COLOMBIA PRAYER REQUEST: Pray for the Awá People
febrero 14th, 2009
in:
CPTnet
14 February 2009
COLOMBIA PRAYER REQUEST: Pray for the Awá People
On February 13, CPT Colombia received news of yet another massacre perpetrated against the indigenous community of the Awá of Nariño. The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) affirmed that on February 11 an unknown armed group massacred 10 members of the Awá community while they were trying to flee their ancestral land. This follows the events of February 4, when it appears that members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) murdered 17 members of the indigenous Awá people. In addition to these victims, three more people disappeared and remain missing after they tried to rescue the bodies of their relatives.
These are not isolated cases of aggression against the indigenous peoples of Colombia. In October and November of 2008, the Colombian army attacked the Indigenous Minga, killing three and leaving 130 injured (see http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2008/12/30/colombia-indigenous-continue-walk). In December 2008, the Colombian army also assassinated the husband of Aida Quilcue, a recognized leader of the indigenous movement.
During recent years CPT Colombia has occasionally accompanied members of the Awá community. In May 2008 a CPT international delegation met with two representative organizations, the Organization of Indigenous Unity for the Awá People (UNIPA) and the Council of Awá Elders of Ricaurte (CAMAWARI).
We ask your continuous prayers and thoughts for this community, upon which different legal and illegal armed actors have harshly trampled. May they continue their struggle and resistance for the right to remain on their ancestral lands.
For more information (in Spanish) go to http://www.onic.org.co.
14 February 2009
COLOMBIA PRAYER REQUEST: Pray for the Awá People
On February 13, CPT Colombia received news of yet another massacre perpetrated against the indigenous community of the Awá of Nariño. The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) affirmed that on February 11 an unknown armed group massacred 10 members of the Awá community while they were trying to flee their ancestral land. This follows the events of February 4, when it appears that members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) murdered 17 members of the indigenous Awá people. In addition to these victims, three more people disappeared and remain missing after they tried to rescue the bodies of their relatives.
These are not isolated cases of aggression against the indigenous peoples of Colombia. In October and November of 2008, the Colombian army attacked the Indigenous Minga, killing three and leaving 130 injured (see http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2008/12/30/colombia-indigenous-continue-walk). In December 2008, the Colombian army also assassinated the husband of Aida Quilcue, a recognized leader of the indigenous movement.
During recent years CPT Colombia has occasionally accompanied members of the Awá community. In May 2008 a CPT international delegation met with two representative organizations, the Organization of Indigenous Unity for the Awá People (UNIPA) and the Council of Awá Elders of Ricaurte (CAMAWARI).
We ask your continuous prayers and thoughts for this community, upon which different legal and illegal armed actors have harshly trampled. May they continue their struggle and resistance for the right to remain on their ancestral lands.
For more information (in Spanish) go to http://www.onic.org.co.
