CPTnet
February 18, 2002
COLOMBIA: Letter to the Colombian government's human rights ombudsman in
Barrancabermeja

[The following letter sent on February 11 by CPT Colombia has been edited
for length and clarity.]

February 11, 2002

Humberto Rey, Human Rights Ombudsperson
Defensoria del Pueblo

Dear Humberto Rey:

On Sunday, February 10, 2002, members of Christian Peacemaker Teams Chris
Schweitzer and Scott Kerr were in the village of San Francisco in the
Department of Antioquia, Colombia. Also present were more than 100 members
of the Colombian Army.

At 4:30 p.m. Kerr was inside the village school when the soldiers began
rapidly firing towards the other side of the Cimitarra River for
approximately fifteen minutes, after which they continued to fire
sporadically. Members of the Colombian army said that there were armed
people on the other side of the river. The CPT members did not see or hear
gunfire coming from the other side of the river. When the gunfire
diminished, Kerr noticed the boat that had been designated for use by CPT
was on the other side of the river. There were several soldiers walking
away from the vessel. About twenty minutes later, several soldiers returned
from the other side of the river to the village. The soldiers crossed the
river in the CPT boat with the CPT flag clearly visible. They had neither
the permission of CPT nor of the owner of the vessel to use it.

Kerr took a photo of the soldiers in the CPT boat. At this point Captain
Alexander Gallego Mar