Colombia
29.08.01
Urgent Interventions
Colombia: 13 deaths, 13 injuries, widespread disappearances and displacement
Case COL 290801
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 numerous violations of human rights in Colombia, in the municipalities of Villavicencio, Department of Meta ; Calima-El Darién, Department of Valle, and in Puerto Libertador, Department of Córdoba. More than 13 persons died in these events, 13 were injured and others are missing, including a number of children, and many are victims of forced displacement.
According to reliable sources, including the La Asamblea Permanente de la Sociedad Civil por la Paz, on Sunday 19 August 2001, two heavily armed men killed Mr. Evert Encinzo, teacher and director of the school “La Reliquia” and leader of the displaced persons of the settlement of the same name located in the town of Villavicencio. The two men reportedly entered a building where a bingo game was being held and shot a number of times. The reports add that Ms. Marleny Coronado Gómez, Vice-president of the local Junta de Acción Comunal was wounded during these events, s well as a child whose name is not known.
The reports add that the settlement of La Reliquia is home to some 18,000 displaced persons, victims of massacres carried out by various actors in the armed conflict in the departments of Vichada, Meta and Guaviare, especially from the village of Puerto Alvira, municipality of Mapiripan, and a few form the area of Despeje. The families, of whom some 40% are children under the age of 12, have been living in improvised wooden, plastic and cardboard shelters for 10 the last months, on land belonging to the municipality of Villavicencio and on abandoned plots.
In another incident, in El Palmar, a region also known as Rio Bravo, located in a rural area of the municipality of Calima-el-Darien, an incursion was made on Wednesday 22 August 2001 by a group of some 150 armed men. They carried firearms of various calibre and wore the informal gear of the national army (Ejercito Nacional) ; some wore the armband of the AUC, whilst others were hooded. They assembled 12 persons using a list of names, who they accused of working for the guerrillas and forced them to walk six kilometres.
According to information from governmental sources, five of these persons had their hands tied and were shot in the head ; one other person was decapitated. The following persons were killed : the brothers Fernando Aranzales, 21, and Raul Aranzales, 32 ; Arceliano Martinez, 55 ; Erasmo Vivas, 80, former president of the Junta de Accion Comunal of Rio Bravo and owner of a billiard club ; Arturo Cifuentes Rios, 50, benefactor of the Centro de Bienestar del Anciano de la Sociedad de San Vicente de Paúl; Gilberto Papamija, 60. The bodies of two other men aged 40 and 50 have been found but so far remain unidentified. The mayor of Calima -el-Darien has described the event as the disgraceful murder of defenceless workers.
The reports add that seven persons, who have not been seen since yesterday, were apparently kidnapped by paramilitaries from the villages of Campo Alegre y El Pital. A further nine persons belonging to the Correa family, including young children, are also missing, their whereabouts unknown.
After these events, the paramilitaries occupied the village of La Cristalina until Friday, when they left for the mountains of Buenaventura and Dagua, apparently taking with them a few people, including women with their husbands. Although only nine bodies have been found, the death count could be much higher as the paramilitaries also went to places in the thick forests along the Bravo and Calima rivers which are extremely difficult to access.
The information received details a further incident in Juan José in the municipality of Puerto Libertador, 100 km form Monteria, in which 20 supposed members of the Autodefensas Campesinas de Córdoba y Urabá (Accu) entered and killed 4 peasant farmers, including a woman. According to reliable sources, the killers, who said they were from the Accu, called the names of Amanda Gil, Guillermo Montes, Elías Franco and Norberto Malverde Salgado before shooting them dead.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT again condemns these new occurrences of extreme violence, the severe persecution of the civil population, the apparent impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators and the failure of the authorities to provide effective protection measures to prevent these events.
Requested Action:
Please write to the Colombian Authorities urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to brign an end to these violent acts, to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned persons and to locate those who are missing;
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 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, August 29, 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 been informed of numerous violations of human rights in Colombia, in the municipalities of Villavicencio, Department of Meta ; Calima-El Darién, Department of Valle, and in Puerto Libertador, Department of Córdoba. More than 13 persons died in these events, 13 were injured and others are missing, including a number of children, and many are victims of forced displacement.
According to reliable sources, including the La Asamblea Permanente de la Sociedad Civil por la Paz, on Sunday 19 August 2001, two heavily armed men killed Mr. Evert Encinzo, teacher and director of the school “La Reliquia” and leader of the displaced persons of the settlement of the same name located in the town of Villavicencio. The two men reportedly entered a building where a bingo game was being held and shot a number of times. The reports add that Ms. Marleny Coronado Gómez, Vice-president of the local Junta de Acción Comunal was wounded during these events, s well as a child whose name is not known.
The reports add that the settlement of La Reliquia is home to some 18,000 displaced persons, victims of massacres carried out by various actors in the armed conflict in the departments of Vichada, Meta and Guaviare, especially from the village of Puerto Alvira, municipality of Mapiripan, and a few form the area of Despeje. The families, of whom some 40% are children under the age of 12, have been living in improvised wooden, plastic and cardboard shelters for 10 the last months, on land belonging to the municipality of Villavicencio and on abandoned plots.
In another incident, in El Palmar, a region also known as Rio Bravo, located in a rural area of the municipality of Calima-el-Darien, an incursion was made on Wednesday 22 August 2001 by a group of some 150 armed men. They carried firearms of various calibre and wore the informal gear of the national army (Ejercito Nacional) ; some wore the armband of the AUC, whilst others were hooded. They assembled 12 persons using a list of names, who they accused of working for the guerrillas and forced them to walk six kilometres.
According to information from governmental sources, five of these persons had their hands tied and were shot in the head ; one other person was decapitated. The following persons were killed : the brothers Fernando Aranzales, 21, and Raul Aranzales, 32 ; Arceliano Martinez, 55 ; Erasmo Vivas, 80, former president of the Junta de Accion Comunal of Rio Bravo and owner of a billiard club ; Arturo Cifuentes Rios, 50, benefactor of the Centro de Bienestar del Anciano de la Sociedad de San Vicente de Paúl; Gilberto Papamija, 60. The bodies of two other men aged 40 and 50 have been found but so far remain unidentified. The mayor of Calima -el-Darien has described the event as the disgraceful murder of defenceless workers.
The reports add that seven persons, who have not been seen since yesterday, were apparently kidnapped by paramilitaries from the villages of Campo Alegre y El Pital. A further nine persons belonging to the Correa family, including young children, are also missing, their whereabouts unknown.
After these events, the paramilitaries occupied the village of La Cristalina until Friday, when they left for the mountains of Buenaventura and Dagua, apparently taking with them a few people, including women with their husbands. Although only nine bodies have been found, the death count could be much higher as the paramilitaries also went to places in the thick forests along the Bravo and Calima rivers which are extremely difficult to access.
The information received details a further incident in Juan José in the municipality of Puerto Libertador, 100 km form Monteria, in which 20 supposed members of the Autodefensas Campesinas de Córdoba y Urabá (Accu) entered and killed 4 peasant farmers, including a woman. According to reliable sources, the killers, who said they were from the Accu, called the names of Amanda Gil, Guillermo Montes, Elías Franco and Norberto Malverde Salgado before shooting them dead.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT again condemns these new occurrences of extreme violence, the severe persecution of the civil population, the apparent impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators and the failure of the authorities to provide effective protection measures to prevent these events.
Requested Action:
Please write to the Colombian Authorities urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to brign an end to these violent acts, to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned persons and to locate those who are missing;
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 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, August 29, 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.