From: Colombian Labor Monitor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2001 15:37:04 -0500 (CDT) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: AI: Urgent Action #136/01 on Colombia ________________________________________________________________ AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION APPEAL ________________________________________________________________ Go to http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html to read this month's newsletter. 4 June 2001 UA 136/01 Fear for Safety COLOMBIA Forcibly displaced civilian communities of the Cacarica River Basin area and other displaced communities in the department of Choco A large number of army-backed paramilitaries are converging on the Cacarica River Basin (Cuenca del Cacarica) area in the department of Choco. They are reportedly planning to attack the communities of the Cacarica River Basin and other communities in the area, whose inhabitants have recently returned to resettlement camps after being forced to flee from their homes in 1997. On 17 May a written note sent to a non-governmental human rights organization, Comision Intercongregacional de Justicia y Paz, Intercongregational Commission of Justice and Peace, warned that displaced people who have returned to the Cacarica area should abandon their homes immediately, as they would come under attack in late May or early June. The organization later received information that an attack on the resettlement camps of 'Esperanza en Dios' and 'Nueva Vida' would be launched from an area known as La Balsa to the south of the Cacarica River Basin, and from the north. Since then, paramilitary activity in the Cacarica River Basin area has increased, despite a strong security force presence in the region. Paramilitary gunmen have been seen traveling up the Atrato river towards the area from the direction of the heavily-militarized port of Turbo. On 30 May a large group of paramilitary gunmen were seen in La Balsa. On 31 May a group of 5 paramilitary gunmen were seen near the 'Nueva Vida' settlement, and later that day more than a dozen unidentified men thought to be paramilitaries were seen traveling up a tributary of the Atrato river towards the settlement. A military operation also took place on 31 May, and a military helicopter reportedly flew over the 'Esperanza en Dios' settlement three times. On 27 May, a group of paramilitary gunmen killed peasant farmer Laureano Sierra in the Katios National Park (Parque Nacional de los Katios), north of the Cacarica River Basin. They reportedly told local inhabitants, who retrieved the body, that they were planning to attack Cacarica and the nearby communities of Salaqui, Truando and Domingodo. On 6 May, human rights organizations reportedly learned that 400 members of the Autodefensas Campesinas de Cordoba y Uraba, (ACCU), Peasant Farmer Self-Defense Groups of Cordoba and Uraba, were preparing to attack the Cacarica communities. The increase in paramilitary activity raises serious concern for forcibly displaced communities in the area, including those mentioned above and the 'Peace Communities' of San Francisco de Asis and Nuestra Senora del Carmen, which have previously been attacked by paramilitaries (UA 64/99 issued 6 April 1999). The 'Peace Communities' together with the communities of the Cacarica River Basin have called on both sides in the conflict to respect their right to life and their right as civilians not to be drawn into the conflict. BACKGROUND INFORMATION The inhabitants of the communities in the Cacarica River Basin area and of the 'Peace Communities' have recently resettled in the area after they were forced to flee their homes in the wake of joint paramilitary-military operations in the region in early 1997. In the past, they came under frequent attack after being labeled guerrilla collaborators by the security forces and their paramilitary allies, and security force/paramilitary collaborators by the guerrilla. During the resettlement process, several members of the communities have been killed and 'disappeared', including community leader Freddy Gallego (UA 240/00 issued 14 August 2000). RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail letters: - expressing serious concern for the safety of the recently returned displaced communities in the Cacarica River Basin area, and for the San Francisco de Asis and Nuestra Senora del Carmen 'Peace Communities' in Choco following increased paramilitary activity in the area; - urging the authorities to take all measures that the communities themselves deem appropriate to guarantee their safety; - expressing concern that the government and its security forces have taken no effective action against paramilitary groups in the department of Choco, despite repeated commitments and UN recommendations to combat and dismantle these groups; - calling for a full and impartial investigation into links between the security forces and paramilitary groups operating in the department of Choco, urging that the results are made public and those found responsible for supporting and participating in such groups are brought to justice; - urging the authorities to take immediate and decisive action to dismantle paramilitary groups, in line with repeated government commitments and UN recommendations. APPEALS TO: President of the Republic: Senor Presidente Andres Pastrana Arango Presidente de la Republica Palacio de Narino Carrera 8 No.7-26 Santafe de Bogota, Colombia Faxes: 011 57 1 336 2109 / 337 1351/286 74 34/ 286 68 42/284 21 86 Salutation: Dear President / Excmo. Sr. Presidente Minister of Defense: Dr. Gustavo Bell Ministro de Defensa Nacional Ministerio de Defensa Nacional Avenida Eldorado CAN - Carrera 52 Santafe de Bogota, Colombia Telegram: Ministro de Defensa, Bogota, Colombia Faxes: 011 57 1 222 1874/288 4906 Salutation: Dear Minister / Sr. Ministro Governor of the Department of Choco: Sr. William Halaby Cordoba Gobernador del Departamento del Choco Gobernacion del Choco Quibdo, Choco, Colombia Fax: 01157 4 97 11777 Salutation: Sr. Gobernador/Dear Governor COPIES TO: Intercongregational Commission for Justice and Peace: Comision Intercongregacional de Justicia y Paz AA 31861 Santafe de Bogota, Colombia Ambassador Luis Alberto Moreno Embassy of Colombia 2118 Leroy Pl. NW Washington DC 20008 Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after July 16, 2001. ________________________________________________________________ **************************************************************** * CLM-NEWS is brought to you by the COLOMBIAN LABOR MONITOR at * * http://www.prairienet.org/clm * * and the CHICAGO COLOMBIA COMMITTEE * * Email us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or * * Dennis Grammenos at [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * To subscribe send request to [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * subscribe clm-news Your Name * **************************************************************** _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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