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S.O.S for Colombia! S.O.S for Colombia! S.O.S for Colombia! |
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by Dennis Grammenos
(No verified email address) |
21 Apr 2001
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MASSACRES IN UPPER NAYA RIVER & MUNICIPALITY OF BUENAVENTURA, CAUCA PROVINCE, COLOMBIA |
* The Easter week massacre which began on April 10, among the bloodiest in Colombia\'s recent history, has victims totalling 130 as paramilitaries of Colombia\'s United Self Defense Forces (AUC). Over 3,000 have been displaced from their homes with another 4,000 remain unable to leave the area because of the paramilitary blockade.
* All this occurred despite 15 of early warnings about the imminence of attacks by paramilitaries. Security forces did nothing to prevent it.
* The same paramilitaries who carried the bloody massacre of the Naya river are now threatening the Afrocolombian communities of the Yurumangui river. The Afrocolombian communities are alerting the Colombian security forces of the imminent massacre.
* These territories, whose inhabitants are mostly Indigenous Afrocolombian, are very rich in natural resources such as precious woods and gold and are of strategic interest to both national and transnational capital. It is believed that the control over these rich lands is the reason behind the massacres and displacement of the local population.
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PARAMILITARIES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EASTER WEEK MASSACRE OF OVER 130 PEOPLE ARE PREPARING TO MOVE INTO THE AFROCOLOMBIAN TERRITORIES OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF BUENAVENTURA
The same group of paramilitaries were reportedly responsible for a massacre in the Alto Naya area of the Buenos Aires and Timba municipalities on 11 April, during which at least 130 peasant farmers were killed. The paramilitaries apparently entered the area immediately after detachments with the third Brigade of the Colombian Army, Brigada III, left the area. In the past the Colombian army have frequently withdrawn from communities in advance of massacres carried out by their paramilitary allies. Since the massacre, many civilians living in the area have fled their homes. At least 3000 people, the majority of whom are members of the Paez indigenous or afro-Colombian communities, are believed to have been forcibly displaced as a result of the paramilitary incursions.
As recently as 2 April, the Inter-American Committee for Human Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS) called on the Colombian authorities to guarantee the security of civilian communities in the northern Cauca. In March, national human rights organizations also alerted the authorities to the possibility of paramilitary massacres. The human rights ombudsman, Dr Eduardo Cifuentes, has apparently said to the Colombian press that the local population asked the Colombian authorities for protection in December 2000. Despite the repeated warnings, the Colombian authorities have failed to take any action against the paramilitaries. On 19 April some army contingents reportedly arrived in the Bajo Naya area, but there are no reports that they have made any effort to confront paramilitary forces. This raises concern that the paramilitaries will be able to continue massacring civilians in the region unhindered.
BACKGROUND TO THE EASTER MASSACRE
The Number Of Victims Of The Naya Massacre Amounts To More Than 130, Though The Method Used By The Paramilitaries Makes It Possible For The Military To Affirm That Only 17 Corpses Have Been Recovered.
After their sinister rampage of twelve localities over Easter, the paramilitaries were toasting with champagne. There were people who were miraculously saved. In Timba (Cauca), widows and orphans are waiting for someone to go to look for the bodies of those that didn\'t survive.
The dusty streets of Timba are in mourning. The people wander with an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. Widows and orphans from the \'caravan of death\' rampage that took place in the municipalities of the region of El Naya weep with anger over the brutal way in which the paramilitaries killed the residents, tearing them apart, and at their inability to return to their lands.
Rufina Yule came from Suarez (Cauca) to find out on the death of her husband, Jorge Valencia, a day labourer with whom she had six children. She knows that he was killed in Rio Mina, one of the twelve municipalities where the Bloque Farallones of the Autodefensas [United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia] arrived brandishing knives and firing rifles Galil type at anyone they came across. Doris does not want to know anything, she does not want to hear from anyone. She and her stick to one of the army vehicles in Timba and she barrages an official with questions; he also feels impotent before this drama. \"When are they going to collect what remains of my husband? Who do I tell to bring him? Why don\'t they send helicopters and get them?\"
The two women are part of a group of 130 people that were forcibly displaced last Thursday; they have come to Timba where they are living in the town\'s school and surviving off of the solidarity of the town and the moral support of Father Jorge Lopez. Another 370 displaced people have found themselves in Santander de Quilichao (Cauca), Buenaventura and Jamundi, in the valley of Cauca.
MAN HACKED TO PIECES
Pedro Diaz, a man that managed to escape the bloodshed, remembers the incident vividly. \"A neighbour attacked a paramilitary man that was going to shoot him and grabbed the weapon, with such bad luck that he took the gun and didn\'t know how to fire it. They took him, tied him, cut him open with a mechanical saw and chopped him up.\" On Wednesday, when the \'caravan of death\' finally concluded, they returned to El Playon, near the house of Saul Dagua, and raised a toast saying \"Tell the guerrilla that Bocanegra passed by here\". But they didn\'t stop at Buenaventura. They returned to the mountains of the Western Cordillera, along the same route as the terrified fishermen fled. There are 4,500 people trapped in the zone. They run the risk of death in the crossfire between the AUC and the guerrillas. The others swell the river of displaced people that have taken over the school in Timba, while waiting for someone to go and collect the pieces of the bodies that remain in the region.
OMBUDSMAN BLAMES THE STATE The National Ombusman, Eduardo Cifuentes, placed responsibility for the massacre that took place during Easter week by paramilitary forces in El Cauca on the state. \"The massacre was announced,\" he stated, and pointed out that the peasants of Alto Naya had been clamouring for official protection since December. \"When one is presented with a situation of this nature, a massacre of people who have been displaced, obviously there is a serious shortcoming in the action of the state and for this reason we demand a permanent and active presence of all the institutions of El Cauca.\" On his part, the Attorney Alfonso Gomez said that there still is no exact figure for the dead after the massacre in El Naya \"because we have not been able to reach the area\"; he demanded that indifference in the face of such facts cease.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail letters:
- expressing concern the civilian population of rural communities in the municipality of Buenaventura, Cauca Department, have reportedly been threatened by paramilitaries;
- urging the authorities to take all appropriate measures to protect the civilian population, while reminding them that if they fail to do so, it will seem that the paramilitaries are operating with the complicity of the security forces;
- calling for the threats to be fully and impartially investigated, and for the results to be made public and those responsible brought to justice;
- calling for a full and impartial investigation into the massacre of at least 32 peasant farmers in the Alto Naya area in the municipalities of Buenos Aires and Timba, urging that results are made public and those responsible brought to justice;
- calling for a full and impartial investigation into links between the security forces and paramilitary groups operating in Cauca Department, urging that the results are made public and those found responsible for supporting and participating in such groups are brought to justice;
- urging the authorities to take immediate action to dismantle paramilitary groups, in line with stated government commitments and United Nations recommendations.
APPEALS TO:
President of the Republic: Senor Presidente Andres Pastrana Arango Presidente de la Republica Palacio de Narino Carrera 8 No.7-26 Santafe de Bogota Colombia Fax: 011 57 1 336 2109 / 337 1351 Salutation: Dear President / Excmo. Sr. Presidente
Minister of Defense: Dr. Luis Fernando Ramirez Acuna Ministro de Defensa Nacional Ministerio de Defensa Nacional Avenida Eldorado CAN - Carrera 52 Santafe de Bogota Colombia Telegram: Ministro de Defensa, Bogota, Colombia Telex: 396 42411 INPRE CO; 396 44561 CFAC CO Fax: 011 57 1 222 1874 Salutation: Dear Minister / Sr. Ministro
Commander of the Colombian Armed Forces: Comandante General de las Fuerzas Militares General Fernando Tapias Stahelin Avenida El Dorado - Carrera 52 Santafe de Bogota Colombia Fax: 011 57 1 222 2096 / 221 3653 / 2222935 Salutation: Dear General / Sr. General
Commander of the III Brigade of the Colombian Army: Comandante III Brigada del Ejercito Nacional General Francisco Rene Pedraza Cali, Valle del Cauca Colombia Telegrams: Comandante, III Brigada, Cali Salutation: Dear General / Sr. General
COPIES TO:
Proceso de Comunidades Negras Buenaventura Territorio - Región del Pacifico E-mail: pcnkolombia (at) hotmail.com, pcnconga (at) telesat.com.co
Canada-Colombia Solidarity Campaign colombiacrisis (at) latinmail.com
Alternative Legal Association: MINGA AA 40303 Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
*************************************************************** THE CANADA-COLOMBIA SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN LA CAMPAÑA SOLIDARIA CANADÁ-COLOMBIA http://www.gratisweb.com/colombiacrisis Email: colombiacrisis (at) latinmail.com *************************************************************** ________________________________________________________________ **************************************************************** * CLM-NEWS is brought to you by the COLOMBIAN LABOR MONITOR at * * http://www.prairienet.org/clm * * and the CHICAGO COLOMBIA COMMITTEE * * Email us at clm (at) prairienet.org or * * Dennis Grammenos at dgrammen (at) prairienet.org * * To subscribe send request to listproc (at) prairienet.org * * subscribe clm-news Your Name * ****************************************************************
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