Colombia
25.04.01
Urgent Interventions
Colombia: paramilitary massacre in Alto de Nayo killing 35
Case COL 250401
The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Colombia :
Brief description of the situation:
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has received information concerning a massacre carried out by a paramilitary group in which more than 35 persons were killed in the area known as Alto de Naya in the department of Cauca.
According to information from various reliable sources, including Asociación Nacional de Ayuda Solidaria (ANDAS), member of the OMCT network, a group of some 500 members of the « Farallones Block » of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) made violent incursions into the villages of Patio Bonito, El Ceral, La Silvia, La Mina, El Playón, Alto Seco, Palo Grande and Río Mina located on the section of the Camino Real highway which links Resguardo de La Paila with Alto Naya. More than 35 workers were killed, most of them members of the indigenous and afro-Colombian communities.
The sources highlight the brutal nature of the killings ; weapons such as knives, blades and chainsaws were used, in some cases dismembering or decapitating the victim. The paramilitaries are reported to have made accusations before carrying out the massacre, in front of the victims’ families. A youth aged 17 was reportedly hacked to pieces, and two other minors, the sons of Mr. Manuel Quicunu were killed.
According to the reports, the number of victims in the village of La Paz y la Vega has yet to be established. The inhabitants were assembled on the stairs and later killed in cold blood. The version events so far established states that in Río Mina y El Crucero the inhabitants were assembled on a football pitch, where they were told that they had six hours to leave the region, for the reason that they had « discharged » subversives and guerrilla collaborators. One villager who dared ask why they had to leave and if he could take some belongings with him was killed on the spot.
Another villager has reported that he was subject to the psychological torture of being threatened and intimidated at gunpoint. He relates that on 11 April the paramilitaries arrived from all directions at his restaurant stall by the road ; the officer told him that he would be killed since their orders were to liquidate the whole population and that the village below had just been razed ; as he left, the officer taunted him by asking ironically what he was afraid of.
So far, according to information from the Technical Body of the Prosecutor’s office, the bodies of only 20 persons including 4 children have been identified.
Blanca Flor Dizu Dagua, Gladys Ipia (her arms and head had been amputated), Rafael Uguetia, Rolando Castañeda Ambula, José Orlando Cabrera, Esteban Delgado, Alexánder Serna Quira, Guillermo León Trujillo Gómez, Jesús Antonio Ipia, Daniel Suárez Franco, Gonzalo Osorio, Humberto Arias, Cayetano Cruz (his body was burned), William Rivera, Wilson Cases Guetio, Luis Omar Aponzá, and José Muriel Mina Carabalí ; 4 children Evelio Guetio Guegia, Jorge Valencia Ipia, Esteban N. (his body was cut into pieces ) and Guillermo N.
The Prosecutor’s Office has stated that in addition to the 20 bodies that have been retrieved, at least 15 others have not yet been found and are still dispersed around the region. The villagers, however, claim that there could be up to 50 victims.
The massacre has provoked a massive exodus from the region ; these movements are extremely dangerous since people are on the sheer mountain paths along ravines leading to La Concha y Puerto Merizalde, on their way to Buenaventura to seek refuge. Survivors have purportedly found 24 corpses along the way, including a woman tied in a tree, her hands amputated. They also report to have found shreds of clothes scattered on the roadside and hanging in the trees and rocks.
The sources also note with some surprise that since the massacre, information received from the Armed Forces (Fuerzas Publicas) describes the area as « peaceful » (declarations of Comandante de la Tercera Brigada del Ejército Nacional, Brigadier General Francisco René Pedraza). However, the clashes between insurgent groups attempting to control the area are well-documented in the region. Numerous sources bear witness to the movements of a large paramilitary group between Buenaventura and Puerto Merizalde, Monchique and La Concesión, intending to join another group which is now attempting to reach Alto Naya from Resguardo de la Paila. These movements have prompted the People’s Defence (Defensor del Pueblo), Dr. Eduardo Cifuentes Muñoz, to demand protection from the National Government for the people of Alto Nayo who are seeking refuge in Timba and other villages.
According to the reports received by the International Secretariat of the OMCT from, ANDAS, some 7000 people are fleeing the paramilitary forces which are advancing along the road Camino Real del Naya Valle in the south of the Department of Cauca. (See OMCT Urgent Appeal COL 130401).
The International Secretariat of the OMCT again condemns these new occurrences of extreme violence, the grave persecution of the civil population, the apparent impunity of the perpetrators and the failure on the part of the authorities to provide effective protection measures to prevent these occurrences, especially in cases such as this, in which frequent threats had provided advance warning of the massacre.
Requested Action:
Please write to the Colombian Authorities urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to guarantee thephysical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned communities;
ii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the above.mentioned events in order to identify those reponsible, bring them to justice and apply the civil, penal or adminstrative sanctions stipulted by law;
iii. fully execute the recommendations made by international and regional human rights organisations, including those of the High Commission for Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the Inter.American Human Rights Commission as well as national and governmental human rights organisations;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental liebrties in all the country in aacordance with national law and international human rights norms.
Addresses
· S.E. Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Presidente de la República, Cra. 8 n .7-26, Palacio de Nariño, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 566 20 71
· Consejería Presidencial de Derechos Humanos, Calle 7 n . 6-54 Piso 3, Santafé de Bogotá, D. C. Fax: (+57 1) 337 13 51
· General Fernando Tapias Stahelin, Comandante de las Fuerzas Militares, Avenida el Dorado con Cra. 52, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 222 29 35; e-mail: siden@mindefensa.gov.co ; pilaque@cgm.mil.co
· Mission Permanente de la Colombie auprès de l’Office de las Nations Unies et des institutions spécialisées a Genève. Chemin du Champ d’Anier 17-19, 1209 Genève. Tel : (+41) 22 798 4554, 798 4555. E-mail: mission.colombia@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Colombia in your respective country.
Geneva, 25 April, 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Colombia :
Brief description of the situation:
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has received information concerning a massacre carried out by a paramilitary group in which more than 35 persons were killed in the area known as Alto de Naya in the department of Cauca.
According to information from various reliable sources, including Asociación Nacional de Ayuda Solidaria (ANDAS), member of the OMCT network, a group of some 500 members of the « Farallones Block » of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) made violent incursions into the villages of Patio Bonito, El Ceral, La Silvia, La Mina, El Playón, Alto Seco, Palo Grande and Río Mina located on the section of the Camino Real highway which links Resguardo de La Paila with Alto Naya. More than 35 workers were killed, most of them members of the indigenous and afro-Colombian communities.
The sources highlight the brutal nature of the killings ; weapons such as knives, blades and chainsaws were used, in some cases dismembering or decapitating the victim. The paramilitaries are reported to have made accusations before carrying out the massacre, in front of the victims’ families. A youth aged 17 was reportedly hacked to pieces, and two other minors, the sons of Mr. Manuel Quicunu were killed.
According to the reports, the number of victims in the village of La Paz y la Vega has yet to be established. The inhabitants were assembled on the stairs and later killed in cold blood. The version events so far established states that in Río Mina y El Crucero the inhabitants were assembled on a football pitch, where they were told that they had six hours to leave the region, for the reason that they had « discharged » subversives and guerrilla collaborators. One villager who dared ask why they had to leave and if he could take some belongings with him was killed on the spot.
Another villager has reported that he was subject to the psychological torture of being threatened and intimidated at gunpoint. He relates that on 11 April the paramilitaries arrived from all directions at his restaurant stall by the road ; the officer told him that he would be killed since their orders were to liquidate the whole population and that the village below had just been razed ; as he left, the officer taunted him by asking ironically what he was afraid of.
So far, according to information from the Technical Body of the Prosecutor’s office, the bodies of only 20 persons including 4 children have been identified.
Blanca Flor Dizu Dagua, Gladys Ipia (her arms and head had been amputated), Rafael Uguetia, Rolando Castañeda Ambula, José Orlando Cabrera, Esteban Delgado, Alexánder Serna Quira, Guillermo León Trujillo Gómez, Jesús Antonio Ipia, Daniel Suárez Franco, Gonzalo Osorio, Humberto Arias, Cayetano Cruz (his body was burned), William Rivera, Wilson Cases Guetio, Luis Omar Aponzá, and José Muriel Mina Carabalí ; 4 children Evelio Guetio Guegia, Jorge Valencia Ipia, Esteban N. (his body was cut into pieces ) and Guillermo N.
The Prosecutor’s Office has stated that in addition to the 20 bodies that have been retrieved, at least 15 others have not yet been found and are still dispersed around the region. The villagers, however, claim that there could be up to 50 victims.
The massacre has provoked a massive exodus from the region ; these movements are extremely dangerous since people are on the sheer mountain paths along ravines leading to La Concha y Puerto Merizalde, on their way to Buenaventura to seek refuge. Survivors have purportedly found 24 corpses along the way, including a woman tied in a tree, her hands amputated. They also report to have found shreds of clothes scattered on the roadside and hanging in the trees and rocks.
The sources also note with some surprise that since the massacre, information received from the Armed Forces (Fuerzas Publicas) describes the area as « peaceful » (declarations of Comandante de la Tercera Brigada del Ejército Nacional, Brigadier General Francisco René Pedraza). However, the clashes between insurgent groups attempting to control the area are well-documented in the region. Numerous sources bear witness to the movements of a large paramilitary group between Buenaventura and Puerto Merizalde, Monchique and La Concesión, intending to join another group which is now attempting to reach Alto Naya from Resguardo de la Paila. These movements have prompted the People’s Defence (Defensor del Pueblo), Dr. Eduardo Cifuentes Muñoz, to demand protection from the National Government for the people of Alto Nayo who are seeking refuge in Timba and other villages.
According to the reports received by the International Secretariat of the OMCT from, ANDAS, some 7000 people are fleeing the paramilitary forces which are advancing along the road Camino Real del Naya Valle in the south of the Department of Cauca. (See OMCT Urgent Appeal COL 130401).
The International Secretariat of the OMCT again condemns these new occurrences of extreme violence, the grave persecution of the civil population, the apparent impunity of the perpetrators and the failure on the part of the authorities to provide effective protection measures to prevent these occurrences, especially in cases such as this, in which frequent threats had provided advance warning of the massacre.
Requested Action:
Please write to the Colombian Authorities urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to guarantee thephysical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned communities;
ii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the above.mentioned events in order to identify those reponsible, bring them to justice and apply the civil, penal or adminstrative sanctions stipulted by law;
iii. fully execute the recommendations made by international and regional human rights organisations, including those of the High Commission for Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the Inter.American Human Rights Commission as well as national and governmental human rights organisations;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental liebrties in all the country in aacordance with national law and international human rights norms.
Addresses
· S.E. Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Presidente de la República, Cra. 8 n .7-26, Palacio de Nariño, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 566 20 71
· Consejería Presidencial de Derechos Humanos, Calle 7 n . 6-54 Piso 3, Santafé de Bogotá, D. C. Fax: (+57 1) 337 13 51
· General Fernando Tapias Stahelin, Comandante de las Fuerzas Militares, Avenida el Dorado con Cra. 52, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 222 29 35; e-mail: siden@mindefensa.gov.co ; pilaque@cgm.mil.co
· Mission Permanente de la Colombie auprès de l’Office de las Nations Unies et des institutions spécialisées a Genève. Chemin du Champ d’Anier 17-19, 1209 Genève. Tel : (+41) 22 798 4554, 798 4555. E-mail: mission.colombia@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Colombia in your respective country.
Geneva, 25 April, 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.