> >Date: Sun, 7 Mar 1999 22:05:50 -0500
> >From: "Shannon Wright, Rainforest Action Network" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >To: Multiple recipients of list SHELL-NIGERIA-ACTION
> >���� <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Subject: Declaration of U'wa Defense Working Group--please circulate
> >
> >U'WA DEFENSE WORKING GROUP
> >
> >March 6, 1999��
> >Contacts:
> >
> >Steve Kretzmann� (510) 421-5130-mobile, 510-705-8982, 510-339-6933
> >
> >Shannon Wright (415) 398-4404, ext. 316 or (415) 920-9809
> >
> >Atossa Soltani, (310) 456-1340
> >
> >Melina Selverston (202) 785-3334
> >
> >
> >On the Murders of Three American Activists in Colombia
>
> >"Today we feel that we're fighting a large and strong spirit that
wants to beat us or force us to submit to a law contrary to that which Sira
> >(God) established and wrote in our hearts, even before there was the sun
and the moon.� When faced with such a thing, we are left with no alternative
other than to continue fighting on the side of the sky and earth and
spirits or else disappear when the irrationality of the invader violates the
most sacred of our laws."
> >-- U'wa Statement, August 10, 1998
> >
> >
> >We are grieved and shocked by the tragic news of the murders in
> >Colombia of our three colleagues and fellow activists Terence Freitas, Ingrid
Washinawatok, and Lahe'ena'e Gay and offer our heartfelt condolences
to their families and friends. Terence Freitas was a dear friend of all
of ours and a dedicated activist who had devoted the last two years of
his life to supporting the U'wa people of Colombia to defend their rights
and traditional territory from oil exploration by Occidental Petroleum.
Terry served as the coordinator of the U'wa Defense Working Group.� No one
outside of Colombia has done more to support this struggle than
Terry.
> >
> >We call for a full investigation by the US government and independent
> >human rights observers into the deaths of our three colleagues.� We
> >call on the State Department to ensure that the possible role of
> >paramilitary groups is fully investigated, and we call upon the Fuerzas Armadas
> >Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) to clarify their involvement, if any.
> >
> >
> >The U'wa people's rights and ancestral land remain under threat from
> >the proposed oil project.� The U'wa have expressed repeatedly and in
> >adamant terms their opposition to this project.� Occidental's application for
> >a drilling license is currently pending with the Colombian Ministry,
and a
> >
> >decision is expected at any time.� The well sites in question fall
> >within an area the U'wa consider their ancestral land.�
> >On several occasions last year, Terry reported being followed and
> >observed by individuals believed to be associated with paramilitary activity.
> >On the same trip, Terry was forced to sign a statement by the Colombian
> >military, which essentially absolved the Colombian military of any
> >responsibility for his safety.� He interpreted this as an intimidation
> >tactic.� The deaths of our friends underscore the need for immediate
> >stepsto peacefully end the escalating violence in oil regions and against
> >human rights advocates in Colombia.
> >
> >
> >We reaffirm the U'wa's demand that Occidental immediately withdraw
> >their application to drill on ancestral U'wa lands and call on Occidental
to consider its role in the ongoing cycle of violence in Colombia.
> >Oil and violence are inextricably linked in Colombia.� Thirteen of
the fourteen Colombian military battalions implicated in human rights
abuses by Amnesty International received U.S. weapons or training.
Occidental's Ca�o Lim�n pipeline has been attacked by guerrillas more than 500 times in
its 12 years of existence.� In response to this guerrilla tactic, the
government has militarized oil production and pipeline zones, in the
process persecuting local populations whom the government assumes are
helping the guerrillas.� Arauca, the area where our friends were killed,
has one of the highest rates of documented human rights abuses by
paramilitary forces loyal to the governments.
We resolve to carry on the work of Terry, Ingrid and Lahe' in defense
of the U'wa people. Their deaths will not be in vain.
For more background information on the U'wa struggle, please consult
uwa.moles.org, www.ran.org, www.arcweb.org
Member of the U'wa Defense Working Group
Amazon Coalition o Amazon Watch o Action Resource Center o Earth
Justice Legal Defense Fund o EarthWays Foundation o International Law
Project for Human Environmental & Economic Defense o Project
Underground o Rainforest Action Network o Sol Communications
U'WA DEFENSE WORKING GROUP
March 6, 1999
Contacts
Steve Kretzmann (510) 421-5130-mobile, 510-705-8982,
510-339-6933
Shannon Wright (415) 398-4404, ext. 316 or (415) 920-9809
Atossa Soltani, (310) 456-1340
Melina Selverston (202) 785-3334
On the Murders of Three American Activists in Colombia
"Today we feel that we're fighting a large and strong
spirit that wants
to beat us or force us to submit to a law contrary to that
which Sira (God) established and wrote in our hearts, even before there was
the sun and the moon. When faced with such a thing, we are left with no
alternative other than to continue fighting on the side of the sky and earth
and spirits or else disappear when the irrationality of the invader
violates the most sacred of our laws."
-- U'wa Statement, August 10, 1998
We are grieved and shocked by the tragic news of the
murders in Colombia of our three colleagues and fellow activists Terence Freitas,
Ingrid Washinawatok, and Lahe'ena'e Gay and offer our heartfelt
condolences to their families and friends. Terence Freitas was a dear
friend of all of ours and a dedicated activist who had devoted the last two
years of his life to supporting the U'wa people of Colombia to defend
their rights and traditional territory from oil exploration by Occidental
Petroleum.
Terry served as the coordinator of the U'wa Defense Working
Group. No one outside of Colombia has done more to support this struggle
than Terry.
We call for a full investigation by the US government and
independent human rights observers into the deaths of our three
colleagues. We call on the State Department to ensure that the possible
role of paramilitary groups is fully investigated, and we call upon the Fuerzas Armadas
Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) to clarify their involvement, if any.
The U'wa people's rights and ancestral land remain under
threat from the proposed oil project. The U'wa have expressed repeatedly
and in adamant terms their opposition to this project. Occidental's
application for a drilling license is currently pending with the Colombian
Ministry, and a decision is expected at any time. The well sites in
question fall within an area the U'wa consider their ancestral land.
On several occasions last year, Terry reported being
followed and observed by individuals believed to be associated with paramilitary
activity. On the same trip, Terry was forced to sign a statement by the
Colombian military, which essentially absolved the Colombian
military of any responsibility for his safety. He interpreted this as an
intimidation tactic. The deaths of our friends underscore the need for
immediate steps to peacefully end the escalating violence in oil regions
and against human rights advocates in Colombia.
We reaffirm the U'wa's demand that Occidental immediately
withdraw their application to drill on ancestral U'wa lands and call on
Occidental to consider its role in the ongoing cycle of violence in
Colombia.
Oil and violence are inextricably linked in Colombia.
Thirteen of the fourteen Colombian military battalions implicated in human
rights abuses by Amnesty International received U.S. weapons or training.
Occidental's Ca�o Lim�n pipeline has been attacked by guerrillas more than
500 times in its 12 years of existence. In response to this guerrilla
tactic, the government has militarized oil production and pipeline
zones, in the process persecuting local populations whom the government
assumes are helping the guerrillas. Arauca, the area where our
friends were killed, has one of the highest rates of documented human rights
abuses by paramilitary forces loyal to the governments.
We resolve to carry on the work of Terry, Ingrid and Lahe'
in defense of the U'wa people. Their deaths will not be in vain.
For more background information on the U'wa struggle,
please consult
uwa.moles.org, www.ran.org, www.arcweb.org
Member of the U'wa Defense Working Group
Amazon Coalition o Amazon Watch o Action Resource Center o
Earth
Justice Legal Defense Fund o EarthWays Foundation o
International Law
Project for Human Environmental & Economic Defense o
Project
Underground o Rainforest Action Network o Sol
Communications
Shannon Wright (415)398-4404
Rainforest Action Network (415) 398-2732 fax
221 Pine Street, Suite 500 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
San Francisco, CA 94104 http//www.ran.org
USA
"We are seeking an explanation for this 'progress' that
goes against life. We are demanding that this kind of progress stop,
that oil exploitation in the heart of the Earth is halted, that the
deliberate bleeding of the Earth stop."
--Statement of the U'wa people, August8,1999
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
