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]

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