Colombia
04.04.01
Intervenciones urgentes
Colombia: asesinatos politicos e intensificacion de graves violaciones delos derechos humanos en el Arauca
Case COL 041001
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 just been informed about the intensification of serious violations to human rights in the Department of Arauca, among them the killing in Santa Marta's Sierra Nevada of two politicians, congressman Mr. Octavio Sarmiento Bohórquez, the present Representative to the Chamber for Arauca, and the former Minister of Culture, Mrs. Consuelo Araujo Noguera.
According to information received from several reliable sources, among them the Central Union of Workers (CUT), deputy executive committee of Arauca, several social organizations of the Department of Arauca and the “Joel Sierra” Regional Committee for Human Rights, Mr. Octavio Sarmiento Bohórquez, 72 years old, was killed on October 2, 2001 at dawn, in the ''Los Aceites'' district, municipality of Tame, when he was attacked by several men belonging to an alleged paramilitary group that shot him with firearms.
The information adds that for many years, Mr. Octavio Sarmiento Bohórquez, member and later National Vice President of the Patriotic Union political group (UP), had long been a politician with high local standing and had been City Councillor and Mayor of Tam, Governor of Arauca, Senator of the Republic and twice representative to the Chamber for the UDP in the 80's. The killing of Octavio Sarmiento Bohórquez, is just one in a series of violations that have dominated the Arauca region for the last weeks. On Monday, September 24, Mr. Marcos Vega and his son Antonio Vega, friends of Congressman Octavio Sarmiento, had been killed.
According to the reports, during some months, the region's inhabitants have received threats from the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) warning that they were coming to Arauca to finish with the guerrilla. On the road from Puerto Rondón to Tame, in the El Plato district (rural zone), the paramilitary placed squads a month ago and, on September 27, at 11 in the evening, on the Tame-Naranjito road, a taxi driver whose name is still unknown, was killed and left with a sign that said: ''AUC present''. Afterwards, on September 29, a paramilitary group came into Tame shooting indiscriminately, killing Mrs. Aura García de Soler and Mr. Alexander Rodríguez Tobar, and injuring Mrs. Luz Marina Soler Patiño, and Messrs. Carlos Alberto Soler Patiño, Ramiro Reyes Ramírez and Ronal Alexis Quiroga Herrera.
Moreover, these incidents appear to be reprisals following the communities’ reports to the UN High Commissioner on September 14, 2001, and to the Extended Government Council of Tame on September 20, in which they denounced the systematic way in which members of the police force, among them a captain by the surname of Garnica, had been intimidating and threatening on behalf of the paramilitary.
The information points out that the murdered congressman was member of the parliamentary group in the peace agreements between the government and the guerrilla during president Belisario Betancur's administration, and that the murdered congressmen, Messrs. Leonardo Posada, Pedro Nel Jiménez, Octavio Vargas Cuéllar, Pedro Luis Valencia, Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa, Henry Millán González and Manuel Cepeda Vargas were also members of the UP.
Less than a month ago, another Representative to the Chamber, Mr. Jairo Enrique Rojas, was killed.
Reports from different sources point out that on September 29, 2001, Mrs. Consuelo Araujo Noguera, former Minister of Culture and wife of the present Attorney General was killed, apparently by members of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), in Santa Marta's Sierra Nevada. The reports add that Mrs. Consuelo Araujo Noguera was among the 25 persons kidnapped on September 24, 2001, in a squad placed by the FARC on the road that goes from Patillal to Valledupar. The reports add that the national army set off in pursuit of the guerrilla group, which set free most of its victims. Nevertheless, Mrs. Consuelo Araujo Noguera was found dead near the Donachui river canyon, where Mrs. Luz Stella Molina, kidnapped together with the former minister, was found injured.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT condemns the killing of the Former Minister of Culture, Mrs. Consuelo Araujo Noguera, and considers that it is an act that holds back the politically negotiated solution to the conflict in Colombia. Furthermore, OMCT shares the concern of abovementioned human rights organizations for the security and the physical and psychological integrity of the inhabitants of the Department of Arauca and expresses again its condemnation of acts of extreme violence, the persecution of the civilian population, the apparent impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators and the failure to provide effective protection measures by the local, governmental and national authorities in order to prevent these acts.
Requested Action:
Please write to the Colombian Authorities urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned persons and to bring an end to these violent events and politically-motivated killings;
ii. 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;
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 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, April 4, 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 just been informed about the intensification of serious violations to human rights in the Department of Arauca, among them the killing in Santa Marta's Sierra Nevada of two politicians, congressman Mr. Octavio Sarmiento Bohórquez, the present Representative to the Chamber for Arauca, and the former Minister of Culture, Mrs. Consuelo Araujo Noguera.
According to information received from several reliable sources, among them the Central Union of Workers (CUT), deputy executive committee of Arauca, several social organizations of the Department of Arauca and the “Joel Sierra” Regional Committee for Human Rights, Mr. Octavio Sarmiento Bohórquez, 72 years old, was killed on October 2, 2001 at dawn, in the ''Los Aceites'' district, municipality of Tame, when he was attacked by several men belonging to an alleged paramilitary group that shot him with firearms.
The information adds that for many years, Mr. Octavio Sarmiento Bohórquez, member and later National Vice President of the Patriotic Union political group (UP), had long been a politician with high local standing and had been City Councillor and Mayor of Tam, Governor of Arauca, Senator of the Republic and twice representative to the Chamber for the UDP in the 80's. The killing of Octavio Sarmiento Bohórquez, is just one in a series of violations that have dominated the Arauca region for the last weeks. On Monday, September 24, Mr. Marcos Vega and his son Antonio Vega, friends of Congressman Octavio Sarmiento, had been killed.
According to the reports, during some months, the region's inhabitants have received threats from the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) warning that they were coming to Arauca to finish with the guerrilla. On the road from Puerto Rondón to Tame, in the El Plato district (rural zone), the paramilitary placed squads a month ago and, on September 27, at 11 in the evening, on the Tame-Naranjito road, a taxi driver whose name is still unknown, was killed and left with a sign that said: ''AUC present''. Afterwards, on September 29, a paramilitary group came into Tame shooting indiscriminately, killing Mrs. Aura García de Soler and Mr. Alexander Rodríguez Tobar, and injuring Mrs. Luz Marina Soler Patiño, and Messrs. Carlos Alberto Soler Patiño, Ramiro Reyes Ramírez and Ronal Alexis Quiroga Herrera.
Moreover, these incidents appear to be reprisals following the communities’ reports to the UN High Commissioner on September 14, 2001, and to the Extended Government Council of Tame on September 20, in which they denounced the systematic way in which members of the police force, among them a captain by the surname of Garnica, had been intimidating and threatening on behalf of the paramilitary.
The information points out that the murdered congressman was member of the parliamentary group in the peace agreements between the government and the guerrilla during president Belisario Betancur's administration, and that the murdered congressmen, Messrs. Leonardo Posada, Pedro Nel Jiménez, Octavio Vargas Cuéllar, Pedro Luis Valencia, Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa, Henry Millán González and Manuel Cepeda Vargas were also members of the UP.
Less than a month ago, another Representative to the Chamber, Mr. Jairo Enrique Rojas, was killed.
Reports from different sources point out that on September 29, 2001, Mrs. Consuelo Araujo Noguera, former Minister of Culture and wife of the present Attorney General was killed, apparently by members of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), in Santa Marta's Sierra Nevada. The reports add that Mrs. Consuelo Araujo Noguera was among the 25 persons kidnapped on September 24, 2001, in a squad placed by the FARC on the road that goes from Patillal to Valledupar. The reports add that the national army set off in pursuit of the guerrilla group, which set free most of its victims. Nevertheless, Mrs. Consuelo Araujo Noguera was found dead near the Donachui river canyon, where Mrs. Luz Stella Molina, kidnapped together with the former minister, was found injured.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT condemns the killing of the Former Minister of Culture, Mrs. Consuelo Araujo Noguera, and considers that it is an act that holds back the politically negotiated solution to the conflict in Colombia. Furthermore, OMCT shares the concern of abovementioned human rights organizations for the security and the physical and psychological integrity of the inhabitants of the Department of Arauca and expresses again its condemnation of acts of extreme violence, the persecution of the civilian population, the apparent impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators and the failure to provide effective protection measures by the local, governmental and national authorities in order to prevent these acts.
Requested Action:
Please write to the Colombian Authorities urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned persons and to bring an end to these violent events and politically-motivated killings;
ii. 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;
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 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, April 4, 2001