URGENT ACTION!
PREVENT NEW MASSACRE AT PEACE COMMUNITY
The Peace Community of San Jos� de Apartad� celebrated its fourth anniversary on March 23, 2001 in the company of international accompaniers from Europe and the U.S., including two members of the Colombia Support Network. In recent weeks, the community has received increasing threats of military-paramilitary violence, including the threat of an impending massacre.
*On March 5, plainclothes men burned 15 houses in the Peace Community and ordered everyone to leave, saying that "San Jos� had better be a ghost town by tomorrow."
*On both March 7 and March 17, five bombs were thrown at the community (for a total of ten bombs), killing three horses and terrorizing residents.
*On March 7, Army personnel from the 17th Brigade went to a house on the outskirts of the trading post. There they told a local woman "how sad they were that so many children would soon be crying over their dead parents�[the Army] couldn't help it, they had given the people the opportunity to leave when they burned their houses. Now that people had chosen to stay, they would have to destroy everything."
*On March 18, Army troops along the path from the trading post to La Union told several peasants that if the peasants were still mad about the murder of six men last summer [in the joint paramilitary-military La Union massacre], then it was too bad because the Army troops were on their way to do it again.
*On March 26, Paramilitaries convened a meeting in the Policarpa shantytown on the urban edge of Apartad� at 4:00pm. During the meeting, they told those in attendance that they were going to "finish off" San Jos� and that "they had a long list and one big massacre would take care of it." They told people not to worry if they saw bodies or heard shots because it was only them.
Take Action!
Contact the people listed below to:
*Express your CONCERN for the residents of the Peace Community of San Jos� de Apartad� in light of recent threats.
*Emphasize that such threats are SERIOUS and CREDIBLE, given that many acts of violence against the community have followed similar threats.
*Demand that the Army respect the autonomy of the Peace Community and immediately DISMISS any and all officers associated with paramilitary activity. Demand that the Army work to COMBAT PARAMILITARY ACTIVITY around San Jos� de Apartad�.
(WISCONSIN RESIDENTS: Please contact Senator Feingold and Rep. Baldwin to remind them that San Jose de Apartado is the sister community to Dane County)
CONTACTS:
Hint: To make international phone calls at a reduced rate, dial 10-10-834 before dialing the international code (011), followed by one of the international numbers listed below. Calls placed using the 10-10-834 code cost $0.22/minute to Colombia.
1) General Fernando Tapias Stahelin
Comandante de las Fuerzas Militares
Avenida el Dorado con Carrera 52
Santaf� de Bogot�
Colombia
Phone
+57 (1) 222 2935
Fax
+57 (1) 222 2935
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
2) Gustavo Bell Lemus
Vice Presidente de la Naci�n
Consejer�a Presidencial de Derechos Humanos
Calle 7 No 6-54 Piso 3
Santaf� de Bogot�
Colombia
Phone
+57 (1) 336-0311
3)General Pablo Alberto Rodriguez Laverde
Commander of the 17th Brigade in Carepa (covers Apartado)
Phone
+57(3) 509-3087 or
222-6952
Your Senators and Representative(s)
Phone
Capitol Switchboard: +1 (202) 224-3121
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Colombia Support Network
P.O. Box 1505
Madison, WI 53701-1505
608/257-8753 (voice)
608/255-6621 (fax)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.colombiasupport.net
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