presumed forced disappearance of three persons in Altos de Rosario, Bolivar

Case COL 131201 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 about the presumed forced disappearance of three persons in the Municipality of Altos de Rosario (south of the Department of Bolívar). According to the information from the Cléber Foundation, on Monday, December 3, 2001, Messrs. Diofanor Zayas Sanabria, Efraín Vázquez and Carmelo Urieta, natives and inhabitants of the Municipality of Altos de Rosario, travelled in a small boat along a branch of the Magdalena River towards the Corregimiento La Pacha. On their way back, they were caught up by a vessel with six armed men in military dress who brutally forced them to land and leave their boat. The group is well known in the area as members of paramilitary groups and commanded by a man known as “Cheché”, According to the information, neighbours and friends asked the paramilitary groups, who are still in the Corregimiento Pueblito Mejía (Municipality of Barranco de Loba, Bolívar), about the fate of these persons and they were told to stop looking for them because they were dead, but the paramilitary refused to divulge their whereabouts. The information adds that there is fear in the region that Mr. Diofanor Zayas Sanabria was apparently tortured and killed, his body dismembered and then thrown to the canal. Nevertheless, his relatives haven’t been able to search for his body, fearing reprisals. As for Efraín Vásquez and Carmelo Urieta, the reports add that to date nothing is known about their whereabouts or their personal integrity. According to the reports, Mr. Diofanor Zayas Sanabria, a farmer and father of eleven children, three of them minors, had left Altos del Rosario last year along with his wife and his younger children, due to the death threats he received from the paramilitaries. The reports add that some months ago, due to his precarious economic situation and confident that the security in the region had improved, he returned to Altos del Rosario in order to continue working; unable to find good working conditions on his farm, he opened a gas station in town, which was his current means of support. According to the reports, Mr. Diofanor Zayas Sanabria is renowned for his participation in the community life of the municipality and of the region. This is allegedly the reason why he has been victim of repeated intimidation and aggression by the police force and the paramilitaries for several years. The following lists the most notable acts of aggression made against him.: In 1996, during an army operation in the region, his house located in the Corregimiento Mina Estrella (Municipality of Río Viejo, South of Bolívar) was dynamited and burned down.  On May, 19, 1997, a group of paramilitaries arrived at the Las Flores ranch (Río Viejo), asked what the brand of his animals was and took all his cattle away.  On November 1998, with the arrival of the paramilitaries to the south of Bolívar and the announcement that his name figured on the list of paramilitary targets, he and his family moved to another village in the region.  Owing to the fact that each time the army arrived to the region they asked for him and attacked his family, Mr. Diofanor Zayas Sanabria appeared several times during 1995 before the Ocaña Battalion and before the Regional Attorney’s Office of Barranquilla to enquire whether there was any arrest warrant or complaint against him. In both institutions he was told that he had no problem with the law. In addition, his family has also been the victim of numerous aggressions:  Mr. José Jiménez Zayas, nephew of Mr. Diofanor Zayas Sanabria, previously a victim of army aggression, disappeared on July 28, 1998 in the city of Barranquilla. To this date, his relatives have had no word about his whereabouts.  On another occasion, in 1999, Alfonso Zayas, another of Mr. Diofanor Zayas’ nephews, was in the “La Cooperativa” district, Municipality of Barranco de Loba, looking for his lost horse, when he came across a group of paramilitaries who hit him with a club and left him unconscious and close to dying. The OMCT shares the concern of the above-mentioned human rights organizations for the continuous and serious aggressions against the inhabitants in the south of Bolívar and condemns these new extremely violent acts, the persecution against the civilian population and the apparent impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators. OMCT also condemns failure of the municipal, governmental and national authorities to provide effective protective measures to prevent this acts, especially since they were always came announced or warned. 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, to locate those who are missing and to bring an end to such violent events; 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, 13 December, 2001