Leaders of the ACVC imprisoned for defending the rights of peasants and promoting sustainable development

22.10.08

The Cimitarra River Valley Association of Peasant Farmers (ACVC) is an organization in the Magdalena Medio region of Colombia that is working to promote the creation of a ‘Peasant Reserve Zone’ – an entity recognised in Colombian legislation, aimed at securing land tenure for farmers and sustainable development.

On September 29, 2007, two months after an agreement signed between the Colombian government and ACVC on respect for human rights and the establishment of the ‘Zone’, four leaders of the ACVC were arrested in the midst of a regional peasant assembly. They were Andres Gil, Oscar Duque, Mario Martinez and Evaristo Mena. On January 19th, 2008, two other ACVC leaders, Miguel Angel Gonzalez Huepa and Ramiro Ortega Muneton, were also arrested as they participated in a regional meeting about rural health. All six were accused of being guerrillas.

The accusations against them have been made by alleged de-mobilised guerrillas who receive legal and economic benefits in exchange for their testimonys, as well as reports from military intelligence. The intelligence reports claim that the ACVC is discrediting the armed forces by denouncing human rights violations; that they oppose aerial fumigation with glyphosate because it damages the guerrillas’ income from coca cultivation; and that they try to raise financial resources, especially from the European Union, so that they can give those resources to the guerrillas. The military intelligence reports also say that the national and international groups that support and accompany the ACVC are actually allies of the guerrillas.

The current judicial process against the ACVC was initiated in 2005 and since then, in defence of the jailed leaders, the court has been presented with abundant evidence that demonstrates the legitimacy, legality and transparency of the ACVC’s activities. This evidence has included projects, agreements and cooperation contracts, along with financial and written reports about them; academic contracts with both public and private universities; and numerous statements given in person by people who are members of the ACVC or who have worked on the implementation and development of their projects. These have shown that the accusations against the ACVC are false.

On April 23rd, 2008, three of the detained leaders – Evaristo Mena, Oscar Duque and Mario Martinez – were freed, and a short time after, on May 19th, Ramiro Ortega was also freed. The men were freed after the court decided that there was a lack of evidence and questioned the credibility of the witnesses being used against them. However, whilst the credibility of the evidence has clearly been questioned, the prosecution, in a totally inexplicable and unjustified manner, is continuing to use that same evidence against the remaining two leaders Miguel Gonzalez Huepa and Andres Gil – continuing with the cases against them and keeping them deprived of their liberty.

We ask the international community to repudiate this persecution, to call on the Colombian Government to release the two peasant leaders and to allow the development of the ‘Peasant Reserve Zone’ in the Cimitarra River Valley.

October 13, 2008

Article from humanidadvigente.net

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