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| Colombia Peace Presence Update, March 2004 In this Update: … Report on Speaking Tour: The Role
of Women in Resistance to War Ella Florez visits the US The FOR's March speaking tour with Ella Florez, who has been working with San José de Apartadó since its beginnings as a Peace Community, took us to nine US states and Washington DC in only two weeks. For Ella, it was the first time in her life that she experienced snow and the bitter winter cold of Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. Fortunately, she also experienced the warmth and support of many people who came to listen to her compelling experiences of living and working in this remarkable community. She told of witnessing terrible crimes committed against Peace Community members, but at the same time brought a message of hope to the audiences emphasizing the strength and successes of the Peace Community's resistance in the midst of the war in Colombia. "The fact that they are still there and that this region, which was almost completely abandoned by its inhabitants who had fled the violence in 1996-97, is today again populated by about 2500 people who are cultivating the land is a huge success. In spite of the attacks and losses, the Peace Community members are convinced that this is the only way for them to create life where others want to spread terror and death." Ella also highlighted the important role women play in the Peace Community. "There are 28 working groups made up of women who go out in the fields and contribute to the economic recovery of the community. When they first started, people had nothing - today they are exporting baby bananas and are working towards Fair Trade certification. Women have a big part in this, as well as in the leadership of the community. Three of the seven members of the community's governing council are women and women head various committees in charge of specific tasks in the community." Ella stressed the importance of international attention to processes such as the Peace Community. "It is important that we know there are people in the US who are interested and who care about what happens to us. For example, if US congressional representatives express concern for our safety, the Colombian government listens." Ella is now back home and can let the Peace Community members know that they are not alone in their search for justice and a life in dignity, that there are many people here in the US who are willing to urge their government to contribute to peaceful solutions to the war in Colombia instead of feeding the violence with more and more military aid. Attempts to Destabilize the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó
Corporación Jurídica Libertad, March 13, 2004: On Friday, March 12 at 8 p.m. soldiers of the 17th Army Brigade entered the town-center of San José together with a district attorney. They went to search the house of Diana Valderrama, member of the Peace Community's Internal Council. Ms Valderrama was detained with the argument that she carried suspicious identification papers and not her official state ID, even though she showed her birth certificate and a copy of the denunciation of the loss of her state ID. The document which generated suspicion was the Declaration of the Peace Community from March 23, 1997 that requires the population to stay out of the armed conflict and to not collaborate with the armed actors, including with the military. Together with Diana Valderrama her sister Marleny Olguin was also detained. Both were released at 1 a.m. Saturday morning. According to information from members of the community, the military personnel carried a list of names and photos of people that seemed to be members of the Peace Community and they specifically asked for Mr. Wilson David, representative of the Peace Community's Internal Council. Mr. David has been threatened on two occasions this year by paramilitaries operating in the bus station in the city of Apartadó. The military was also accompanied by a person wearing a ski mask. The soldiers stated that these searches would continue and that the community should get used to them. They later searched the house of Mr. Apolinar Guerra, who was also detained. Mr. Elkin Dario Tuberquia Tuberquia, displaced from the hamlet of Las Nieves, was in the street when the soldiers entered the community and was detained without any justification. On their arrival at the 17th Brigade's headquarters, Diana and Marlene were interrogated by Colonel Duque, and they faced a line-up of three masked people so that they might be "recognized." Colonel Duque informed them that they had not been recognized and would therefore be released. Later he told them that Wilson David and Arturo David collaborated with the guerrilla by making calls and bringing up supplies; that San José was a guerrilla community; and that they [the military] had ten informants in San José who would earn good money identifying all these guerrilla members; that these informants had identified the other two detained people (Apolinar y Elkin) as members of the guerrilla. On several occasions we have expressed our concern for the security of the leaders of the Peace Community, especially of Wilson David. Mr. David has not only been the victim of death threats against him, but on various occasions the military tried to buy witnesses who would testify to his involvement with the insurgency as a justification for a criminal process against him. All of this happens in spite of Protection Measures issued by the Inter-american Human Rights Court and in spite of constant communication with Colombian state authorities. The arbitrary detention of these people, especially that of Diana Valderrama, is part of systematic attempts by the military and paramilitary groups operating in the region to terrorize the Peace Community. The Peace Community is a form of protection of the civilian population from the conflict and a mechanism to keep the civilian population from being used by the different armed groups. We ask for the solidarity of individuals and social and human rights organizations to urge the Colombian government to refrain from using its Œdemocratic security' policies for the persecution of a community organized to build peace and to search for nonviolent solutions to their various economic and social problems. For a model letter to Members of Congress, urging the Colombian government to evaluate the investigative commission into the murders committed against the San José Peace Community, contact the FOR Colombia Program office (forcolombia@igc.org). Cacarica - We Continue to Seek Justice
In their statement they denounced that the army and paramilitary continue in their territory: "seven years later, the same ones who displaced us continue to persecute us. Now they don't attack our bodies as they did with our brother Marino Lopez -- first killing him and then playing soccer with his head. Today the troops play soccer next to our humanitarian zone, seeking to win the hearts and minds of our people, our children and youth. They offer a liter of soda pop for each goal the children score; then they ask them who their father is, what he does, which community members are guerrillas." After having been displaced again from one of their two hamlets earlier this year, the community gathered in a new humanitarian zone Esperanza en Dios on February 28 to "remember what happened to us -- we must not forget, we must continue to seek justice -- and to celebrate four years of our return with dignity and our civil resistance within the war." The community set off in a procession from the old humanitarian zone toward the new one, just a kilometer away. "We began with a prayer that the God of Life always be our guide in every decision we make, bless this new place and our project of life, and strengthen us to continue seeking justice." The first house built in the new hamlet is for one of their elders who puts all his energy into their community process because he wants to live "where I can die with dignity, where no one is troubling or persecuting me." The move to their new home will happen little by little. "It's not easy to take apart a house, carry the pieces on our shoulders, and construct it again in the new location. But we'll do it, because this is the only way we see to continue resisting here within our territory, upholding the universal right of the civilian population within any war to be distinguished from combatants. That is the meaning of our humanitarian zones. We want this new space to be free of military presence, harassment and pressure. This is the dream of our boys and girls, of our young people, of our matriarchs and patriarchs, of our women and men." (...) "These have been seven years of impunity,
seven years of persecutions, seven years of assassinations, disappearances
and
torture, seven years of economic blockades, seven years of paramilitary
and military control of the Lower Atrato river. But they have also
been seven years of our resistance, of affirming our rights within
the war, seven years of demanding justice, seven years of constructing
sister relationships and solidarity with brothers and sisters around
the world, seven years of seeking to construct alternatives to
impunity and globalization, seven years of affirming our dignity." The community expressed their hope that people "will continue accompanying us during this year of commemoration." They announced that on May 13 the second stage of the move to the new Esperanza en Dios humanitarian zone will begin and that in the second half of the year they will be organizing a Women's International Gathering. Bush Administration Seeks to Double US Troops in Colombia
The day before, the White House announced a drop in the amount of Colombian land cultivated with coca leaf, used to produce cocaine. Critics noted that the decrease in Colombia did not affect the street price of cocaine in the United States, and that areas of Colombia where anti-coca fumigation did not occur saw an increase in coca cultivation. Combined cultivation of coca in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia has remained relatively constant since 1999. For an analysis of the troop cap by Adam Isacson of the Center for International Policy: http://ciponline.org/colombia/040322cap.pdf . An analysis of coca cultivation figures can be found at: http://ciponline.org/colombia/index.htm
Colombia Week An annual report by the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights criticizes Colombia's record. The report, issued March 10 by the office's Colombia director, Michael Frühling, says Colombians are experiencing mass arrests, torture by security forces, and government collusion with paramilitary groups. It criticizes a proposal by President Alvaro Uribe Vélez's administration to grant demobilized paramilitary fighters amnesty for human rights abuses. And it says Uribe's war policies have increased the country's polarization. The report also praises the government for what it describes as an overall improvement in security, echoing a March 4 government report that claimed a decline in attacks on civilians and infrastructure. And the U.N. report criticizes both paramilitary and guerrilla groups for recruiting minors, planting landmines and killing, kidnapping and displacing civilians. But Vice President Francisco Santos Calderón said the report lacks objectivity, balance and context. To sign up for Colombia Week, e-mail editors@colombiaweek.org with "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject line. You can also view archives at http://www.colombiaweek.org. Important Resource on Colombian Peace Initiatives
http://www.forusa.org/Programs/Colombia/ColombiaDelegation-july04.html Colombia Human Rights Network Spring 2004 Speakers Tour Focus on Cauca, Communities in Southwestern Colombia The speakers are Floro Tunubala, who is completing his first term as governor of Cauca and the first indigenous leader ever to be elected to such an office, and Ludivia Giraldo, social psychologist experienced in community-building processes with displaced populations and trained in human rights, international humanitarian law and refugee rights. They will visit the following cities: To take part or for information about local events, please contact tour coordinator Maria Hope, maria-hope@uiowa.edu ; tel: 319.354.3277 (evenings/weekend). *** In Peace Jutta Meier-Wiedenbach ____________________________
©2004 Fellowship of Reconciliation |