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Moord van boerenleider colombia
Ojalá - 18.05.2007 13:22
Fransisco Puerta, campesino leader and ex-coordinator of the humanitarian zone of Miramar, was assassinated this Monday in front of the bus terminal in Apartadó by paramilitary soldiers. Two paramilitaries approached the shop situated in the terminal where Francisco was seated and fired several times, then left. The police stood there and did nothing.
A protest march in San Jose de Apartado
On behalf of Ojalá we would like to draw your attention to the brutal murder of Francisco Puertas, a peasant leader and human rights activist of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó in Colombia. He was shot to death on Monday 14 May at 7:00am by two paramilitaries just outside the transport terminal in Apartadó. With Ojala, we set up a solidarity letter expressing the horror of this event and demanding that those responsible are brought to justice.
In order to not become involved in the armed conflict taking place in Colombia, the Peace Communities have declared themselves autonomous and impartial. This means, among other things, that they reject any police and military involvement in their communities and do not acknowledge the judicial system. Their international solidarity network (political pressure by foreign solidarity organisations), is their only protection against further murders or other human rights abuses. Therefore we urge you to sign the solidarity letter, which can be accessed through
 http://www.ojala.nl/index.php?n=Globalization.Peacecommunities
You can also sign it by sending an email to  petition@ojala.nl and putting your name in the mail. We will collect the mails and send them to the Colombian embassy in The Hague.
Thanks for your support,
Ojalá.
See for more info in the Peace comunities:
http://www.colombiasupport.net/sanjose/whatis.html (english)
http://www.cdpsanjose.org (spanish)/
http://www.gloriacuartas.com/ (spanish)
 E-Mail: petition@ojala.nl  Website: http://www.ojala.nl
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| Read more about: militarisme | | supplements | | background info | Ojala - 18.05.2007 13:23
COLOMBIA: Paramilitaries killed Francisco Puerta, peasant leader
A peasant leader living in an area associated with the San José de Apartadó Peace Community has been shot dead by army-backed paramilitaries, and both paramilitaries and the army have threatened community members. Paramilitaries are reportedly planning to attack the community.
Though he was not a member of the Peace Community, peasant farmers' leader Francisco Puerta lived in the hamlet of Miramar, which is linked to the Peace Community. On 14 May at 7am he was reportedly approached by two local paramilitary gunmen, in the bus station in the municipality of Apartadó. They demanded his identity papers. After checking his papers, a witness heard the men say, “Este hijo de puta es de esa hija de puta comunidad” (“This son of a bitch is from that son of a bitch community.”) They then shot him. The gunmen were reportedly able to leave unchallenged, although there were police officers nearby.
On 9 May three peasant women involved with the Peace community were reportedly stopped at a paramilitary checkpoint in El Mangolo, the last neighbourhood on the outskirts of Apartadó on the road to San José de Apartadó. The men at the checkpoint were heavily armed and said they were members of the Aguilas Negras (Black Eagles) paramilitary group. They said they had been looking for the three women, but were ordered to let them go after radioing their commander to say that the women's identity papers did not match the names they were looking for. They told the women they would be killed if they told anyone what had happened.
On 13 May, a businessman from Apartadó visiting the Peace Community told them that paramilitaries had been overheard discussing a plan to attack them. The paramilitary plan reportedly consisted of killing community leaders to weaken the community and to cause large numbers to flee the area.
Soldiers have also threatened members of the Peace Community. On 9 April, close to the community, soldiers approached two inhabitants demanding to know where they would find a woman, a member of the community. They said that they would capture her dead or alive, but preferably dead.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Peace Community of San José de Apartadó was created by civilians living in the San José de Apartadó area of the municipality of Apartadó in March 1997, in an effort to persuade both the armed forces and guerrillas to respect their right as civilians not to be drawn into Colombia's long-running conflict. The Peace Community has always insisted that combatants remain outside its homes and farmland. As a result the security forces and their paramilitary allies have accused the community of subversion. The guerrilla group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, have in turn accused the community of cooperating with their enemies. Since the Peace Community was created, over 160 of its members have been killed or have been the victims of enforced disappearances the vast majority at the hands of the security forces and their paramilitary allies, the remainder at the hands of the FARC.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights of the Organization of American States has called on the Colombian authorities to take appropriate measures to guarantee the safety of inhabitants of the Peace Community, but the authorities appear to have taken little action to implement the Court's requests.
Colombia's army-backed paramilitary groups have supposedly demobilized in a government-sponsored process. Despite this, Amnesty International has continued to receive reports of human rights violations committed by paramilitary groups operating with the cooperation of the security forces. It appears that many paramilitary groups have not demobilized at all, but are continuing to operate, often using new names in an attempt to cover up the fact that they have not actually demobilized. Recent public statements by paramilitary organizations have made clear that their command structures remain intact.
E-Mail: ojala@ojala.nl
Website: http://ojala.nl
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