The UNIPA denounces the systematic extermination against our Awá indigenous people

31.08.09

by UNIPA
(see below for sample letter of protest, provided by ONIC, to send to President Uribe)

Today we mourn the death of four (4) defenceless children who, jointly with their brothers, parents and family were massacred at five in the morning on the 26th of August, at their modest residence.

Another massacre, of 12 brothers and sisters from the Awá indigenous people
Public communiqué to inform the national and international community
The UNIPA denounces the systematic extermination against our Awá indigenous people

With indignation and sadness, the Unified Organisation of the Awá Indigenous Nation (UNIPA), wishes to inform the national and international community of the massacre that took place on the 26th of August, 2009, in which twelve (12) indigenous people lost their lives, in the Rosario community, part of the Awá indigenous Gran Rosario territory, municipality of Tumaco, department of Nariño.
Today we mourn the death of four (4) defenceless children, who, jointly with their brothers, parents and family were massacred at five in the morning on the 26th of August, at their modest residence. Among the individuals assassinated was TULIA GARCIA, the only living witness of the events that occurred on the 23rd of May in 2009, when her husband GONZALO RODRIGUEZ was assassinated, a crime that she had reported as the responsibility of the National Colombian Army.

Despite having alerted the authorities to the series of death threats that she had received, she continued denouncing the death of her husband, until this morning when the bullets took her life, as well as her testimony.

But as if it were not enough that TULIA GARCIA was assassinated, the cruelness was further aggravated by the murder of four (4) children, six (6) men and another women, assassinated whilst they were asleep.

It would seem that this event is related to the death of GONZALO RODRÍGUEZ and is part of a systematic and political massacre of the indigenous peoples of Colombia. Despite our denouncements, and the investigations supposedly being carried out by the State, the persecution has not ceased against our indigenous Awá people, and the impunity continues. Of the seventy seven (77) indigenous individuals assassinated in Colombia in 2009, thirty eight (38) are part of the Awá family, which is to say, we have been victims of fifty percent of the massacres, and as far as the Colombian Government is concerned, there is nothing irregular happening. Even worse, the Minister of the Interior and Justice, on the 9th of August, on the International Day of Indigenous Peoples manifested that they had made significant advances with the indigenous nations, thanks to the aims included in the Auto 004, a sentence emitted by the Constitutional Court in January of this year [which orders the Colombian government to create safeguard plans in coordination with indigenous peoples who run the risk of becoming extinct].

Despite the recent presence of personalities such as the James Anaya, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations on the human rights and the fundamental liberties of the indigenous peoples, in response to the alert emitted by our organisation about the risk of extinction to which our nation has been condemned, the conditions to protect our human rights remain absent and, on the contrary, our demands generate more smears and stigmatization from the government.

It is incomprehensible that in spite of the presence and intervention of national and international organisations and institutions, armed actors continue to violate our fundamental rights, International Humanitarian Law and the minimum conditions for the life of our communities; in this highly adverse context, to which we can add eight (8) threats from paramilitary groups against indigenous authorities and leaders from our organisation, the humanitarian crisis suffered by the displaced population after the massacre in the indigenous territory of Tortugaña Telembí which has not been resolved, and the terrible consequences of aerial fumigations with glyphosate chemicals in our lands which have lead to illness and death. It is ironic that while we are developing our Ethnic Safeguard Plan for the survival of the Awa People, we continue to suffer extermination.

The aforementioned humanitarian crisis also affects our small farmer and afro-colombian brothers and sisters in the region of Nariño, as for example in the case last week of the mass displacement of more than 1000 people from the municipalities of Maguí Payán and el Charco.

The Colombian government is obliged to generate the conditions for the physical and cultural survival of indigenous peoples, yet the only systematic conditions we see being generated are the conditions of war.

There have not been sufficient answers to these serious events, despite the fact that we have carried out constant legal actions, which have resulted in:

-. Resolution 053 issued by the Human Rights Ombudsman on 5 June, 2008.

-. Sentence 004 issued by the Constitutional Court on 26 January, 2009.

-. The humanitarian MINGA (collective indigenous gathering) for the life and dignity of the Awa People, held between 22 March and 2 April 2009, after the massacre in the territory of Tortugaña Telembí on 4 February 2009.

-. The request for precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights, which was denied in the month of June 2009.

-. Different public communiqués and reports which we have constantly issued, expressing our position of autonomy and impartiality in relation to all the armed actors.

As a result, we believe that special measures must be adopted without delay, in light of the emergency situation we are facing, in order to protect our indigenous Awa People. We also demand that the legal and illegal armed actors immediately stop carrying out actions against our people.

We call for the following actions:

- That measures are adopted to guarantee the life, physical integrity and culture of our indigenous Awa families.

- That the events which occurred today are urgently, seriously and impartially investigated, in coordination with the indigenous authorities from the Awa People.

- We demand that the national Government maintains a civilian presence in our lands in order to assume their constitutional responsibility for our personal integrity, above all given the fact that we are protected people.

- We call upon social and grassroots organisations, and human rights organisations at the national and international level, to declare themselves in solidarity with our people, and to promote actions aimed at raising awareness and publicly reporting these serious events.

FOR OUR LIVES, DIGNITY AND THE DEFENSE OF OUR TERRITORY
UNIFIED ORGANISATION OF THE AWÁ INDIGENOUS NATION, UNIPA.
San Juan de Pasto, 26 August 2009

——————-
sample letter of protest, provided by the ONIC, to send to President Uribe

Dr. Alvaro Uribe
President of the Colombian Republic

President of the Colombian Republic

I am writing on behalf of (name of organisation), a human rights and solidarity organisation from (country).

The aim of this letter is to express our strong repulsion and condemnation at the latest massacre which occurred on the morning of 26 August against the indigenous Awá People, in which 12 people were tragically murdered, including several children, in the indigenous territory of Gran Rosario, in the Tumaco municipality.

It is horrifying that according to indigenous organisations, this year so far 77 indigenous people have been murdered in Colombia, of which 38, that is to say, 50% are from the Awa People, without a convincing response from the Colombian government, which means that all these murders are in impunity.

We send all our solidarity and condolences to the community from the territory of Gran Rosario, to the Awá People, to their organisation UNIPA and to the National Indigenous Organisation of Colombia, and we join our voices to the national and international outcries, so that these terrible events do not remain in impunity, so that an impartial investigation is carried out to determine those responsible, and so that urgent measures are taken to protect the lives and integrity of the Awa People.

Specifically we call upon the government to:

- adopt measures to guarantee the life, physical integrity and culture of the indigenous Awa People, in line with their Life Plan.

- urgently, seriously and impartially investigate this massacre in coordination with the indigenous authorities from the Awa People.

(Signature)
—————————————
Email addresses of President Uribe and other government officials

ALVARO URIBE VELEZ
Presidente de la República
Carrera 8 No. 7 -26 Palacio de Nariño Bogotá
Fax. 5662071
auribe@presidencia.gov.co

FRANCISCO SANTOS
Vicepresidente de la República
Carrera 8 No.7-57 Bogotá D.C.
fsantos@presidencia.gov.co

GABRIEL SILVA LUJÁN
Ministro de la Defensa
Avenida El Dorado carrera 52 CAN Bogotá D.C.
siden@mindefensa.gov.co
infprotocol@mindefensa.gov.co
mdn@cable.net.co

FABIO VALENCIA COSSIO
Ministro del Interior y de Justicia
Carrera 9a. No. 14-10, Bogotá D.C.
Fax. 2221874
ministro@minjusticia.gov.co

GUILLERMO MENDOZA DIAGO
Fiscal General de la Nación (e)
Diagonal 22B No. 52-01 Bogotá D.C.
Fax. 570 20 00
contacto@fiscalia.gov.co
denuncie@fiscalia.gov.co

WOLMAR ANTONIO PEREZ ORTIZ
Defensor del Pueblo
Calle 55 No. 10 – 32 Bogotá D.C.
Fax. 640 04 91
defensoria@defensoria.org.co
secretaria_privada@hotmail.com

ALEJANDRO ORDOÑEZ
Procurador General de la Nación
Cra. 5 No.15 – 80F Bogotá D.C.
anticorrupción@presidencia.gov.co
reygon@procuraduría.gov.co

CARLOS FRANCO
Programa Presidencial De Derechos Humanos Y De Derecho Internacional Humanitario.
Calle 7 N° 5 – 54 Bogotá D.C.
Fax. 337 46 67
cefranco@presidencia.gov.co
fibarra@presidencia.gov.co

DIEGO PALACIO BETANCOURT
Ministro de Protección Social
Carrera 13 No. 32-76 Bogotá
Tel. (571) 3305000 Ext. 2304
Fax: (571) 3305050

MARCELO CASTRO FOX
Representante Permanente en Colombia
Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos
Avenida calle 82. No. 12-18. Oficina: 504.
Teléfono: 623 75 86 -Bogotá D.C.
castrofox@oit.org.pe
cidhoea@oas.org

BRUNO MORO
Coordinador Humanitario del Sistema de las Naciones Unidas en Colombia, PNUD
Avenida 82 No. 10-62, Piso 3
Tel: 488 9000
Fax: 488 9010

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