CPTnet
13 December 2017
COLOMBIA URGENT ACTION: Help us stop the imminent eviction of El Guayabo
Dear CPT friends and community,
Earlier this year a municipal judge ordered the eviction of part of the
land that the farmers of El Guayabo have cultivated for decades. The
legal process, plagued by flaws and irregularities, including the judge
exceeding his powers over the National Land Agency, will deliver a
number of hectares to a single person who has never
lived or cultivated these lands. This process violates the way land
titles are awarded. The eviction, set for Wednesday, December 13 at 8:00
am, will leave 11 families without the source of their daily food
violating the right to a decent life, the right to healthy food, the
right to work. Likewise, it will put the children’s right to education
and health in jeopardy, since their families will not have the means to
support themselves.
The municipal, departmental and the
national governments have turned their backs on the community and have
not foreseen emergency measures for this humanitarian crisis.
While the lawyers continue to try to postpone the eviction by legal
means, we need to pressure the State to be present and guarantee the
fundamental rights of all the people affected.
Dear CPT
community, this is an emergency, the community of El Guayabo needs your
support. We ask you to make your voice heard, amplifying the community’s
claim, calling and sending emails to the addresses and numbers that
appear below, clearly indicating that the eviction must be postponed
until the National Land Agency intervenes in the situation and continues
with the legal procedures already in place. Also request that the
corresponding humanitarian assistance be guaranteed, the government’s
indisputable responsibilities.
We also ask you to hold the peasants in your prayers and share this story with your community.
Thank for your support. Blessings,
Colombia Team.
Please send this email to:
interior@santander.gov.co (Departmental Government – Secretary of Interior, Sr. Manuel Ricardo Sorzano Romero)
with copies to:
atencionalciudadano@agenciadetierras.gov.co (National Land Agency)
quejas@procuraduria.gov.co (Prosecutor General)
Sr. Manuel Ricardo Sorzano Romero
Secretario del Interior, Departamento Santander
Le estoy escribiendo con alta preocupación por la situación que se
presenta en la comunidad de El Guayabo, municipio de Puerto Wilches
Santander.
El 13 de diciembre si las autoridades competentes
no intervienen habrá una grave crisis humanitaria causada por un proceso
jurídico lleno de irregularidades. Es su responsabilidad de intervenir
y ponerle fin a la constante amenaza de ser desalojada que tiene la
comunidad de El Guayabo. La Agencia Nacional de Tierras tiene procesos
vigentes donde ha identificado que los predios en cuestión son baldíos y
el orden de desalojo no puede ser efectuado contra las familias
campesinas que ocupan las tierras por mas de 25 años.
Ademas
las familias que están bajo amenaza de desalojo son reconocidas como
victimas y victimizarlas de nuevo es una grave violación de sus derechos
como victimas.
El estado tiene una responsabilidad de garantizar los derechos de las victimas.
Espero que antes de que un grave error sea cometido usted en su función
de autoridad Departamental podrá intervenir y frenar esta tragedia.
Sinceramente,
—————————————————————-
Consider making a phone call:
Departmental Government – Secretary of Interior. Sr. Manuel Ricardo Sorzano Romero: +576339666 ext. 1104
Prosecutor General: +57-1 5878750
National Land Agency: +57-1 5185858
Regional Human Rights Ombudspersons Office: +573108539233
National Human Rights Ombudspersons Office: +5713147300
