From: Colombian Labor Monitor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 15:22:19 -0500 (CDT)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: CLM: News In Brief -- Liam Craig-Best & Rowan Shingler
________________________________________________________________
COLOMBIAN LABOR MONITOR
www.prairienet.org/clm
Wednesday, 30 May 2001
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* N E W S I N B R I E F *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
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By Liam Craig-Best and Rowan Shingler
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
1. Recent Human Rights Violations
2. Members of the European Parliament Condemn Alto Naya Massacre
3. Attempted Attack on Communist Party Newspaper
4. US Senator Challenges Colombian Army General to Act Against
Paramilitaries
5. Thousands of Indigenous Protest Paramilitary Violence
6. Recent Combat Reports
7. Very Brief News in Briefs
1. Recent Human Rights Violations
May 21st
The bodies of three peasant farmers who had been
disappeared along with seven others a week previously by a paramilitary
death squad were found in the La Uribe area of El Tambo municipality,
Cauca department. The fate of the other seven farmers is unknown although
they too are presumed dead.
May 21st
A large group of paramilitaries moved through the
municipalities of El Carmen de Viboral, Santuario, Remedios and Concordia
in Antioquia department with a list of people whom allegedly sympathised
with the guerrillas. They found 12 of the people on the list and dragged
them from their homes and assassinated them.
May 21st
ELN guerrillas kidnapped six wealthy businessmen on the
main road leading to the Caribbean coast in northern Antioquia department.
May 19th
Around 80 paramilitaries set up a roadblock in the La
Bodega area of the municipality of San Diego, Cesar department. Using
machetes and rocks the death squad members then tortured and massacred
Marco Granados, Emiro Duran, Omar Ojeda, Araujo Ovidio Becerra, Jorge
Rivera Rico and another as yet unidentified man, whom arrived at the
roadblock. The men were all peasants, some of whom were travelling by
horse, going to the nearby market to sell their products. There are
unconfirmed reports that the same paramilitaries were later seen
patrolling the area with Special Forces troops of the 7th Operational
Command of the Colombian Army.
May 19th
A paramilitary death squad entered the village of Casacara
in the municipality of Codazzi, Cesar department, and dragged five people,
including a young boy, out of their homes and drove them away. Later all
five were found dead outside the village, some having been strangled and
others shot. The same death squad then went to the nearby community of
Becerril and executed three other people whom they accused of supporting
guerrilla forces in the area.
May 18th
A paramilitary unit in the Zona Bananera municipality of
Magdalena department detained and then disappeared nine people. The
victims have not been seen since and it is probable that they have been
executed.
May 18th
Two paramilitary assassins killed Ismael Valencia Gomez in
the southern Colombian municipality of Calima-El Darien, Valle department.
Gomez, who was shot in the head, was the ex-mayor of the municipality.
May 16th
A paramilitary unit entered the community of El Paraiso in
the municipality of San Pablo, Bolivar department, accused the inhabitants
of being ELN sympathisers and then set fire to 26 homes before ordering
residents to leave the area permanently. As a result of the paramilitary
incursion around 1,500 people have fled the area. During the incursion
the death squads took away Victoria Delgado who was interrogated and then
released some days later. Delgado is the mother of peasant leader
Gildardo Fuentes who, together with another leader, Edgar Quiroga, was
disappeared by paramilitaries in November 1999 after they had organised
massive peasant protests calling on the government to defend them from the
death squads and to provide social investment. Earlier in the week
paramilitaries had entered the same community, pulled Uriel Arrieta out of
his home, accused him of being an ELN supporter and then executed him.
These attacks occur despite the heavy presence of the army in the area and
residents of San Pablo municipality report that local military officials,
especially Colonel Juan Bautista of the 45th Battalion, are regularly seen
meeting with paramilitary death squad commanders.
May 14th
Carlos Nicolas Gonzalez, a former pilot who had worked for
paramilitary death squad commander Carlos Castano, was assassinated in
Bogota. Gonzalez was due to testify about the drug dealing activities of
Castano's organisation and had received death threats on various
occasions. As a result of the threats Gonzalez was placed in a special
Witness Protection Program run by the US Embassy in Bogota and the
Colombian Attorney General's office. Some how the paramilitaries managed
to find out where he was and murder him before he was able to spill the
beans with regards to paramilitary drug trafficking.
May 14th
Paramilitaries massacred four people near the border
between Granada and Cocorna municipalities in the east of Antioquia
department.
May 11th
ERP (People's Revolutionary Army) guerrillas kidnapped two
people at a roadblock in the Tiquisio area near the city of Cartagena.
2. Members of the European Parliament Condemn Alto Naya Massacre
On May 14th 2001 around 20 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) wrote
to President Andres Pastrana to express their concern regarding the recent
series of paramilitary massacres that have been committed in Valle and
Cauca departments in southwestern Colombia - most notably the Alto Naya
massacre in mid-April. This massacre, in which up to 130 unarmed
civilians were murdered, was committed by paramilitary death squads linked
to the Colombian military.
The letter from the parliamentarians spoke of their concern that the
massacre at Alto Naya was "not prevented despite several forewarnings by a
number of organisations, including the European Parliament." It went on
to detail various occasions when the European Parliament, as well as
individual MEPs, had warned the Colombian authorities of impending
paramilitary attacks. According to the letter these warnings were not
heeded and as a result the death squads executed numerous civilians. The
letter details cases in which 34 people were murdered after warnings had
been given to the Colombian authorities regarding the dangers.
The letter also talks of various instances of the Colombian military
directly engaging in activities designed to intimidate and threaten
civilian communities in the region including "some 200 soldiers from the
navy, many wearing hoods, [who] photographed and interrogated members of
the community and announced the arrival of the paramilitaries."
The letter later mentions that "On the night of the 27th of November,
units of the National Army broke into the village school where a training
workshop of representatives from the community councils was taking place;
the workshop was organised by the World Wildlife Fund [and others]."
The letter notes that in areas of the region that have a permanent
presence of the Colombian military "the paramilitary presence has not only
continued but is growing," and that it now seems to be extending to other
regions.
It is well documented that the Colombian armed forces have a very close
relationship with the paramilitary death squads and that between them they
commit over 80% of all human rights violations committed against civilians
each year in Colombia. In February 2001 the US State Department Human
Rights Report for Colombia mentioned that, "Members of the security forces
collaborated with paramilitary groups that committed abuses, in some
instances allowing such groups to pass through roadblocks, sharing
information or providing them with supplies or ammunition,"
The fact that strong ties exist between the Colombian military and the
death squads is becoming more and more widely accepted. For example,
during a recent conference organised by the Heritage Foundation (a
rightwing US think tank), Bert Ruiz, the chairman of the Colombian
American Association and a holder of Colombia's prestigious "La Orden
Nacional al Merito" award, said that "quite frankly. the truth is that the
Colombian armed forces have entered into a sinister relationship with the
paramilitary death squads and have orchestrated a slaughterhouse mentality
to rid the nation of the guerrillas." Today it is only the most extreme
right-wingers who are still denying that such a relationship exists.
3. Attempted Attack on Communist Party Newspaper
During the morning of May 21st 2001, a gigantic car bomb containing 250kg
of dynamite was discovered in front of the offices of the Colombian
Communist Party's weekly newspaper, "Voz". The bomb, which was hidden
under oranges and bananas in the back of a small pickup truck, had been
abandoned in front of the offices at around 4am when a vigilant cleaning
lady saw a man park the vehicle and then walk off. According to the
woman, who preferred not to give her name, "He just walked off and didn't
seem to care that all his fruit was lying out in the open in the back of
his truck".
Shortly after 8.00am, when it was realised that the pickup truck was
definitely suspicious, a special anti-explosives unit arrived on the
scene. The unit, which was already on high alert due to the new car
bombing campaign that has recently started in Colombia, were fortunately
able to deactivate the bomb before it went off.
"There is absolutely no doubt that the extreme right are responsible for
this attack" said Jesus Gonzalez Luna, the director of the human rights
department of the Colombian national labour federation (CUT), "In their
sick way they simply cannot tolerate the existence of any media outlet
that dares to denounce the daily injustices that they are committing
against Colombia's workers and the civilian population in general"
Had the bomb exploded it would not only have destroyed the "Voz" offices,
and no doubt killed the eight journalists working inside, but would have
caused a tragedy of incalculable proportions killing literally hundreds of
nearby civilians. The vehicle itself was parked in front of three
restaurants facing the newspaper offices and the whole street is full of
office blocks, homes and a university faculty. It appears that all of
these would have been levelled.
According to Ricardo Mendoza, an anti-explosives expert on the scene, the
bomb would have completely destroyed the whole block and partially
destroyed two others. "This bomb had ten times the amount of explosives
that the bomb in Medellin last week had, and this type of explosive is
much more powerful than the one used there". Mendoza also confirmed to us
that the bomb was a "North American-made MK-82 bomb" and that it was of a
type stocked by military forces in the region.
Earlier this year the Colombian Ministry of the Interior ordered that the
police security program that had been in place at the "Voz" offices,
precisely to prevent such attacks, be discontinued. Indeed, since the
police protection was withdrawn it was only a matter of time before
something such as this occurred. It remains to be seen whether the
government will reinstate the security program at the newspaper
headquarters although if Interior Minister Armando Estrada's comments the
following day are anything to go by this looks unlikely. On May 22nd
Estrada said that the bomb was harmless and probably only meant to scare
people - totally contradicting what we ourselves were told by police
anti-explosive experts on the scene.
In a statement put out shortly after the event the Central Committee of
the Colombian Communist Party blamed paramilitaries for the attempted
bombing and also held the government itself responsible due to the lack of
security that it provides for targets such as the "Voz" offices. The
statement noted that this was only the latest in a long line of attacks
against left-wing targets.
4. US Senator Challenges Colombian Army General to Act
Against Paramilitaries
On May 22nd 2001 Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone, who has visited
Colombia twice in the past six months and has done much to highlight the
human rights situation in the country, sent a letter to Colombian army
general Martin Orlando Carreno, regarding the paramilitary situation in
the region under his control .
The letter is particularly interesting as Wellstone brings up the issue of
the paramilitary death squad base at San Rafael de Lebrija, which has been
operating for many months in an area under Carrano's command. Wellstone
specifically calls on the General to take action against the base although
it is believed that he has not yet received any response and that the
paramilitaries are still operating in the region.
Perhaps unsurprisingly the US corporate media has totally ignored the
letter, and more importantly, the issues that it covers. Indeed, the only
mention of it in the mainstream press was in a short article that was put
out by the Associated Press on May 23rd. According to US-based Colombia
expert Dennis Grammenos, "The U.S. media has generally praised General
Carreno as a sincere fighter against the paramilitaries. But it is quite
clear that Carreno is actually cooperating with the paramilitaries in his
area and that his lionization in the media is laughable."
The Colombian Government for their part insists that the army are actively
targeting paramilitaries although the evidence they present for this is
usually extremely flimsy to say the least. One recent supposed victory
against the paramilitaries was the alleged capture of a large group of
death squad members in the area around Alto Naya after they had committed
a massive massacre of unarmed civilians in the region. Witnesses from the
area report that many of the captured "paramilitaries" were in fact local
peasant farmers who were told that their families would be murdered if
they did not admit to being death squad members. Indeed, national death
squad commander Carlos Castano himself observed that over half of the
captured men put on display by the Colombian armed forces were not his men
at all.
In an interview in March 2001, Colombian Defence Minister Luis Fernando
Ramirez made perhaps his most unintelligent remark ever when he observed
that it would be fruitless for the army to move against some death squad
bases as the paramilitary fighters would run away and thus would not be
caught! The remark also illustrates perfectly the indifference in the
Colombian armed forces, and within the government itself, to paramilitary
violence and human rights violations.
The full letter from Wellstone follows:
Dear General Carreno:
Thank you for meeting with me and Ambassador Patterson when we visited
Barrancabermeja in March. Our discussion was important, and I appreciated
hearing your perspective, as the region's chief military commander, on the
violence in Barrancabermeja and the Magdalena Medio region.
During the debate surrounding Plan Colombia, the U.S. government and
Colombia pledged to work to reduce the production and supply of cocaine
while protecting the human rights of ordinary Colombian citizens against
abuses by both guerrilla and paramilitary groups alike. As you know, I
had grave reservations about the US government giving such a large
military package to Colombian security forces which have yet to break
long-standing ties with paramilitary units, responsible for daily
massacres and the bulk of human rights abuses in Colombia today.
On both of my visits to Colombia, I heard repeated reports of
military-paramilitary collusion throughout the country, including in the
southern departments of Valle, Cauca and Putamayo, as well as in the city
of Barrancabermeja, which I visited in December and March.
Consistently, the military, in particular the army, was described to me as
tolerating, supporting and actively coordinating paramilitary operations,
which often ended in massacres. I was also told that too often detailed
information was supplied to the military and other authorities about the
whereabouts of armed groups, the location of their bases, and yet
authorities were unwilling or unable to take measures to protect the
civilian population or to pursue their attackers.
In that regard, I discussed with you the status and location of the San
Rafael paramilitary base. The base is operating openly in an area under
your command, and its activities have directly caused much of the
bloodshed in the region.
Almost three months after our meeting, however, it is my understanding
that you have taken no effective action to curtail the operations of the
San Rafael paramilitary base, and that it remains open for business.
For me and many of my colleagues in the Senate, the failure of Colombia
security forces to take action against rising paramilitary violence is
intolerable. US public support for Plan Colombia will erode if the
Colombian military does not take prompt, effective steps to end
paramilitary operations, which too often result in atrocities.
I would appreciate it very much if you could reply to me with any
information detailing specific actions you have taken or intend to take
immediately against this paramilitary base. Thank you for your attention
to this serious matter.
Sincerely,
Paul D. Wellstone
U.S. Senator
5. Thousands of Indigenous Protest Paramilitary Violence
A massive protest by 45,000 campesinos, Afro-Colombians and indigenous
people in the southern departments of Valle and Cauca ended with a rally
in the city of Cali at which indigenous leaders condemned paramilitary
violence against their people and demanded that the government offer
civilians in the region protection from the army-backed death squads. The
rally, in Cali on May 18th, was the culmination of six days of protests
which had begun on May 13th when a tree planting ceremony was held outside
the town of Santander de Quilichao, Cauca department, to remember nine
Indian victims of a paramilitary massacre in the area in December last
year.
In the morning of the following day 4,000 people left the town on a march
towards Cali. By the end of the day the march numbered some 14,000 as
people from nearby communities had joined the demonstration. The
following day the march was 25,000 strong. By May 17th the number of
protestors had surpassed the 35,000 mark and late that night they entered
the city of Cali where they were welcomed by university and secondary
students who put on street theatre for them and handed out white flowers
to the protestors. Local musicians and cultural groups also provided the
demonstrators with street entertainment.
During the final rally in Cali the paramilitary death squads in the region
were condemned time and again. Indigenous leader Lorenzo Almendra
declared that, "Their war doesn't relate to us but they kill us. If we
denounce it, they kill us. If we don't they still kill us. Therefore it
is better to condemn them for what they are doing." Many speakers brought
up the mid-April massacres in which paramilitaries killed more than 150
indigenous, black and campesinos residents of Alto Naya, Cajibio, Mondomo,
La Rebolla, Toribio, Miranda and Canoas in the north of Cauca near the
border with Valle. Most of the bodies have not been found. Towards the
end of the day a list of over 300 individual indigenous people whom the
paramilitaries have executed so far this year was presented.
One of the main aims of the protest was to bring the issue of violence
against Indian communities to the attention of the rest of Colombian
society. According to indigenous leader Jose Guetio, "We are the main
victims of the violence in this region even though our philosophy of life
is coexistence and we want other Colombians to understand our suffering."
The final declaration, signed by the participating organizations, declared
"that businesspeople, legal and illegal, national and multinational, are
financing the paramilitaries."
6. Recent Combat Reports
May 28th
Combat between ELN guerrillas and the army in the
department of Antioquia leaves four soldiers of the 4th Brigade dead.
May 28th
Combat between FARC guerrillas and the army in the
municipality of Guamal, Meta department. One soldier and one guerrilla
killed.
May 22nd
Combat between ELN guerrillas and the army in the Onzaga
area of Santander department. Five soldiers and two guerrillas killed.
No civilian casualties.
May 21st
Heavy combat between a joint force of FARC and ELN
guerrillas and approximately 3,000 troops, mainly of the 3rd Brigade of
the Colombian army, in the Tumaco region of Narino department. Troops
were sent to the area after guerrilla forces had launched an offensive
against a paramilitary death squad that operates in the region with
backing from the 3rd Brigade. Ten guerrillas, two soldiers and six
paramilitaries have been killed. Around 100 civilians are rumoured to
have been killed in the fighting, which continued for six days, although
the army is refusing access to the area so that casualties can be
confirmed.
May 21st
Combat between FARC guerrillas and the army throughout the
department of Norte de Santander. Three guerrillas and one soldier
killed.
May 21st
Combat between FARC guerrillas and the army in the San
Carlos area of Putumayo department. Two guerrillas killed. No civilian
casualties.
May 20th
Combat between FARC guerrillas and the army after the
rebels took over the towns of Junin, Gama and Guayabetal in Cundinamarca
department. Casualty figures unknown.
May 19th
Heavy combat between FARC guerrillas and soldiers in the
Pance area southwest of the city of Cali, Valle department. Although the
FARC took control of the town of Pance for over four hours there were no
reported casualties on either side.
May 18th
ELN guerrillas kill two soldiers in the La Playa area of
Norte de Santander department. No civilian casualties.
May 18th
ELN guerrillas using a small bomb and/or grenades killed
the regional director of the DAS (the Colombian secret police), Jorge
Castillo Rojas, in the city of Popayan, department of Cauca. Several
other members of the DAS were injured in the attack.
May 17th
ERP (People's Revolutionary Army) guerrillas and navy
troops in combat between the municipalities of San Onofre and Maria la
Baja, department of Sucre. During the three-hour combat one guerrilla and
one soldier were killed and two civilians kidnapped by the guerrillas.
May 17th
FARC and army in combat in the Lomitas area of Pradera
municipality, Valle department. Two guerrillas and one soldier killed.
No civilian casualties.
May 15th
Suspected ELN guerrillas launched a bomb attack on the
barracks of the 9th Brigade's Magdalena Battalion in the town of Pitalito,
Huila department. 17 soldiers were wounded by the attack and a fire
ranged through the barracks partially destroying it. No civilians were
hurt.
May 14th
EPL (Popular Liberation Army) guerrillas and army and
police in combat near El Tarra and Catatumbo, Norte de Santander
department. Five guerrillas, two soldiers and two policemen killed. No
civilian casualties.
May 14th
FARC guerrillas of the Aurelio Rodriguez front attacked a
special police unit that was carrying out a surveillance operation in the
town of Apia, Risaralda department. Four police officers were killed and
six wounded during the ambush on a road outside of the town. No civilian
casualties.
7. Very Brief News in Briefs
Catholic Church Releases Displacement Statistics
On May 20th the Colombian Catholic Church said that they believed that
over 55,000 civilians had been displaced in the nation in the first four
months of 2001. Although the church did not mention it, the vast majority
of this displacement is as a result of paramilitary death squads entering
rural areas and using threats and intimidation to force communities to
flee.
According to the church around 454,674 acres of land has been left behind
by fleeing peasants. This land is then taken over at little or no expense
by the very same large landowners and companies that finance the main
paramilitary army known as the AUC. According to the church there are now
over 2 million displaced Colombians in the country.
International Figures Oppose 'Plan Colombia'
A group of world renowned intellectual figures, including two Nobel Prize
winners, released, on May 17th, a public statement opposing US involvement
in Colombia and the US military aid package 'Plan Colombia'. The
declaration, which was also signed by Professor Noam Chomsky and Bishop
Pagura, the president of the World Council of Churches, defined 'Plan
Colombia' as US intervention in Colombia's internal affairs, a violation
of international law and as a threat to peace and stability in the region.
The signatories called on international public opinion and world
democratic forces to support the Colombia peace process and to push for an
illicit crop substitution program that does not use threats, force and
violence and does not add to the problem of displacement in Colombia.
According to the intellectuals "Plan Colombia is in reality a military
plan that will draw in other countries of the region".
On May 28th the famous Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes added his voice to
those opposing 'Plan Colombia': "The plan appears very militaristic and I
think it can only worsen the problem". Fuentes also said he opposed the
US fumigation program, supported legalisation efforts and believed that
any solution in Colombia needed a much greater emphasis on social change
than the US seemed willing to envisage.
Carlos Castano Threatens High Commissioner for Peace
The Colombian High Commissioner for Peace, Camilo Gomez, as we reported
two weeks ago, has recently restated the Colombian government's position
on negotiations with the paramilitary death squads. Gomez said that there
would never be talks with paramilitary chief Carlos Castano because "he is
just a common delinquent with no ideology to negotiate". On May 14th,
Gomez reiterated the government view and said that it would be up to
international tribunals to bring Castano to trial for the "barbaric"
actions that his paramilitary army has carried out against the civilian
population.
Later that day Castano, predictably, reacted by threatening Commissioner
Gomez. On May 15th El Tiempo reported that Castano had said that, "sooner
or later Gomez must be judged by an international tribunal, or a
paramilitary court, for treason". Apparently the death squad commander
believes that working to bring peace to the country is a betrayal of the
nation.
Health Workers Continue to be Threatened
Army-backed paramilitaries have ordered at least 10 trade union activists
to leave the city of Honda, Tolima department, or be killed. The 10
activists, who work at the San Juan de Dios Hospital, are members of the
ANTHOC health workers union.
The first threats against the unionists arrived during a union meeting on
May 9th 2001 when health worker Jose Gilberto Olmos Cardozo answered a
phone call from a member of the 'Ramon Isaza' paramilitary death squad
that operates in the region. The man said that health workers Cenelia
Velasquez, Raquel Salinas and Hector Manuel Vanegas had a week to leave
the city.
Later that day the paramilitaries began circulating a list naming other
ANTHOC members who they were targeting. Although the activists have
reported the threats to the relevant government authorities in Honda they
have been refused any protection.
Quotes on Colombia
Firstly a quote from an obviously very confused William Brownfield,
Undersecretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the US State
Department. Brownfield made this strange comment, which has no
relationship to reality, at a State Department press briefing on May 16th
regarding the Andean Initiative (see above):
"I would say that most, if not all of our assistance, both in last year's
Colombia supplemental [Plan Colombia] and this year's proposed Andean
Regional Initiative, as relates to Colombia, would go to addressing the
paramilitary problem."
Secondly a quote from the May 21st issue of the conservative US news
magazine 'Newsweek':
"Colombian intelligence sources now estimate that 40 percent of the
country's total cocaine exports are controlled by the right-wing
[paramilitary] warlords and their allies in the narcotics underworld."
This is almost certainly a vast underestimate.
Finally, a quote from alleged Brazilian drug trafficker, Luis Fernando da
Costa, who was speaking to the Brazilian Congress' Human Rights Commission
on May 15th. Before sending him back to Brazil, the Colombian Army, who
captured him in southeastern Colombia in April, accused him of being
involved in a drugs for guns deal with the FARC:
"I had no relationship with the FARC, that's nothing but a story. If I
supplied arms to the FARC, if I worked for the FARC I would be in jail
there in Colombia."
Copyright 2001 News In Brief by Liam Craig-Best & Rowan Shingler
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