April 12, 2012

By MOVICE
Translated by IPO

The National Movement of Victims of State Crimes (MOVICE) denounces the events that occurred in the city of Villavicencio, Meta, on April 9, the Day of Remembrance and Solidarity with Victims, as observed according to the Victims’ and Land Restitution Law. During this event the memory of victims of state crimes was censured, assaulted, and threatened, by sabotaging the Gallery of Remembrance.

On the afternoon of April 8, members of the MOVICE Meta chapter arrived at the Álvaro Mesa arena in Villavicencio, where the Day of Remembrance and Solidarity with Victims was to take place the next day. The chapter wished to hang a banner with images and accounts of the victims of state crimes in Meta, so that it could be viewed during the ceremony. However a Police Captain told them he had instructions not to let them hang the banner or enter the arena.

That night, the chapter was informed that they would be allowed to enter the arena. But the next day, when they arrived at 7:00 AM with their banners, police officers read each one before allowing them to enter. The police also prevented the entry of markers and poster boards, stating they wished to avoid any signs that discredited the government or the president.

Moreover, a group of victims that had arrived from the municipality of Lejanías, Meta, with posters from their remembrance ceremony, which they were not allowed to bring in to the arena. In their case, the police told them they were not allowing any type of poster inside. Thus the images of their loved ones, the victims from Lejanías, were left behind out in the rain while the event took place inside.

February 15th 2012
By SINTRAGRIM
Translated by IPO

The Independent Agricultural Workers’ Union of Meta hereby informs the national and international public of the violations of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, as shown in the following:

1. At approximately 8:00 AM on February 15th, 2012, a phone call was received from an inhabitant of the village of Lucitanía in the municipality of Lejanías. The caller told that several army units had gathered in the area, including an armored car parked near a place known as the “Y” in Lucitanía. The caller said “I believe there will be problems in town because the army brought tanks.”

2. At 2:25 in the afternoon on the same day, shells exploded in civilian areas in the village of Agua Linda. These projectiles were launched by army units belonging to the 4th Division. The explosions occurred on a slope less than 50 meters from the Buitrago family’s house, causing damage to the walls, floor, and to Mr. Victor Buitrago himself.

December 15, 2011

By ATCH
Translated by IPO

The Peasant Workers Association of Huila (ATCH) and the Jose Antonio Galan Human Rights Corporation (CORPOJAG) denounce, to the national and international audience, to the news media, state institutions, and human rights NGOS, the Colombian security forces’ repeated false accusations of guerrilla collaboration in various rural communities. Among those communities falsely and illegally accused are Nueva Reforma, Versalles, Rio Blanco, Rio Negro, La Libertad, Darien, Las Perlas, Laureles, and Venadito, all of which are part of the municipality of Baraya in the department of Huila. These accusations are part of the grave pattern of threats and intimidation carried out in the past years by members of the Tenerife Battalion, the Ninth Brigade, and the Gaula Groups of the Army, as well as the internal security service (DAS), which have converted these peasant communities into military targets.

The Facts:

1. On May 21st at 5:30AM Edgar Ortiz was with his fifteen year old son Edgar Ortiz Jr. in their house in the area of Las Perlas when they heard the roar of several army helicopters. The helicopters began to fire on his house and fields, destroying his plantain and coffee crops as well as a fence. A few minutes later soldiers arrived at his house and attempted to knock down the door to the room where Ortiz and his son had taken shelter. After several attempts they broke open the metal door with a steel rod. The soldiers grabbed Ortiz and began to beat and insult him, accusing him of harboring guerrillas in his house. They then photographed him and copied the information from his identity card, after which he was thrown to the floor, threatened with a gun to the head, and told to open the other doors of his house. All this occurred in front of his young son. The soldiers then searched the house, rummaging through the family’s belongings without any judicial search order.

2. At 7:30AM that same day, 15 helicopters arrived at the village of Las Perlas. One of the helicopters fired indiscriminately on the house of Sandra Milena Toledo, the secretary of the Communal Action Committee, even though several of her family members including four children were inside. A half hectare of corn was destroyed in the gunfire. Soldiers in camouflage and face paint then arrived, wearing the insignias of the DAS and GAULA, and entered the house without a warrant. They photographed Toledo’s husband, Yofaber Garcia, and Maria Evelia Forero, a member of the Communal Action Committee and the mother of Toledo. The soldiers accused them of harboring guerrillas in their house and photographed the four children present, Jaime Garcia of 14 years, Jose Esneider Garcia, 13, Jonatan David Garcia, 11, and Mayerli Andrea Garcia, 9 (who had found an explosive artifact behind the house, and threw it in the nearby river out of fear).

November 26, 2011

By ASOCBAC
Translated by IPO

REGARDING THE BREWING GENOCIDE AND EXTERMINATION OF OUR ASSOCIATION

The Campesino Association of Bajo Cauca, ASOCBAC, publicly denounces the assassination of Fredy Jimenez, the vice president of the Local Action Committee of Acacias in the municipality of Taraza. This crime was committed Wednesday, November 23, by a paramilitary group that operates in that area. At 5:00 in the afternoon, Fredy Jiminez was murdered only 500 meters from the school in the area known as La Viuda while traveling to the municipal capital of Taraza, on his way from Cañon de Iglesias.

This crime is the result of the State’s systematic and generalized persecution and criminalization of our Association. The Association has been falsely and illegally accused of guerrilla activity by numerous public officials, including Luis Alfredo Ramos, the Governor of Antioquia; Andres Julian Rendon, the Antioquia State Secretary; as well as Didier Adnres Upegui, the Municipal Secretary of Taraza. ASOCBAC has suffered these accusations due to our leadership in strikes and the struggle to protect the rights of peasant farmers in Bajo Cauca.

As of today, Luis Alfredo Fernández, a member of The Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CPDH) in Algeciras, Huila, has been unjustly held captive for 40 days.

Alfredo is a peasant farmer, a member of CPDH, a human rights activist, a survivor of the Patriotic Union (UP), a member of the National Agricultural Union Federation (FENSUAGRO), and as a prisoner since October 2nd he is also a victim of political persecution against his human rights activism.

Luis Alfredo Fernández lives in the municipality of Algeciras, in the village of Bella Vista. As the head of his family he lives with his four children and wife, as well as her oldest son, young daughter, and grandson. Their sustenance depends on his work in the fields.

Luis Alfredo is a model example of a peasant farmer, human rights activist, and community leader. He has tirelessly fought for human dignity, and has been a direct victim of the political, social, and armed conflict that continues in our country, systematically carried out by the government and the State Prosecutor through “mass arrests” and “show trials”, principally in rural areas and unfortunately ignored by the media.

November 1st, 1011

By ASOCBAC
Translated by IPO

The Campesino Association of Bajo Cauca, Antioquia (ASOCBAC) publicly denounces yesterday’s arbitrary and illegal detention of Fernando Escudero, who is both the president of the local action committee of San Sereno of the municipality of Santa Rita Ituango and a member of ASOCBAC. At 10:45 in the morning, after casting his ballot in the local elections, Escudero was stopped by Corporal González, a SIJIN (Special Police) officer. Despite having no arrest warrant, González took Escudero to the police station, where he illegally registered and photographed Escudero, as well as copying the information from the SIM card of his cellphone. We repeat that there was no judicial order or arrest warrant issued that authorized these police actions.

Mr. Escudero was freed after three hours, through the efforts of the Human Rights Office of Ituango.

October 26, 2011

By MOVICE
Translated by IPO

The National Movement of Victims of State Crimes (MOVICE) denounces the serious attacks against the family members of EDER VERBEL ROCHA, the victims of which include a child who required two stitches. These acts occurred only seven months after Eder’s assassination, and are part of the systematic persecution of the Verbel family, the Sucre chapter of MOVICE, and members of almost all of the 20 chapters of MOVICE.

Antecedents
The Verbel family is known for its leading role in exposing paramilitary activity in the department of Sucre. As a result of their efforts, they have been victims of assassinations, threats, forced displacement, and constant attacks. On March 23, 2011, Eder Verbel was murdered by two armed men who shot him and two family members without warning. Orlando Verbel Rocha and a child survived were able to escape. Two men are being held in connection with this attack and are presumed to be the murderers, but there is still nothing known about who ordered the attack.

The facts
On Sunday, October 23, the conservative party’s mayoral candidate Nelson Jesús Pineda was holding his campaign’s closing ceremony. He is supported by the current mayor, Edgar Benito Revollo. During the ceremony, two men passed by the house of Yolima Fontalvo, Verbel’s widow. They began to yell intimidating insults at her, in addition to throwing water. A similar scene occurred outside of Adolfo Verbel’s house.

At 6:45 PM, Eder and Adolfo’s parents Hernando Verbel Vuelvas and Cristina Rocha Donado returned to their house, whereupon the two men continued to shout insults and even threw bottles at the house. Eder Verbel’s child, Eder de Jesús Verbel Fontalvo, was waiting at the entrance to the house, and was hit in the knee by one of the bottles and taken to the hospital. The next morning Adolfo Verbel, the child’s uncle, went to the SIJIN (Special Police) Office to report the crime. He was received by an Agent Lopez, who said that without the names of the aggressors he could not take a report. In the end the child received two stitches for the wound he received from the bottle.

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.

October 3, 2011
The Campesino Association of Bajo Cauca (ASOCBAC) is a mass organization made up of families in the sub-region of Bajo Cauca, Ituango, and Sur de Córdoba, legally constituted with Tax Identification Number 900264352-5, with the mission of defending the land, human rights, autonomy and food sovereignty.
We publicly denounce, to the national and international audience, to the public ministry and human rights organizations, the Colombian government’s violent repression of the campesinos displaced by recent fumigations. At 10:00 PM last night, the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD) violently burst into the sports arena in Tarazá where the displaced had gathered, using tear gas, concussion grenades, and physical force to eject the arena’s occupants. Among those injured was Jairo Garcia, the president of the Communal Action Committee from Oco Alto. The ESMAD also stole pots, utensils and food supplies from the displaced encampment. These affronts provoked riots on the main highway to the coast, which runs through Tarazá.
Additionally we know that the state intelligence services have begun searching for the leaders of the Communal Action Committees as well those of ASOCBAC in order to bring them to trial. We hold the administrations of Antioquia and Tarazá responsible for the deeds that the campesinos and their leaders have suffered. It is due to their arrogance and authoritarianism that they have refused to negotiate with the campesinos, thus creating this grave humanitarian crisis marked by repression and the violation of human rights.
We request the presence of the Public Ministry and the national Defensoría and Procuraduría (the Colombian government’s human rights offices) in order to guarantee our human rights. We insist on negotiations with high-level officials, including the Vice president, the Minster of the Interior, and the Governor of Antioquia, so that we may find a long term solution to the problem of illegal crops in Bajo Cauca, Antoquia. We demand that the ESMAD’s repressive and provocative acts cease immediately, as well as attempts to criminalize ASOCBAC and its leaders.
-ASOCBAC

PRESIDENTE DE LA REPUBLICA DE COLOMBIA.
fsantos@presidencia.gov.co
VICE PRESIDENCIA DE LA REPUBLICA DE COLOMBIA.
ppdh@presidencia.gov.co
MINISTERIO DE INTERIOR Y DE JUSTICIA.
ministro@minjusticia.gov.c
DEFENSORIA DEL PUEBLO.
defensoria@defensoria.org.co
DR VOLMAR PEREZ DEFENSOR DEL PUEBLO COLOMBIA.
secretaria_privada@hotmail.com
PROCURADURIA GENERAL DE LA NACIÓN
quejas@procuraduria.gov.co

September 26, 2011

By the Fundación Comité de Solidaridad con los Presos Políticos (Political Prisoner Solidarity Committee Foundation)

Today, after three years of imprisonment without due process, Carmelo Agámez has been freed. Because of his work with MOVICE (the Movement of Victims of State Crimes) he has suffered this political and judicial persecution.

Carmelo was arrested on November 13th 2008, in his native department of Sucre, and falsely accused of belonging to paramilitary groups. It bears mention that Carmelo Agámez has frequently denounced paramilitary activity in the region.

From its beginnings, the prosecution of Carmelo was marked by irregularities. One of the first suspicious incidents occurred several days before his arrest, when several armed men (none of whom presented a police warrant) broke into his home. Later, on November 15th, he appeared with his lawyer at the District Attorney’s office in Sincelejo, Sucre, intending to bring to light that episode and submit a complaint asking for official protection.

In the course of the trial Camilo’s lawyer, José Humberto Torres of the Political Prisoner Solidarity Committee Foundation (FCSPP), has exhausted all legal resources. He has petitioned for Camilo’s release to house arrest only to have it denied, despite the fact that numerous confessed paramilitaries and corrupt officials (“para-politicians”) involved in identical trials have been granted that meager concession.

Since September 16th of this year the campesino and indigenous population of Alto San Jorge has been displaced by glyphosate fumigations on their land, including the Zenú reserve and the Nudo de Paramillo national park. Those affected have stated that the fumigation destroyed their legal food crops, which primarily consist of rice.

One of the factors which caused this forced displacement has been one Army official’s continued abuse of authority. Capitan Cuervo is an officer in the region, and has been the subject of multiple complaints regarding human rights violations and infractions of International Humanitarian Law. The leaders of the Communal Action Committees have had their rights to free association, participation, and autonomy systematically infringed upon by Capitan Cuervo, which violates the International Humanitarian Law’s principle of distinction.

The make-up of the objective causes of this displacement, after a week of encampment in la Granja in Puerto Libertador, Córdoba, has been superficially evaluated by Acción Social (the state body which evaluates displacement), which has refused to classify this dramatic situation as a large-scale forced displacement, and which has also denied humanitarian aid to the displaced. Acción Social asserts that Law 387 of 1997 does not consider glyphosate fumigations to be a cause of displacement, and neither can the Colombian state or its members be said to be the agents of such an action.

by ASOCBAC
Translated by IPO

Since September 16th of this year the township Juan Jose in the municipality of Puerto Libertador, Córdoba has been forcibly displaced by glifosato fumigations, as well as by the security forces’ abuse of authority in the “nudo de Paramillo” – Alto San Jorge region.

At this time 2000 people find them themselves forcibly displaced in the municipal seat of Puerto Libertador. The majority of the displaced are women, children, campesinos and indigenous.

The fumigations occurred within the Zenú reserve in Alto San Jorge, and have destroyed the harvest of rice and other food crops. In this area there have been no alternatives created to substitute for the cultivation of illegal crops. Moreover, Captain Alex Cuervo, the commander of the Defensive Action Combined Force (FUCAD) Nudo de Paramillo Mobile Brigade 17, has been denounced for violating human rights and criminalizing the civilian population. In addition to instituting a blockade on food and supplies entering the region, he has also illegally photographed and registered the inhabitants and local leaders. He is also responsible for the demolition, without any official order, of the community’s meeting hall in Juan Jose, as well as the robbery of the community’s books. Additionally, on August 20th he ordered that the president of the local action committee be stripped of his title and then subjected him to psychological harassment. All of these acts are in flagrant violation of the people’s ability to organize, the right to free association, as well as the principle of distinction under International Humanitarian Law.

by International Peace Observatory

For the past six years, International Peace Observatory has provided physical, political, and technical accompaniment to social organizations (peasant farmers and victims of state crimes) working to defend human rights in Colombia. These organizations carry out non-violent resistance and their work is completely legal. IPO’s work is also completely legal, transparent, and public. IPO acts with full respect for Colombian and international laws, and works to promote respect for human rights and international humanitarian law.

This report presents three incidents that took place over the past two months, and which are extremely worrying for our organization. The three cases place IPO volunteers’ safety at risk. In two of these cases, IPO’s accompaniment and international observation work in Colombia was hindered.

In the first incident, two IPO members were detained and their personal information was recorded ¹ by soldiers from the Thirtieth Brigade at the La Esmeralda Military Base, in Norte de Santander. The army carried out actions that the the Colombian Constitutional Court has declared illegal ². In addition, by impeding IPO volunteers’ freedom of movement, this detention obstructed IPO’s accompaniment work. It is important to note that all IPO members have a special volunteer visa issued by the Foreign Affairs Ministry and overseen by the Colombian Administrative Security Department, which allows them to travel in the regions where IPO works. IPO has carried out regular meetings with the Thirtieth Brigade to request support in facilitating IPO’s work in the field.

IPO would like to express our concern over the possible repercussions that these cases, presented below, could have for our work in Colombia. We are especially concerned over the possible implications for our volunteers’ safety. IPO requests support in this matter from national and international authorities.

By International Peace Observatory

International Peace Observatory condemns actions by the Colombian Army’s Thirtieth Brigade on September 7, 2010, in the municipality of El Tarra, Norte de Santander department. During a fact-finding mission to investigate incidents that took place in El Tarra on August 15, members of the Thirtieth Brigade filmed, detained, and made unfounded accusations against IPO volunteers and members of the fact-finding mission. We would like to express our concern over the use of these irregular procedures, particularly the unfounded accusations that were made. In addition to violating Presidential Directive 07 of 1999, these accusations put those Colombian and foreign civilians who were present at risk, by involving them in the conflict.

Adam Isaacson

Late Tuesday, Colombia’s Constitutional Court, part of its Supreme Court, decided by a 6-3 vote to strike down a defense cooperation agreement that Colombia’s government had signed with the United States in October 2009.

by Kirsten Begg – Prensa Rural

A report released by U.S. NGO the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) finds an “alarming link” between Colombian military units that received U.S. funding and cases of extrajudicial killings or “false positives” — in which civilians were murdered and presented as guerrillas killed in combat — committed by those units.

by International Peace Observatory

International Peace Observatory (IPO) is an organization offering international accompaniment and working to promote the respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in Colombia. IPO would like to denounce that on July 22, the Colombian Army detained two IPO members for an hour and illegally registered their personal information. The Thirtieth Brigade’s “Number 10 Energy and Highway” Battalion detained the two volunteers at the Military Base La Esmeralda, in the Municipality of Convención, located in Norte de Santander.

The two volunteers were in the region accompanying a delegation organized by the Catatumbo Farmers’ Association (ASCAMCAT) to attend the event in Bogotá titled: The Patriotic March for the Second Independence of Colombia.

Upside Down World

“The Circle is Closing” is the title of the report just released by Colombian magazine Semana [i]. It refers to how indeed the circle is closing on the Presidential Palace in Colombia, where the headquarters of a “criminal enterprise” involving Colombia’s secret services (DAS), function under the direct orders of President Alvaro Uribe and his advisors. This latest report provides evidence, not only of involvement, but direction, orders and full control from the Presidential Palace and the President’s closest friends and advisors of illegal and criminal operations. This criminal machinery has no parallel in history and a lot is to be unveiled yet. The Government and the President initially denied, then expressed concern and finally indignation at the accusations and against the evidence. The testimonies and documents provided and exposed in this report (and added to the already abundant existing proof) are conclusive.

Adam Isaacson

Income inequality in Latin America today

Starting in 2001, the UN Development Program’s annual Human Development Reports began to publish estimates of the income of the wealthiest and poorest 10 percent of countries’ populations. The ratio between what each tenth earns in a year offers a useful measure of social and economic inequality.