Colombia
16.10.01
Urgent Interventions
Colombia: serious human rights violations and possible massacres in Juradó, Chocó and in La Palma, Cundinamarca,
Case COL 161001
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 been informed of serious violations to human rights in rural areas of the Municipality of Juradó in the Department of Chocó and in the Municipality of La Palma in the Department of Cundinamarca, and about the well founded fears of the possible occurrence of massacres in these same regions.
According to information from several sources, among them the National Association of Solidarity Aid (Asociación Nacional de Ayuda Solidaria) (ANDAS), on Tuesday, October 2, 2001, former Councillor José Nibardo Bello Hueso was tortured, killed and is body shown in front of his relatives in his house in the district of Garrapatal, Municipality of La Palma. Furthermore, the paramilitaries, who always carry lists of peasants they accuse of being members of insurgent groups, hurled threats against the district’s inhabitants, demanding them to abandon their plots of land and homes. The reports add that the paramilitaries have occupied the following districts: Hoyo Garrapatal, La Cañada, La Motaña, Sabaneta, Otumbe, El Potrero, Olla de Tudela, El Boquerón, Izama, La Enfadosa and Alpujarra.
According to the reports, the paramilitary groups have been carrying out incursions since May 2001 in the rural area of La Palma, threatening the peasants, and apparently killing several farm workers of the region, leading to the forced displacement of several families towards the urban area of the Municipality. The information points out that this has occured to the indifference of civilian and military authorities of the Municipality, who in addition deny these events, that happened minutes from the urban area, and in spite of the location of a Police station in the Municipality and the fact that the army patrols the area constantly. According to the latest information, the paramilitaries have threatened to raid the urban area of the Municipality of La Palma.
On the other hand, according to information from several sources, among them the missionaries of “Madre Luna”, on October 6 2001 at about 7.00 am, a group of paramilitaries arrived at Juradó, started searching for people and proceeded to take 14 indigenous persons from the communities of Santa Teresita and Buenavista to the beach. Two of the women missionaries followed them and asked where were they taking the indigenous persons, and the paramilitaries replied: “Don’t worry, we are going to have a conversation with them at the beach”, then the sisters insisted: The doors of our house are open, let’s go talk there, to which a paramilitary added: “these Indians collaborate with the guerrilla, they must die”. One of the religious women explained to the paramilitaries that the indigenous people develop their own autonomy and that the guerrilla is not in their territory, and after a long discussion, the paramilitaries proceeded to let the indigenous persons free, telling them to pass on the message to the guerrilla that they were on their way.
The reports point out that as one of the religious women accompanied the indigenous persons back home, the paramilitaries took the well-known local shopkeeper Mr. José del Transito Pino, and killed him with three shots in the head, another one in the shoulder and one in the right leg, fleeing afterwards in two vessels by La Bucana, Juradó’s usual embarking point for. Mr. Pino, known by the name of “Chaza”, had lived in Juradó for several years and held his grocery store in the municipal building.
According to the reports it is important to recall that the first paramilitary incursion in the region was carried out on August 8, 1999, approximately at 6 in the morning, in the indigenous community of “Aguas Calientes”, when Mr. Porfirio Chaito, Secretary of the Cabildo Mayor, Mr. Angel Miro Chaito, Governor of the Community, and a 7 year old child, Alirio Chaito were killed. On that occasion all the population was displaced towards the ‘cabecera municipal’ of Juradó, where the indigenous Counsellor Armando Achito placed 25 displaced families, about 133 persons. Since then all of Jurado´s institutions: the Town Hall, the School, College, the Umata (Unidad de Apoyo Técnico Agrícola), the Hospital, etc., had been working in Bahía Solano.
On May 2001, the afro-colombian communities that were displaced in Bahía Solano, among them the School, College, the Councillors, the Umata, decided to start returning, except the Town Hall that continues working from Bahía Solano. The Emberas indigenous communities of Aguas Calientes and Guayabal also find themselves in the dynamic of return; they have merged into one community and are currently finishing the construction of their new homes by means of communal labour in the Nueva Comunidad Amba Patadó.
The OMCT shares the serious concern of human rights organizations for the security and physical and psychological integrity of the inhabitants of Juradó, Chocó and La Palma, Cundinamarca, since it is known that in other regions this kind of human rights violation has been the preamble to great massacres, disappearances, executions and displacements.
Requested Action:
Please write to the Colombian Authorities urging them to:
take all measures necessary to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned communities, to locate those who are missing and to bring an end to such violent events;
order a thorough and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned events, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to justice and apply the civil, penal or administrative sanctions stipulated by law;
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;
guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental liberties in all the country in accordance 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, 16 October, 2001
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 been informed of serious violations to human rights in rural areas of the Municipality of Juradó in the Department of Chocó and in the Municipality of La Palma in the Department of Cundinamarca, and about the well founded fears of the possible occurrence of massacres in these same regions.
According to information from several sources, among them the National Association of Solidarity Aid (Asociación Nacional de Ayuda Solidaria) (ANDAS), on Tuesday, October 2, 2001, former Councillor José Nibardo Bello Hueso was tortured, killed and is body shown in front of his relatives in his house in the district of Garrapatal, Municipality of La Palma. Furthermore, the paramilitaries, who always carry lists of peasants they accuse of being members of insurgent groups, hurled threats against the district’s inhabitants, demanding them to abandon their plots of land and homes. The reports add that the paramilitaries have occupied the following districts: Hoyo Garrapatal, La Cañada, La Motaña, Sabaneta, Otumbe, El Potrero, Olla de Tudela, El Boquerón, Izama, La Enfadosa and Alpujarra.
According to the reports, the paramilitary groups have been carrying out incursions since May 2001 in the rural area of La Palma, threatening the peasants, and apparently killing several farm workers of the region, leading to the forced displacement of several families towards the urban area of the Municipality. The information points out that this has occured to the indifference of civilian and military authorities of the Municipality, who in addition deny these events, that happened minutes from the urban area, and in spite of the location of a Police station in the Municipality and the fact that the army patrols the area constantly. According to the latest information, the paramilitaries have threatened to raid the urban area of the Municipality of La Palma.
On the other hand, according to information from several sources, among them the missionaries of “Madre Luna”, on October 6 2001 at about 7.00 am, a group of paramilitaries arrived at Juradó, started searching for people and proceeded to take 14 indigenous persons from the communities of Santa Teresita and Buenavista to the beach. Two of the women missionaries followed them and asked where were they taking the indigenous persons, and the paramilitaries replied: “Don’t worry, we are going to have a conversation with them at the beach”, then the sisters insisted: The doors of our house are open, let’s go talk there, to which a paramilitary added: “these Indians collaborate with the guerrilla, they must die”. One of the religious women explained to the paramilitaries that the indigenous people develop their own autonomy and that the guerrilla is not in their territory, and after a long discussion, the paramilitaries proceeded to let the indigenous persons free, telling them to pass on the message to the guerrilla that they were on their way.
The reports point out that as one of the religious women accompanied the indigenous persons back home, the paramilitaries took the well-known local shopkeeper Mr. José del Transito Pino, and killed him with three shots in the head, another one in the shoulder and one in the right leg, fleeing afterwards in two vessels by La Bucana, Juradó’s usual embarking point for. Mr. Pino, known by the name of “Chaza”, had lived in Juradó for several years and held his grocery store in the municipal building.
According to the reports it is important to recall that the first paramilitary incursion in the region was carried out on August 8, 1999, approximately at 6 in the morning, in the indigenous community of “Aguas Calientes”, when Mr. Porfirio Chaito, Secretary of the Cabildo Mayor, Mr. Angel Miro Chaito, Governor of the Community, and a 7 year old child, Alirio Chaito were killed. On that occasion all the population was displaced towards the ‘cabecera municipal’ of Juradó, where the indigenous Counsellor Armando Achito placed 25 displaced families, about 133 persons. Since then all of Jurado´s institutions: the Town Hall, the School, College, the Umata (Unidad de Apoyo Técnico Agrícola), the Hospital, etc., had been working in Bahía Solano.
On May 2001, the afro-colombian communities that were displaced in Bahía Solano, among them the School, College, the Councillors, the Umata, decided to start returning, except the Town Hall that continues working from Bahía Solano. The Emberas indigenous communities of Aguas Calientes and Guayabal also find themselves in the dynamic of return; they have merged into one community and are currently finishing the construction of their new homes by means of communal labour in the Nueva Comunidad Amba Patadó.
The OMCT shares the serious concern of human rights organizations for the security and physical and psychological integrity of the inhabitants of Juradó, Chocó and La Palma, Cundinamarca, since it is known that in other regions this kind of human rights violation has been the preamble to great massacres, disappearances, executions and displacements.
Requested Action:
Please write to the Colombian Authorities urging them to:
take all measures necessary to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned communities, to locate those who are missing and to bring an end to such violent events;
order a thorough and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned events, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to justice and apply the civil, penal or administrative sanctions stipulated by law;
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;
guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental liberties in all the country in accordance 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, 16 October, 2001