Colombia: Army Kills More Civilians
by Weekly News Update on the Americas
March 27, 2005
 |
| Colombian Army sees civilian population in Arauca
as "terorist enemies". |
On Mar. 6, Colombian Army troops shot to death three
civilians and wounded seven others--one of whom later died --in the
village of Corocito, Tame municipality, in the eastern Colombian department
of Arauca. Rebels from the 10th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia (FARC) had set up a checkpoint in Corocito on the road which
links Tame with Fortul municipality to the north, and were stopping
all vehicles. The rebels suddenly withdrew after being alerted to the
arrival of the army; the army troops then approached in a tank and fired
at the vehicles stopped at the checkpoint. The victims were inside two
pickup trucks or vans which were taking soccer players and fans to a
game in the community of El Mordisco. Among those killed was a member
of the Puyeros indigenous community. Witnesses say the soldiers fired
at people who were stuck at the checkpoint, knowing they were civilians,
and without giving them a chance to avoid the gunfire.
Two days later, army soldiers burst into a funeral for several of the
victims and tried to forcibly abduct family members and friends who
had witnessed the killings. The community reacted with indignation and
stopped the soldiers from taking anyone. Residents of Corocito say the
Colombian Army is constantly intimidating them and accusing them of
being guerrilla collaborators. The Mar. 6 killings were reported by
the Arauca Working Group, a coalition of human rights, labor, campesino
and grassroots groups. [Mesa de Trabajo por Arauca 3/10/05]
On Mar. 4, the Colombian army denied it was responsible for a Feb. 21
massacre of eight civilians in Apartado municipality, Antioquia department
[see Updates #787, 788]. [Washington Post 3/7/05 from AP] The massacre
targeted members of the peace community of San Jose de Apartado. One
of the victims, a campesino whose name was not previously given in available
sources, has been identified as Alejandro Perez. [Statement from Comunidad
de Paz de San Jose de Apartado 3/20/05] On Mar. 9, 32 members of the
US Congress signed a letter to Colombian president Alvaro Uribe Velez
condemning the massacre and expressing concern about the alleged involvement
of the army's 11th and 17th brigades. [Congress Members' Letter 3/9/05]
On Mar. 20, at the close of a security council meeting in Carepa, Antioquia
department, President Uribe read a statement saying that peace communities
like that of San Jose de Apartado do not have the right to "reject
the Public Force" from their territory. In his statement,
Uribe also cast doubts on the community's position against collaboration
with any armed group: "In this community of
San Jose de Apartado there are good people, but some of their leaders,
sponsors and defenders are seriously accused, by people who have lived
there, of helping the FARC and wanting to use the community to protect
that terrorist organization." The peace community issued
a statement on Mar. 20 condemning Uribe's verbal attack and his silence
on the Feb. 21 massacre. [Statement 3/20/05] On Mar. 22 the Colombia
office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued
a statement urging the Colombian government to thoroughly investigate
the massacre and provide protection to the peace community. [Statement
3/22/05]
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is apparently preparing
to certify whether Colombia's human rights record is good enough to
warrant full military aid. If Rice decides that Colombia has fallen
far short in human rights, about $35 million in US military aid would
be suspended. [WP 3/7/05 from AP]
According to a Mar. 10 report from Colombia's Inter-Church Justice and
Peace Commission, the Colombian armed forces have killed at least 70
civilians since Uribe took office on Aug. 7, 2002. On Feb. 26, soldiers
from the 21st Infantry ("Vargas") Battalion shot to death
campesinos Efren Ramirez and Orlando Ariza, residents of El Castillo
municipality in Meta department, just after allowing them to pass through
a military checkpoint. The soldiers dressed the victims in camouflage
uniforms, put weapons and grenades on them, and presented their bodies
to the press, claiming they were guerrillas from the FARC's 26th front.
The Commission also cites the Feb. 2 killing of Wayuu indigenous youths
Manuel Salvador Lopez Fernandez and Jose Eduardo Boscan by government
agents from the anti-kidnapping unit Gaula (Unified Action for Personal
Freedom). The Gaula agents who abducted the youths put insignia on them
to make it appear they were members of the paramilitary United Self-Defense
Forces of Colombia (AUC), in order to create confusion about the perpetrators
of the crime [see Update #784, in which we followed our sources in giving
the date of the murder as Feb. 3 and reporting that the AUC was responsible].
[Comision Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz 3/10/05]
Weekly News Update on the Americas * Nicaragua Solidarity
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