Thefts and Threats Against Cahucopana

30.07.08

Thefts and Threats Against Cahucopana

Public Denouncement
Cahucopana: Tuesday 8th July 2008

The Corporation for Humanitarian Action for Coexistance and Peace in North East Antioqueño (Cahucopana in it’s Spanish initials) has denounced publicaly and before the civil authorities, the public prosecutors office, the public defence officer and before national and international human rights organisations, and in particular, before the human rights comisioner of the President of the Republic for the municipality of Remedios (Antioquia) and Bolivar South, Doctor Delsy Ruiz, the following illegal acts against the life and the integrity of our peasant farmer leaders, directors of our corporation and the peasant farmer communities of North East Antioquia in general.

On Monday the 30th June, a man dressed in civilian clothes arrived at the home of Fanny del Socorro García Tapias, president of Cahucopana. According to information that we have, he was asking where the human rights defenders were on behalf of the army. We understand that these are methods of intimidation for the part of the national army against social organisations, human rights defenders and against the peasant farmer community.

Afterwards, on Saturday the 5th of July, a peasant farmer from the community puerto Nuevo Ité, by the name of Joaquín, who is a sawyer by profesión, was intercepted 15 minutes away from his home by troops of the Batallion Calibío who were patrolling alongside the company of a person known to the community to be a reinserted ex paramilitary. The soldiers proceded to take the personal documentation of Joaquín and did not return it.

On this same date, the 5th of July, in the community of Dosquebradas, there was another act of intimidation made against the president of Cahucopana. Her house was broken into and the assailants stole $1,200,000 pesos assigned for a human rights training project financed for Misereor, a German organisation that promotes community development projects in Latin America.

The theft happened in a moment when the Army, who is supposed to guarentee security, was patrolling close to the home of our colleague.

These acts form part of the continued harasment and persecution against the work undertaken in defense of human rights by the members of Cahucopana. On the 20th of June 2008 the home of Carlos Arturo Morales, a director of this organisation, was also broken into and had many personal items stolen. These acts have taken place in the community of Dosquebradas, of the municipality of Remedios. Those reponsible for the theft were members of the Batallion Calibío of the 14th Brigade of the National Army, a deplorable act that was denounced at the time.

In another case, Jesús Maria Piñeres, who now lives in the urban sector of the municipality of Yondo (Antioquia) but a previous inhabitant of the community of Puerto Nuevo Ité who had “demobilized” without having belonged formally to any particular armed group. He is known by all of the local communities as a local peasant farmer of the region who carries links with the armed forces in the capacity of being an informant, marking out people and undertaking accusations against the locals, threatening them unjustly with the threat to send the paramilitary group the Aguilas Negras (Black Eagles) to kill them.

Cahucopana flatly refuses to accept these acts against the peasant community and repudiates the persecution that we are subjected to. We ask of the state of Colombia to fulfil the necessary guarentees that enable the work of the human rights defenders, and that these thefts and threats are investigated and sanctioned by the relevant authorities.

We seek from the international community accompaniament and to follow up on the current humanitarian crisis that affects the communities of the region of North East Antioqueño.

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