TAKE ACTION! PEACE COMMUNITY OF SAN JOSE NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT

THREATS TO THE PEACE COMMUNITY OF SAN JOSE DE APARTADO CONTINUE. PLEASE TAKE ACTION!!

Paramilitary forces are making increasingly violent threats against members of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó and other peasant families in the area, with no apparent action by the Colombian government. Immediate action is needed by US Ambassador William Brownfield to leverage Washington's enormous influence and prevent further violence against the community and area's civilian population.

On the morning of November 7, in the Playa Larga vereda (settlement) of San José, some 50 rifle-wielding paramilitaries in camouflage gear and identifying armbands detained resident Jairo Berrio Arango, according to a community statement. He was forced to undress as the gunmen held a rifle to his head and threatened to kill him on the spot. When his father arrived on the scene and pleaded with them, they said they wouldn't kill him now-but that they had six San José community members targeted for death, and that they should flee immediately to avoid being killed. They said the army was cooperating with them. On November 7, five families fled the vereda of La Esperanza, where Berrio Arango's family is from, and local sources reported to FOR that between nine and 30 families had displaced from La Esperanza and Playa Larga as of November 10.

On November 1, the Peace Community's legal representative, Jesús Emilio Tuberquia, was threatened at gunpoint at an Internet café in the town of Apartadó, the local municipal seat,the community reported. Two known paramilitaries surrounded him at the café, while one held a pistol to his head and said, "I'm going to kill you." He pushed the man's arm away, fled into the café and was able to flee unharmed, though the gunmen grabbed his bag, which had fallen in the scuffle.

Background: Paramilitary Resurgence in Northwestern Colombia

Young men fanned out through the towns along what is known as the "banana axis" of Urabá on the evening of October 14, telling local businesses to shut down the following day. The men distributed leaflets announcing the continuation of the "anti-subversive struggle" in light of "the guerrillas' advance" and what the group described the government's non-fulfillment of promises made in the paramilitary demobilization. Spray-painted graffiti with the initials of the group- AGC, Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia were seen on various shops and city walls. The action shut down public transport, retail businesses and banana plantations throughout the region. Many students didn't go to school, and some humanitarian groups suspended visits to communities.

Armed forces chief General Freddy Padilla dismissed concerns about the strike, saying curiously that it was not a paramilitary rearmament, but an act of terrorism, implying that paramilitaries do not practice terrorism. Seventeenth Brigade commander General Héctor Peña Porras claimed there was no armed strike, because no one was armed, but reliable sources informed FOR that armed men were present in neighborhoods between Apartadó and San José.

President Alvaro Uribe, with support from the United States, insists that paramilitaries no longer exist in Colombia. But for the San José Peace Community, the paramilitary action was simply the announcement of an already-existing reality. The Peace Community has for months been reporting the presence of increasingly large groups of armed men in the area, who apparently belong to non-demobilized groups. On October 30, paramilitaries threatened to kill six members of the Community and to commit another massacre in the area if members of the community did not leave the area. The Community declared that on 29 September "more than 100 paramilitaries arrived in the area of La Unión armed with assault weapons, bearing AUC armbands and presented themselves as Self-Defense Forces" and proceeded to threaten Peace Community members, saying that they had over "200 paramilitaries were present in the Playa Larga area, 20 minutes from la Esperanza, detaining two farmers (…) and accusing them of being guerrillas." On 14 and 15 August, 60 presumed paramilitaries, originating from the Nueva Antioquia area, dressed in camouflage combat gear and carrying assault weapons, were present in the areas of Playa Larga and la Esperanza. The Peace Community reports that in La Esperanza these armed men arrived at houses of Peace Community members and threatened them if they refused to collaborate in ridding the area of guerrillas. One source reports that paramilitaries in the area are also using armbands with FCU, for the Urabá Central Front.

On August 31, fighting took place between the insurgency and presumed paramilitaries in Playa Larga, close to the settlement of La Esperanza . Several reports indicate the existence of a paramilitary base in Nueva Antioquia where the army and police exercise strict control of all those entering the settlement and whilst inside Nueva Antioquia, "The paramilitaries (…) control the food, charge taxes on the products the small farmers bring there to sell, all this in full public view of the army and police."

How does this state of affairs occur in such an extremely militarized area? What allows the alleged paramilitary base in Nueva Antioquia to exist in close proximity to Army and police checkpoints?

Please write to United States Ambassador William Brownfield, and request that he urge the Colombian government to:

1. Recognize and denounce the problem of paramilitary remobilization throughout Urabá.
2. Suspend all military and police officers who reportedly have turned a blind eye to the paramilitary groups, their presence and threats; and
3. Aggressively pursue arrest and prosecution of all members of illegal armed groups operating in the region, and government officials who have facilitated their actions.

Take two minutes to send a lettter! Please click here now.

For further information: www.forcolombia.org and http://cdpsanjose.org

Youth Network of Medellin Marches for Human Rights

March & Carnival for Human Rights in Medellin

The month of October was dedicated to carry out the various activities as part of the Social Forum in Medellin. There were many workshops, activities, and presentations that focused on social issues particular to youth, public services, security and crime, social conditions for local residents, displaced people, and many other topics that merited the attention of social organizations and civil society. The Youth Network of Medellin (RED-Juvenil de Medellin) participated and put together some of the activities of the Forum. They specifically asked FOR to observe one of the most visible activities that took place in the city center: The March & Carnival for Human Rights.
On the 30th of October, everyone was gathered at around 9:00am ready to start the carnival. The crowd was colorful, excited, vibrant and loud voices of familiar faces, friends, relatives, and activists echoed with the city noise in the background. There were people of all ages with entire families gathered to march for all the rights they believe should be demanded publicly and loudly. I was highly impressed by all the energy and smiles that were shared and expressed by all the participants. I was also surprised to see the talented six-year-olds in costumes wearing the 6ft long leg sticks that gave the march the kind of colors and visuals you usually get in a circus. “Get the camera!” “Did you see his costume?” “What are the police saying?” “When are we going to start marching?” where some of the comments I heard while I searched for the Youth Network’s Security team to get information before the Carnival would being marching.

Waiting to Start
I noticed that there was a strong presence of policemen/women at the front of the crowd talking to the various organizers. They were debating the plan of action. The organizers wanted to proceed with the route they originally planned: pass through the Police’s Command Station and have a public presentation in front of their command station. The police wanted otherwise. The state security refused to accept the continuation of the march if it meant that the citizens would pass by their command station and wanted the organizers to offer an alternative route. The Police also added “if the march proceeds as planned and passes through the command station, we will have to call the riot police (ESMAD)”. This was a moment of tension. The organizers knew that if the ESMAD showed up, it would generate violence and that it would be a catalyst for chaos. A member of the Youth Network explained that “There have been many incidents in which the riot police uses strong violence against the participants and activists, inclusively last week students at the university were brutalized by them.”
After more long minutes of dialogue between the organizers and the police a consensus was reached: the Carnival would change its route and avoid passing through the police station. “We don’t want to be susceptible to acts of violence and we want to make sure that these kind of public actions don’t lose their focus so we will rather have a peaceful march and be flexible,” said one of the Youth Network’s members.

And they marched…
And around 10:00am the carnival began! The indigenous community that was participating gathered and initiated the march with an honoring ceremony and asked that everyone respect mother Earth and each other. Then the music began to play and there was no way this crowd could be ignored by the passersbyers. There were people with the megaphone speaking out against the social injustices they have to endure the threats made against human rights defenders, social organizers, and union workers. The threats, they said, “also come directly from the State and the authorities.” The children were at the front of the march with their costumes dancing while a live marching band followed. I was observing from the front of the crowd on the periphery were there was more presence of the police units. According to the Organized Community Network (ROC in Spanish) members, it is usually in the front of the march where more observation is needed in order to keep the crowd organized and to respond to emergencies. Being in the front also allowed the organizers to talk to the authorities in case of anybody tried preventing the carnival from continuing its course.

The Human Rights March was indeed a carnival. The crowd had three different kinds of live music playing, including the Youth Network’s Chrimia Band. There were an estimated 700-800 participants and many people dressed in costumes, with make-up and/or chanting a slogan. Some of the more visible costumes were a Caracol (Colombian mainstream media channel) news reporter with exaggerated breasts and a sign that read “Nothing wrong happens here”, a statue of liberty with the face of a skeleton and stickers with Exxon, McDonalds, and Coca Cola, and a soldier with a gun that would pass around intimidating people.
Themes that were highlighted during the march were: the disadvantages behind the privatization of public services, the mainstream media’s lack of interest in addressing social issues, womyn’s rights, displaced people’s conditions, the university student’s right to express themselves, indigenous peoples right to their land, and the right to have cultural celebrations in public spaces.
“We want to make sure that in Medellin, people are not stopped from expressing themselves because of the fear for their life. We want to make these public actions a kind of doorway so that people can celebrate their right to express themselves freely and collectively. That is why we are calling it a carnival, because we want to be loud, be excited, and still address those issues that we have to face everyday when our human rights are not respected. We don’t want to be afraid to express ourselves,” says a member of the Youth Arts Network who has been part of the organization for over six years.

Hot Sancocho for Everyone
During the entire four hours of the march the crowd did not cease to be loud and active. The participants who were performing dances and playing live music continued to do so until the end of the march, which was around 2:00pm. Luckily no major incidents happened although many people said they had identified policemen dressed as civilians. This is worrisome for most participants, as they expressed that undercover policemen take pictures of them and uses that information to intimidate and frame them for crimes. Some participants also mentioned cases in which the undercover policemen would provoke a fight or dispute as a strategy to end a march and/or activity and arrest people.
After those hours under the extremely hot day everyone was hungry and thirsty and with partially melted make-up on their faces. The carnival ended in front of a union worker’s organization where four huge (about 3 ½ ft tall) pots of boiling Sancocho (a kind of stew with traditional Colombian vegetables and meat) were waiting for everyone.

It was definitely a wonderful experience to see the non-violent initiatives that take place in a context where activist and those who challenge the status quo continue to be victims of threats and violence. The best part was witnessing how fear is transformed into a carnival and for organizations such as the Youth Network of Medellin to be able to dance and sing as they ask for their human rights to be respected.

Extraditions of Paramilitaries

Extradition: Shipping Out the Truth

Hebert Veloza (aka H.H.), one of the most infamous paramilitary leaders and a key witness in at least three massacres in the San José Peace Community, is currently waiting to be extradited to the United States. He is the next on the list of paramilitary leaders that will have to face charges – and probably serve sentences - in the United States for drug trafficking, production, and/or money laundering.

Nonetheless, with the extradition of these paramilitary leaders, their commitment to Colombian society is on hold, as they will leave unfinished business that was introduced through the Justice and Peace Law of 2005, the law regulating the paramilitaries’ demobilization. Their extradition interrupts the public declarations that these paramilitary leaders are required to fulfill through confessions of all the crimes and violations against humanity that they are responsible for and simultaneously serve prison sentences. In an interview with the daily El Espectador regarding the Justice and Peace Process and his much discussed extradition, H.H declared that he has only shared “50% of the truth” about the crimes that terrorized several regions in the country. When asked, “And the other 50% of the truth will leave for the United States?” his response was, “Well, as soon as I am extradited, yes.”

On May 14, the US Department of Justice and the Colombian government successfully completed the extradition of 14 top paramilitary chiefs, fifteen with “Salvatore Mancuso,” who was extradited weeks before them. It is important to understand who are these individuals: they are key players in the Colombian conflict. The men constitute almost the whole leadership of the AUC, which was the paramilitaries’ command structure, responsible for terrorizing an entire country, and actively promoted, organized and executed crimes against humanity on scales larger than that of any drug trafficking shipment made to the U.S.

While the notorious: Salvatore Mancuso, Diego Fernando Murillo, Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, Francisco Javier Zuluaga, Guillermo Pérez Alzate, Martín Peñaranda Osorio, Manuel Enrique Torregrosa, Henán Giraldo Serna, Edwin Mauricio Gómez, Diego Alberto Ruiz, Juan Carlos Sierra, Nodier Giraldo Giraldo, and Eduardo Enrique Vengoechea are being prosecuted in New York, Texas, Washington D.C., and Florida, there are victims waiting for justice and reparation throughout the Colombian countryside, particularly in the states of Antioquia, Valle del Cauca, Cesar, Arauca, Nariño, Córdoba and the entire region of Urabá.

Colombian Government and US Embassy
President Uribe said that a primary reason for approving the extradition of the 15 paramilitaries was that these leaders continued to commit crimes while in prison and that, in order to put an end to that, they lost the protection against extradition granted to them by the Justice and Peace Law. The same day the paramilitaries were extradited, President Uribe explained at a press conference that the decision to extradite the paramilitary chiefs was because “…Some of them continued to commit crimes after their incorporation to the Justice and Peace Law, others failed to adequately cooperate with the justice system and all of them failed to give reparations to the victims, since they have not returned the goods and wealth in their possession and/or have been stalling the reparation process.”

But we should ask, why didn’t the paramilitaries lose ALL the benefits granted to them by Law 975 of 2005 (i.e. maximum eight years in prison)? Why did they only lose their immunity against extradition to the United States? Instead of controlling the continuous illegal activities of these paramilitary leaders and punishing them for violating the agreements made through the negotiation process, why does the Colombian government agree to extradite them and leave as “unfinished business” the judicial process in their own country?

According to a high-ranking official in the Human Rights Unit of the Attorney General’s Office who met with the FOR delegation in August, these paramilitaries were not collaborating with the unit’s prosecutors. The commanders “refused to speak to the prosecutors from the Human Rights Unit, and we would continuously get excuses such as: X paramilitary is sleeping, Y is busy, and Z is currently and temporarily not available.

“They did not want to share information with our unit because they were not receiving any benefits, and it was not in their interest to speak the truth about the atrocities because with us, they would have to serve sentences that exceed the eight years that they are given through the Justice and Peace Law. The only prosecutors they were interested in talking to were from the Justice and Peace Unit, because they had an obligation to do so if they wanted to ‘prove’ that they were telling the truth for the victims,” explained the official.

Telling the truth was a condition for their benefits. But they understood that they would obtain no gains by taking part in the investigations carried out by the Attorney General’s Human Rights Unit, since this is an entirely separate process criminalizing them. Under the Justice and Peace Law, they are not required to cooperate with prosecutors other than the Justice and Peace prosecutors established by Law 975 as a result of negotiations between paramilitaries and the State. If the paramilitaries were only speaking with prosecutors from the Justice an Peace Unit because they wanted to receive the benefits, and thus were only confessing the bare minimum of information regarding the crimes and atrocities for which they are responsible, it is obvious that the Colombian system has not served the victims who are still waiting to hear the complete truth about what happened to their loved ones.

If Colombian human rights groups and activists – and the president himself - believe that the Justice and Peace Law has been a failure thus far, why not allow for the time and necessary reforms to be implemented so that the victims feel that justice was served? Why extradite the paramilitaries to the United States, and completely ignore the fact that Colombian society is still waiting for justice, instead of extraditing the paramilitaries after they pay their dues to society?

U.S. Ambassador to Colombia, William Brownfield, specified in a press conference on the same day the paramilitaries were extradited that these men were facing charges for possession of illicit drugs and drug trafficking, money laundering and related offenses and material support of terrorism (not for directing and promoting terrorism). He added, “Of course, the legal system in the U.S. cannot give Colombian prosecutors more access to those 14 or 15 men than they would have in Colombia. Those men will have their defense attorneys in the U.S. and their own legal rights in the U.S., but our commitment is to facilitate access to the extradited men.”

“The prosecutors in the Justice Department will share their evidence and information with Colombia’s prosecutors,” the ambassador said, “allowing them the opportunity to examine, analyze, and decide on how they wish to proceed in accordance with the Justice and Peace Law.” Brownfield added, “That being said, what we cannot do, of course, is change the free will and the attitude of these fourteen or fifteen persons who have been extradited… They have rights, such as the right to access to the evidence against them, the right to respond to the accusations against them, the right to respond, or not respond, to questions and the right to allow, or not allow access to them.” This access really translates to arranging virtual hearings through the use of technology. Nonetheless, the only hearing that any of the chiefs requested involved Mancuso, but it has been cancelled three consecutive times in recent weeks. According to the State Department, the petition from the Supreme Court in Colombia requesting the virtual hearing was not given with enough notice to properly arrange for it, and from Colombia, the Interior Ministry announced that it was cancelled because they don’t have the funds to allocate to the virtual hearing.

However, it is clear that the information that the 15 extradited paramilitaries will share in the U.S. courts will consist mostly of drug trafficking activity, because they are not obligated to talk about their penal cases in the Colombian justice system. Moreover, the Fifth Amendment protects their right to remain silent in order not to self-incriminate. These paramilitary leaders have to right to “voluntarily” share information and continue collaborating with the Colombian justice system, but why would they willingly tell a US judge that they are responsible for murders in Colombia and have this information influence the verdict in the U.S? Already, the paramilitaries’ attorneys have rejected some requests from Colombia to interview the commanders.

An option for the current situation might be something the Spanish Judge Baltazar Garzon mentioned during his visit to the Urabá region in late August. Garzon was witnessing the exhumation of a mass grave along with the Attorney General of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno. “There have been cases,” he said, “in which the U.S. returned extradited criminals to Spain so that they finish their respective sentences.” This could be applied to Colombian paramilitaries who could be temporarily returned to Colombia to finish what was left as “in process” under the Justice and Peace process.

If governments with such global influence as the United States fail to postpone the extradition of these criminals until Colombia prosecutes its own criminals for crimes against its own citizens, what kind of standards are we setting for international justice? How many pounds of cocaine that have entered the United States equal the number of persons disappeared in Colombia?

These two issues are not separate as the paramilitaries used their drug trafficking money to fund their illegal organization. We cannot continue to perpetrate imperialistic ideologies that prioritize the U.S. legal agenda by accepting that these paramilitary chiefs serve sentences in the United States for drug trafficking before they finish their judicial cases in Colombia and are prosecuted for their crimes against society. They should be prosecuted for their drug trafficking activity, but who says that this has priority over massive human rights violations? Why was their extradition imperative? The crimes and violations they committed require a long reparation process in Colombia. Drug trafficking is also a crime in Colombia, which has a court and judges that should be capable of prosecuting them in their own territory. It is now clear who calls the shots in the political sphere between Colombia and the United States and who is left behind the scenes rendered as invisible elements, powerless and as redundant victims of an unjust society.

Concerns and Human Rights Organizations
International and Colombian human rights organizations are concerned about the lack of guarantees for continuing a “real” process that will grant the victims the truth that is long overdue. They fear that now that the paramilitaries have been shipped to the United States, there will be no justice for them in Colombia—or elsewhere. They believe that the crimes committed against their loved ones will no longer have a place on the president’s agenda.

According to Jesuit priest and human rights defender, Father Javier Giraldo, the extradition was a way for the Colombian government to do damage control, since some of the paramilitaries were incriminating high-ranking officials in government and military positions (such as the case of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó) and because of the para-political scandals that were getting too close to Uribe’s highly protected nucleus.

If criminals were able to negotiate a peace process with the Colombian government that results in a guarantee that, despite the hundreds of atrocities and human rights violations, they will only serve eight years in prison; if after such negotiations these criminals still continued to coordinate and authorize violations from their prison cells, and if they are given the privilege to confess whatever they think is “sufficient” and all this is called ‘justice and peace,’ my question then is: What kind of peace and justice are the victims obtaining?

Under US law, the extradited paramilitaries are not obliged in any way to testify or to serve a sentence for any crimes committed, besides those being prosecuted by the United States. How would people in the United States respond if it were the other way around? What if U.S citizens responsible for massive human rights violations, for killing and disappearing innocent people, for failing to respect a peace process, were extradited elsewhere (you pick a place) before completing their trial and sentence and justice was served for the victims? Would this be considered justice and reparation for the U.S. public and society?

At the Berkeley School of Law, a group of law students under the leadership of Roxanna Altholz is advocating on behalf of Colombian victims of paramilitaries in the US justice system. “The United States should not conduct these prosecutions for drug trafficking at the expense of the investigations for murder,” says Altholz. Her group wants to ensure that the murder prosecutions against the paramilitary leaders are not paralyzed as a result of the drug trafficking charges in the United States.

It is our responsibility as US citizens to question the actions of the State Department and the policies, petitions, and negotiations, and interferences made in countries such as Colombia. Extraditing a large group of key leaders in a group that terrorized and committed massive human rights violations before they can serve and actively participate and finish a peace process and offer real options for a reparation process on behalf of their victims should not be reduced to being an extradition of drug dealers and traffickers. These criminals are now in US territory, but should they really be there, instead of confessing their crimes in their homeland?

Member of Women's Pacifist organization Murdered in Medellin

FOR stands in solidarity with the LA RUTA PACIFICA DE LAS MUJERES (Pacifist Road of Women). We recognize the great significance behind the assassination of leaders who promote non-violence and reject the deaths, threats, and intimidation tactics that are heavly rooted in the continous Colombian internal conflict. Please see below for information on the assasination of a member of the Ruta Pacifica along with her loved ones.


Translated version from IFOR-WPP:

The social movement of feminist-pacifist women demands respect for the life and the dignity of women

La Ruta Pacifica de Las Mujeres- or the Pacific Road of Women- rejects the murder of one of their members in Medellin.

It was a paradox. While La Ruta Pacifica was launching the book ‘violences against women in a society in war’ in Medellín, one of its members- Olga Marina Vergara- was murdered, together with her son, daughter-in-law and grandson- a child of five years old.

Bogotá, 25 of September 2008. - In circumstances that proof the ignominy of violence and the degradation of society, Olga Marina Vergara, member of the Pacific Routeof the Women was assassinated in Medellín. This feminist and pacifist leader known for her work with women in the ancient capital was murdered together with her son, daughter-in-law and grandson in her own house in the section of Prado - East Center, Wednesday 24 of September.

‘These deaths and this massacre are inadmissible. The Pacific Route of the Women, a political feminist project working for the visibilization of the effects of the war on the lives of women, rejects categorically these events, which demonstrate once again the degradation of the war and society. The conditions and circumstances, in which they happened, are of extreme gravity. It is therefore that we insist towards the authorities that they investigate and determine the motives for what happened’, indicated Marina Gallego Zapata, National Coordinator of the Pacific Route of the Women.

Also, the Coordinator of the movement emphasized that the Pacific Route of the Women continues and persists in their struggle so that the subject of violence against the women does not just appear in public agendas as circumstantial news. ‘Our interest is to establish an ethical and political commitment to finish with impunity and the social allowance towards violence that is committed against women, the more in the situation of conflict that our country is facing’.

To reject the murder of Olga Marina Vergara and three of her family members, social feminist organizations of the country (part of the Pacific Route) unite. These organizations work together for a negotiated transmission of the armed conflict in Colombia and for the visibilization of the effects of the war on the lives of women.

These same organizations express their solidarity and support to the family of Olga Marina Vargara.

Spanish Version:
LA RUTA PACIFICA DE LAS MUJERES RECHAZA EL ASESINATO DE UNA DE SUS INTEGRANTES EN MEDELLIN

Paradójicamente, mientras La Ruta presentaba en Bogotá el libro 'Las violencias contra las mujeres en una sociedad en guerra', en Medellín una de sus integrantes fue masacrada junto a su hijo, nuera y nieto, un menor de cinco años de edad.

Bogotá, 25 de Septiembre de 2008. – En circunstancias que evidencian la ignominia de la violencia y la degradación de la sociedad, fue asesinada en Medellín la integrante de la Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres, Olga Marina Vergara.

Esta líder feminista y pacifista, de amplia trayectoria en la capital antioqueña por su trabajo en favor de las mujeres, fue masacrada junto con su hijo, nuera y nieto en su propia casa en el sector de Prado – Centro este miércoles 24 de septiembre.

'Estas muertes y esta masacre son inadmisibles. Es así como la Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres, propuesta política feminista que trabaja por la visibilización de los efectos de la guerra en la vida de las mujeres, rechaza categóricamente estos hechos, que demuestran una vez más la degradación de la guerra y de la sociedad, pues las condiciones y las circunstancias en las que ocurrieron, son de suma gravedad. Es asícomo instamos a las autoridades a investigar y determinar los móviles de lo sucedido', señaló Marina Gallego Zapata, coordinadora Nacional de la Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres.

Asimismo, la Coordinadora del movimiento enfatizó que la Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres continúa y persiste en la búsqueda para que el tema de las violencias contra las mujeres no se quede en agendas públicas de turno y como noticias circunstanciales. 'Nuestro interés es establecer un compromiso ético y político para terminar con la impunidad y la permisividad social acerca de las violencias que se ejerce contra las mujeres y más en la situación de conflicto que enfrenta nuestro país'.

A este rechazo por el asesinato de Olga Marina Vergara y tres miembros de su familia se unen las organizaciones sociales feministas del país que convergen en la Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres, las cuales trabajan conjuntamente por la tramitación negociada del conflicto armado en Colombia y por la visibilización de los efectos de la guerra en la vida de las mujeres.

Estas mismas organizaciones expresan su solidaridad y acompañamiento a la familia de Olga Marina Vergara.

Por un hogar, un país, un planeta libre de miedos, guerras y violencias

RUTA PACIFICA DE LAS MUJERES - *ANTIOQUIA - (4)2844079. *BOGOTA – (1)2229172/76 *BOLIVAR - (5)6663992 * CAUCA - (2)8317939. *CHOCO - (4)6713804. *PUTUMAYO - (8)4274058. *RISARALDA - (6)3332042. *SANTANDER - (7)6477559. *VALLE DEL CAUCA - (2)8854656. *COORDINACION EJECUTIVA NACIONAL – (1) 2229145 / 46 Fax: (1) 2229170

Pagina web: www.rutapacifica.org.co / E-mail: comunicaciones@rutapacifica.org.co

Where is justice? Hundreds of Displaced People March in Medellin

At 10am on Friday, July 18, a crowd of about 300 people composed of mothers, children, grandparents, uncles, and human rights defenders gathered to create a space in the streets and march with a unified voice. The individuals gathered because they wanted to voice out their dissatisfaction with the government and its existing policies that have consistently failed to provide for the almost 4 million displaced people in the country.

The crowd stood in one of Medellin’s street corners, listening to a representative of the Coordinación Metropolitana de Desplazados (Metropolitan Coordination for the Displaced) speak about the failure of law of 397 of 1997. This law was approved eleven years ago and stipulates in Article 3 that “the Colombian State has the responsibility to formulate and adopt policies and measures to prevent forced displacement and the responsibility to protect and provide a socio-economic consolidation and stabilization to those who have bee internally displaced due to violence“ (http://www.secretariasenado.gov.co/leyes/L0387_97.HTM). But, all those individuals present were there because they have seen very little evidence of the application of such law given that since its approval, the number of displaced people in Colombia has been on the rise.

The many faces, most of them with empty stomachs, started walking towards the city center and made their way across the crowed street on their way to the Plaza Botero. They chanted the words “Forced Displacement is a State Policy! “ The participants wanted to remind the Colombian State that they continue to be walking proof of the existing crisis in the country. Some of them live in the city of Medellin (which is supposed to be one of the main cities that have gone through great improvements since Uribe took office as president, in isolation from any of their basic rights. In actuality, Medellin is still a home to many victims of abuse and violence, including the control of the Paramilitary in the different sectors of the mountainous city. There are numerous slums on the outskirts of the city, the so-called Comunas, where people live in degrading conditions, with rooftops made up of scraps of aluminum, or broken pieces of wood. Hunger, thus, is the common denominator, plainly evident when you ride the metro cable cart and look down to the houses and wonder what happens inside those colorful squares on rainy days, or even worse what happens there day to day? Most of the displaced people have been forced to find shelters in cities such as Medellin and Bogota, and since most of them have roots as peasants in rural settings they lack the skills necessary to live in urban environments, where little opportunity exists for them in the job market.

At about noon, hundreds more joined the march, many who originated from the rural areas all across state of Antioquia. They came to march and remind the observers and the State that they are still displaced and hungry, and above all, disappointed with the lack of support and options for them to change their status and improve their quality of life. They are disappointed with the lack of judicial mechanisms have not succeeded in ensuring that their rights are not being violated and the lack of policies that in practical terms can guarantee adequate forms of reparation, reconciliation, and collective healing for the displaced.

It has been three years since the Justice and Peace Law of 2005 was passed and applied as a form of judicial way out for paramilitary demobilization. In the meantime those displaced because of the violence have been waiting for the victimizers to return the property and material goods--all that was lost through threats and violence.. Nonetheless, no real or effective form of reparation has been implemented . The victims of the violence that forced them to displace know that their relatives that were killed and buried in mass graves cannot be returned to them and that no form of reparation can bring back their dead; however, they at least expect to once again be able to live in their homes and receive guarantees to their life and safety. As of now, a shift in their current status seems like a distance possibility.

According to the Justice and Peace Division of the Attorney General’s office, only 793 millions of Colombian pesos have been turned in by the paramilitaries out of the almost 545,000 millions they committed themselves to return (http://www.terra.com.co/actualidad/articulo/html/acu13532.htm). Moreover, it seems quite ridiculous to even mention that they have only returned 10 vehicles, 5,166 livestock, and 99 houses that have been given to the State when we compare it to the almost 4 million hectares of land lost by the displaced population (without even mentioning the value of goods, property, and the family heritage, which is priceless). According to a study done by researches in the Andes University in Bogota, 94.% of the Colombian population lives under the poverty line and almost 75% of them are displaced (https://egresados.uniandes.edu.co/volver3/documentos/presentacion-ana-maria-ib.ppt).
As I stood there, a man about 50 years old man asked “Are you also displaced?“ He explained that he came from Argelia (in Antioquia) and that he and his family of three have been displaced for six years. They lost all their land, their livestock, and their crops. Now, they live in the outskirts of Medellin in conditions he described as “a cardboard box full of holes“.

The Asociasion Campesina de Antioquia (Peasant Association of Antioquia) invited FOR to observe the march as they find it important that the international community not ignore the internal crisis that defines the Colombian State. They want to make sure that the displaced people do not become more invisible than what they already are, given the current news of the government defeating the FARC and the release of the hostages, as they get lost in middle of the parapolitical scandals and the propaganda for Uribe´s next reelection. Displaced people are also a kind of hostage--a hostage that is held prisoner by poverty, by the chains manifested through the dangers they face day to day, by the illnesses and hunger chained to their bodies, and by the existing conflict that prevents them from safely returning to their land. They are held hostages in a society that does not make room for them to live a life with access to decent housing, healthcare, education, and sustenance.

Alongside FOR, stood Peace Brigades International and other non-governmental organizations. Nonetheless, the media coverage was practically non-existent, which only exemplifies the fact that such news are not a matter of importance to mainstream communication.

Please visit the video put together by the Communications Area of the Peasant Association of Antioquia (ACA): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNmCO_v63KA