More Mass Arrests in La Uribe, Meta

24.10.11

October 24, 2011

By FENSUAGRO
Translated by IPO

At about 10:00AM on Sunday, October 16th, the human rights secretary of FENSUAGRO received information from the community of La Uribe that the Army and Police were carrying out operations there. Several people were arrested and taken to the military in the town of La Julia, Meta. The community later learned that those arrested were moved to Granada, Meta, where they were transferred to the District Attorney and are being accused of rebellion.
The arrested are the following:
a. EDGAR RAMÍREZ, Businessman, resident of La Julia
b. HERMINSON HERNÁNDEZ, who was detained in 2006, and again now.
c. LUIS ALBERTO GUTIERREZ URIBE, Campesino, resident of the village El Pacer and Green Party candidate for the municipal council.
d. RUBEN DARIO OSORIO, Campesino, President of ASOPROAJU and POLO Democratic Alternative candidate for the municipal council.
e. MARIA ENELIDA BERMUDEZ URIBE, Businesswoman in La Julia.
f. JOHANY BERMUDEZ PINZON, who works loading trucks and transporting people on the river.
g. CARLOS JULIAN USECHE, a young peasant from the village La Primavera and member of ASOPROAJU.
On Sunday the community of the municipal seat La Uribe provided information that the Police and CTI of La Uribe had arrested several others, who are:
a. AURORA GARCIA, campesina and housewife from the village Versalles.
b. GREGORIO SANTOFIMIO, 60 year old campesino who was passing through the town.
c. ROSA ELVIRA SAN MARTIN, a health worker in the municipality.
d. WILMER SANTOFIMIO, son of Gregorio Santofimio, who worked as a builder and bricklayer in the town.
The community is very concerned about these raids and arrests that have struck the municipality once again. This situation breeds fear and anxiety among the inhabitants, especially when those arrested are well-recognized locals who are now unjustly accused of rebellion.

Antecedents
Early in the morning of October 29th, 2007, the residents of La Julia noticed a patrolling police officer who was accompanied by two masked men, who entered several houses and arrested their inhabitants without arrest warrants. In that raid twelve people were arbitrarily arrested: John Freddy Velásquez, Hipólito Calderón, Hugo Jaramillo, José Ángel Angarita, Víctor Murcia Ferreira, Luis Efrén Ramírez López, Nancy Castaño, Orlando Aguirre, Luis Hernando Sierra, José Díaz Cuellar, Mauricio Gallego, Darley Upegui y Eliécer Sierra, all of whom were taken to La Macarena and then to Bogotá, where they were handed over to the Special 16th District Attorney. Three days later, a helicopter landed in the same town, and masked soldiers arrested five more people.
The community made an urgent call to the government’s human rights offices and various state officials in order to ask for their assistance and protection against the outrages and abuses they had suffered. They repeated this call to Colombian and international human rights activists, who could intervene and denounce the abuses that have occurred under the government’s “Democratic Security” policy in front of the international community.

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