Dirty war in Arauca: indigenous teenagers murdered; armed civilians traveling with the army, threatening townspeople

30.07.08

Arauca: Early Alert
Saravena, 8th July 2008

The Human Rights Foundation Joel Sierra, denouces and alerts the public, the organizations of justice and control of the Colombian state, international and national human rights organizations and the local, national and international community, to a series of acts that force us to request all relevant systems to act and take urgent measures directed to safeguard the life and physical integrity of the inhabitants of the department of Arauca:

1. On Saturday the 5th July 2008, at 3.30pm, seven men dressed in civilian clothing carrying large arms hidden in sacks arrived at the community of Caño Seco (Municipality of Saravena). They passed by the western section of the community where they shot at a civilian passing by. After the shot, they entered the community and forced everyone to switch off all the music in the local commercial establishments and undertook searches on all those present. After around ten minutes a convoy of the national army arrived who were stationed at the military base in the municipality of Fortul, formally assigned to the Revéiz Pizarro Battalion, with its headquarters in Saravena. The armed civilians left the community in the same convoy as the army.

2. On the 7th July 2008, at around 7pm in the neighborhood of Playas de Bojaba, municipality of Saravena (Arauca), the following members of the indigenous communities were assassinated. RAFAEL SEGUNDO TAMARAN COBARIA and his wife MARIBEL SEPULVEDA BOKOTA. They were of 18 and 17 years old respectively. It is important to note that the younger female victim was seven months pregnant at the time.

3. These acts have happened in similar circumstances and they generate a favorable climate for actions of a dirty war and undercover operations, where armed civilian personel walk without any form of identification, spreading psychological terrorism in the civilian population. We request these communities and populations to denounce these acts immediately and so we can bring an end to possible undercover actions by the public forces under the name of the supposed paramilitaries.

We request the justice and control authorities and organizations to undertake the necessary investigations immediately and to take actions and measures for the protection of those affected. To the national government, to design and put into practice mechanisms to enable the completion of its promises and obligations regarding human rights and the safeguarding of the life and integrity of its citizens.
We further request the national and international communities, the diplomatic body authorized in the country, the human rights commissions of the Republican Congress, to monitor and pursue the aforementioned situation.

For the defense of the life, the human rights and the continued presence on the land.
Human Rights Foundation Joel Sierra
Our Social Action is Legal and Legitimate

Read more Denuncias

International Peace Observatory  |  Observatorio Internacional de la Paz  |  Bogotá, Colombia  |  NIT: 900.013.419-3

www.peaceobservatory.org  |  info@peaceobservatory.org  |  Telefax: (+57) 1 232 10 06   |  Móvil: (+57) 314 296 47 69