch this video about the comunities of Garzal and Las Pavas

 

 For more information about how to participate: contact Duane Ediger at duane.ediger(at)prodigy(dot)net

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National Days of Prayer and Action for Colombia: April 8 to 11

National Days of Prayer and Action for Colombia: April 8 to 11

Mark your calendar!

Be a voice for peace and justice in Colombia by joining thousands of activists, students and people of faith for the 6^th Annual National Days of Action for Colombia. 

With more than five million people forced off their land, Colombia is home to the world's greatest displacement crisis. More and more people are driven from their homes every day.

Christian Peacemaker teams and our partners are organizing events across the nation to raise awareness about Colombian communities threatened by violence and displacement.  To stand in solidarity with these communities, we'll advocate for U.S. policies that alleviate displacement instead of exacerbating Colombia's crisis.

How to Get Involved

Click here to download the 2011 organizer's packet with information on how to bring the Days of Action for Colombia to your community.

For Faith Communities:

Click here for our complete packet for bringing the Days of Prayer and Action to your faith community.  The packet includes:

Help us flood Congress with our message of peace and justice for Colombia! During the National Days of Action for Colombia we will call on our government to pursue policies that protect communities at risk for displacement, small-scale farmers, and Colombian human rights advocates. For sustainable peace in Colombia, the U.S. must stop funding the Colombian military and pushing the unfair U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement. 

You can request a packet of postcards to ask Congress for new U.S. policies toward Colombia. We've got 20,000 postcards at the ready! Contact the Witness for Peace's: jess(at)witnessforpeace(dot)org  to request your packet of post cards. 

 

Sample Letter to Daabon Company

There is no sample letter at this time

 

 

Write a letter of support for the community of Garzal

We encourage you to add a sentence or two of your own to this letter, even if it is in English. You can also cut and paste this onto your church or organization’s letter head, or add a photo.

Your letter can be sent to the Colombia team via email or fax and we will deliver the letters to the community.

E-mail: cptco@cpt.org

Fax: 011-577-602-3617

Sample letter:

Queridas Comunidades de Garzal y Nueva Esperanza:

Mi nombre es ( your name ) y soy de ( Your city and state or province and country )

A través de los Equipos Cristianos de Acción por la Paz he conocido la situación de sus comunidades. Me parece muy valiente su lucha por sus tierras y por su vida campesina. Quisiera que sepan que sigo pendiente de su situación y me comprometo a seguir apoyándoles con oraciones u otras formas que nos podrían solicitar en el futuro.

Siempre en nuestras oraciones,

( Your Name ),

( Your Church or Organization )

Translation of the letter:

My name is _____________________ and I am from _______________________.

Through the work of Christian Peacemaker Teams I am aware of the situation of your community. Your struggle for your land and your rural lifestyle is valiant. I want you to know that I am following the situation and I am committed to support you through prayer and other actions that you may request in the future.

You are always in our prayers.

Why we're asking you to send a letter of support to the community of Garzal:

The community of Garzal has struggled for years for their land titles with little outside attention. (see CPTNet release: The Dispossessed) The Colombia team is collecting letters of support to deliver to the community. In addition to demonstrating emotional and spiritual support to Garzal as they continue their struggle, the community will have the letters to present to various officials as the legal proceedings to retain their land continue.

CPT's writing archive

For archives of emails pre-dating November 24, 2010 click HERE