Call on U.S. Reps to sign letter to President Uribe

Urge your Representative to sign the McGovern-Schakowsky letter to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on recent wave of threats and killings in Colombia.

Politically and economically motivated extrajudicial executions by government forces and allied paramilitaries are on the rise. CPT Colombia has received word of the murder of another campesino leader, Gerardo Antonio Ciro, a public servant active in social and small business organizing. Mr. Ciro was shot dead this past Sunday, March 30, near his home in eastern Antioquia province.

That night, another peasant leader recently told a CPT team member, "My two sons were killed in 2002 and 2005." Then he added, "And I haven't cried yet." In accord with this spirit, let us act with those too busy defending life to mourn such unspeakable losses.

Days of Prayer and Action, April 27-28, 2008

Displacement Prevention

Forced displacement in Cimitarra Valley: A military objective?

--by Stewart Vriesinga (March 22, 2008)

Deadly threats to security of campesinos living in the Cimitarra Valley continue. They consider the very entities responsible for their safety and protection -the state security forces-to be a threat to their security and livelihood. Most of the peasants living in the area feel that state interventions in the area seek to promote rather than prevent forced displacement as part of an effort to expropriate their farms and territory. They insist that the state has an obligation to protect their rights to security and protection and prevent their displacement. They feel that under the status quo they have to displace before the state will consider providing any form of assistance.

The untenable situation of two hamlets of San Pedro in south Bolivar -Paraíso and Alto Cañabraval and surrounding communities-is illustrative. CPTers Jim Fitz and Stewart Vriesinga joined a human rights verification commission on March 11^th and 12^th which traveled to these remote communities at the request of the Association of Campesinos of the Cimitara Valley (ACVC). The commission was comprised of local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), representatives of the Organization of American States, national, regional and local (municipal) governmental representatives, and three international accompaniment NGOs. The objective was to document past and on-going human rights abuses and threats to the security of the folks living in the area.

Local residents and community leaders painted a bleak picture of on-going security risks and the immediate likelihood of more displacements. They described military operations in which community members were assassinated and then dressed up and presented as guerrillas who died in combat. They described how demobilized guerrilla and paramilitary informers were travelling with the military and pointing out their community leaders which were subsequently accused of treason and arrested (Currently 6 are in jail, and 14 more have arrest warrants against them). They described how their crops and the cacao (chocolate) trees they had planted as an alternative to coca (from which cocaine is derived) were wiped out by U.S. sponsored aerial spraying. (For background information see CPT Colombia release "COLOMBIAN ARMED FORCES JUSTIFY DISPLACEMENT")

As one man put it, "The last time they sprayed they killed all the food crops -even the crops of those who didn't have a single coca plant! How are a people expected to be loyal to a government that is trying to starve them?" Another said: "If they aren't protecting us, if they are doing these things to us, what can we expect from our government?" "A bullet!" a third man replied.

Local residents and community leaders went on to describe how they agreed to the manual eradication of coca plants on the condition that the government provide an economically viable alternative, and their opposition to the on-going military's manual eradication of coca in the absence of viable substitute crops. (For background information on see CPT Colombia release "Why do small farmers cultivate coca?") They described how the troops involved in the manual eradication of coca were also burning down their houses. They described how the FARC was targeting military personal by planting landmines on the paths and in the fields, thus preventing farmers from working and moving about. They described collaboration between the military and paramilitary, and how the army tells them that they won't hurt them but the paramilitaries who will come next will. They described how soldiers bribe their children with candy and then try to pump them for information. They described how the soldiers used them as human shields and stayed for days in one of their hamlets. They described how difficult it is to hold soldiers accountable for their actions when they often walk around in t-shirts with no insignia, and when asked to identify themselves respond "We are all the same, it shouldn't concern you".

The residents of these communities welcomed the commission, but were sceptical about whether or not our presence there would increase their security. They informed us that when community leaders make denouncements they are targeted. (There were soldiers in the area that had arrived moments before the meeting started. When federal and regional governmental human-rights workers and CPTer Stewart Vriesinga talked to the commander he said they had only come to buy groceries and would leave directly. However they were still in the area an hour later, and could potentially identify some of the local residents who dared to meet with the commission.)

Various comments reflected a degree of hopelessness: "We make our denouncements, but nothing happens. The Sate isn't committed."; "We are almost completely abandoned by the state. We only have two teachers for over 100 children, and we have to feed the teachers because often they are not paid on time"; "The municipality was deaf, mute and blind when we went to them for help during the aerial spraying" (in June of 2007); "It looks like it will be the same as last time. The Black Eagles [re-mobilized paramilitaries] were here about 15 days ago..."

Although local residents doubted that the commission's presence would prevent further displacements, they are determined to struggle on as a community. Applying for "Displaced Person's Status" might entitle them to some government funds to relocate, but they would end up dispersed, and the likelihood of their being able to return to their lands would be greatly diminished. For this reason those who feel they must displace are thinking of foregoing the government assistance and joining other displaced persons, also from the Cimitarra Valley, in a "Humanitarian Camp", hosted by USO (the Petroleum Workers' Union in Barrancabermeja). As part of a Humanitarian Camp they can collectively continue to pressure the government for justice and pursue their dreams of returning to their lands. The prospect of being permanently separated from their land is for most unthinkable. As one community member put it: "We are all already displaced people. That's how why we came here in the first place!"

The idea that there is a deliberate campaign to expropriate their lands is not far-fetched. There are a number of mega-projects planned for the larger area in which these communities are located: new highways along the Magdalena River and to Medellín and the Caribbean coast; huge multinational mining projects; a hydro-electric dam; expansion of the bio-fuel industry (African Palm plantations); and accounts of a violent struggle as two rival paramilitary-run drug cartels threaten the local population and each other in a battle for control of local coca production.

As is happening elsewhere in Colombia, when particular land becomes a valuable commodity, its inhabitants are often forced to sell at below-market-value prices, killed or displaced. This phenomenon is likely to reoccur in the rural communities of San Pablo if local residents continue to refuse to leave their homes and livelihoods. The threats to the security of local residents is very real, and their speculation about the reasons behind these threats are based on the outcomes of their own past experiences and the experiences of other communities in similar situations. (See Times Online Article )

Whether or not the Commission's visit to the region increases the security of the local residents or that of other Colombians in similar situations remains to be seen. It depends on what happens to the information and denouncements we've collected. Those who receive this information must act. They must act to end indiscriminate aerial spraying of coca regions; act to end Plan Colombia. They must act to end national and international corporate expropriation of peasant land. They must act to increase economic community development that will benefit those who live there (as opposed to increasing the value of their land thus aggravating the expropriation of their lands). They must act to ensure a clear distinction between civilians and community leaders and armed combatants, and act to end the arrest and extrajudicial killing of civilians in the area. They must act to ensure that there is a real effort on the part of state security forces to protect the lives and homes of the people in these rural conflict zones and to provide their communities with all the services that citizenship entitles them to without forcing them to displace.

What is happening in rural San Pablo is not an isolated incident. It is not just a local incident. It is not just a national phenomenon. It is the consequence of a combination of all of these things. Putting an end to forced displacement and land expropriation requires changing the minds of local, national and international decision-makers. When doing presentations on Colombia I have often said "One of two things is likely to happen to a Peasant living near lucrative resources in Colombia. He or she will either be killed, or forced to displace. This is true whether the Peasants live near legal lucrative resources such as gold, oil, or land or illegal enterprises run by gasoline or drug cartels." This has got to stop!

Please do your part!

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 [at] cpt [dot] 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.

Colombia Human Rights Report 2006

You can download the Colombia Human Rights Report 2007 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]

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

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

* 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)