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April 2008 Colombia Peace News

May 1, 2008
In this Peace Update:

No Better Defense than an Offense
Colombian Government Continues Attacking Human Right Defenders

A Little Letter Creates a Big Flurry

Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) circulated a ”˜Dear Colleague’ letter in response to attacks on labor and human rights activists and statements by presidential advisor José Obdulio Gaviria saying that organizers of the March 6 protests were FARC guerrillas. FOR and others issued action alerts, and nationwide grassroots efforts resulted in 63 members signing the letter which was sent to Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on April 14 to express “grave concern regarding threats and attacks against human rights defenders preceding and following the March 6, 2008 nationwide rally against paramilitary and other forms of violence.” Although no major media in the US gave attention to the Congressional letter, it created quite a media flurry in Colombia, where all the main newspapers, some regional ones and a variety of radio stations covered the letter and responses to it.

Government spokespeople said that Carolina Barco, Colombia’s Ambassador to the US, would officially respond with a diplomatic letter sometime next week. Uribe himself said “José Obdulio will respond to this little letter (using the Spanish dimunitive cartita) with another letter.” But he was criticized for having minimized the importance of the letter by using such language.

In response, US Ambassador to Colombia William Brownfield advised that the letter be taken very seriously. “A letter signed by 63 US Congressional representatives is very important. I think we should take it seriously. I take it seriously because it represents the opinion of many of my congressional reps.” Hopefully the letter and the flurry will also lead to real results — and Colombian officials will think twice before making these kinds of accusatory and dangerous remarks about respected human rights defenders.

Take Positive Action: Members of Congress rarely hear from constituents about things they’ve done right. If your Representative signed the letter to President Uribe, please (a) thank her or him, and (b) urge him/her to actively oppose further US military aid to Colombia. A government whose leadership can’t distinguish between guerrillas and civilians shouldn’t be armed for counterinsurgency with your tax dollars.
See the list of Representatives who signed the letter and how you can call them here.
Jesus Caballero is one of the latest trade union leaders to be assassinated in Colombia. A labor unionist with the State Training Institute in the Caribbean town of Sabanalarga, Caballero disappeared on April 16 and his body was found two days later, with signs of torture. He was also one of the organizers of the March 6 international demonstrations against state-sponsored and paramilitary violence and in solidarity with all victims. That made him the sixth person involved in the March 6 mobilization to be murdered. Such frontal targeting of the March 6 organizers has been linked to remarks made by President Álvaro Uribe’s advisor José Obdulio Gaviria in Colombian media that protest organizers were guerrillas. In response to the remarks and subsequent attacks, 63 members of Congress told President Uribe in an April 14 letter, “we respectfully ask that you personally reiterate the prohibition on public servants making disparaging remarks about human right defenders— we urge you to publicly reject Gaviria’s statements and reaffirm your government’s commitment to the protection of human rights defenders.”

So far, the Congress’ request seems to have fallen in deaf ears. Instead of showing signs of support for labor and human rights work, Uribe’s government went into attack mode. On April 18, as Vice President Francisco Santos was touring the US in a desperate attempt to save the Colombia-US Free Trade Agreement, he complained that the Congressional letter was part of a defamation campaign mounted by human rights organizations and labor to sink the FTA. Vice president Santos went on, “The Congress members are lied to. They don’t know. We are investigating the murders and there will be a response to the letter. [The killings] were not related to the mobilization nor with what they claimed happened. They are using [presidential advisor] José Obdulio’s statements to make a bigger fuss.” His comments were made the same day that Jesús Caballero’s body was found.

President Uribe himself accused human rights defenders of inciting attacks against his family. His accusations referred to a highly embarrassing episode in which the president’s cousin and close political ally, Mario Uribe, tried to avoid arrest by requesting political asylum at the Costa Rican Embassy in Bogota. Uribe is the most influential politician under criminal investigation for links to right-wing dead squads, in what is known as the “para-politics” scandal.

Soon after the word got out that Uribe was requesting asylum to avoid arrest, dozens of human rights defenders and members of the National Movement of Victims of State Crimes assembled in front of the Costa Rican Embassy —bringing pictures of well known and less known persons killed by the paramilitaries, a coffin, and even a mariachi band. They demanded that Uribe turn himself in to the Colombian courts and respond to the crimes for which he is being investigated.

In the end, the Costa Rican government denied Uribe’s asylum request and he was arrested, a victory for all those who seek justice for the atrocities committed by the paramilitaries. Some media falsely reported that protesters had thrown bricks at the car in which Uribe was driven from the embassy. But President Uribe’s claim that he feels threatened by human defenders is as credible as Mario Uribe’s argument of that he is a victim of political persecution under his cousin’s government.

The role of the powerful playing the victim seems to be a theme for President Uribe’s government. On April 24, Ferney Suaza, a demobilized paramilitary leader, claimed that an international non governmental organization attempted to bribe him — with money and promise of asylum- to incriminate President Uribe of having links to paramilitary armies in the Urabá region. The next day, he said the offer did not from organizations at all. Hopefully, a criminal investigation will determine the accuracy of the Suaza’s accusations.

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Diego Alexander Pulgarin Ossa
Objector Freed by Army after more than Three Months

After being conscripted against my will on January 5, 2008, when I enjoyed my right to freedom of movement and I was in the bus terminal, I was incorporated into the military as a peasant soldier. From that moment on, I said that I didn’t want to belong to the military, with the reason that my first choice is for life, that I choose to reach peace through peaceful means, that I have always believed that weapons, instead of making peace, are simply cause for more war and so more deaths. I declared myself a conscientious objector from the moment I was conscripted, and after stating my position, the army took on macho, vulgar and ignorant positions. They received my arguments with ridicule, psychological mistreatment and sometimes with physical punishment. I was also forced to carry various weapons in preparation for war.

Faced with military orders, my position always consisted of not following military formalities, of maintaining my civilian condition even when forced to wear camouflage. I always put the gun to the side and didn’t carry it as I was supposed to, the same with the camouflage. In the hallways of the barracks I would read, play guitar; I avoided and did not follow the orders of superiors. In response to this, the soldiers began to see me as a problem because they really couldn’t control me. Sometimes they threatened to put me in the hole or write me up; many times they said it was my problem, why didn’t I want to be in the army, that I would have to stay. They said no one got out of there, that I could rot in the army.

The support for my position was consistent from different places. One of the main ones was the Medellin Youth Network, which from their support as conscientious objectors sent constant letters, they wrote to me; the legal piece was key, human and moral support. From the beginning in the courts there was a motion presenting the arguments for my freedom, which the army didn’t accept, saying that in the army men ready to act at any moment were needed, and that military service was an obligation to the country. Then there was a court action, which was not ruled on, but which they received and which they also said were not enough for my release. Two weeks ago, there was a peaceful demonstration at the entrance to the Juan del Corral Battalion, asking that I be withdrawn from the military. They were surprised by that, because they said nothing like that had happened before, and they asked me who were those ”˜marijuaneros’ out there.

During all this time of being conscripted, different military commanders called me to ask who I was and what was happening. They even asked me if I belonged to the FARC or if I had something to do with the Polo [Democratic Pole, Colombia opposition Left party].

When they released me they didn’t want to say what reasons they had, the only thing they said was that a bad influence had called on me to be taken out, that it wasn’t because I am an objector, since that has no validity in Colombia, nor for the other reasons I gave them, since the constitution requires doing military service, and so there was nothing more. They told me that the card for being a conscientious objector was a piece of paper that could be printed on any computer and had no importance.

It is important to say thanks to all those people who were following my situation. It is one more demonstration that if we are united in a cause and maintain a firm position with character and reason, we can achieve our objective. To all those people I reiterate my thanks. Really there are many and it would be impossible to name them but I make special mention of the Youth Network with their attorneys, War Resisters International, the Conscientious Objectors Movement of Spain, the National Assembly of Objectors.

Now I want to continue in the activities I was working on, looking for peace through totally peaceful means, continue my studies, and if possible join the work of the Youth Network to continue in the firm purpose of saying no to war.

TO OTHER OBJECTORS: My case is a demonstration that objecting in conscience is worth it. The important thing is to maintain a firm condition, with character. We are not covered well in the media, and it is important to make this objection grow in strength and be valued as a choice in the face of war and all kinds of violence.
April 15, 2008

To write a letter of support for another Colombian objector — who is still being held by the military — click here.

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US Support for Colombian Army Units that Committee Extrajudicial Killings:
A Call to Investigate US Military Policy

FOR and Amnesty International have produced a report (download it here) on extrajudicial killings committed by Colombian army brigades financed by the United States, product of research by both organizations. The report reviews US law regulating military assistance, includes extensive data on US-trained army units, violations, maps, analyzes the extent of army killings in areas of US-supported brigades, and includes recommendations to US policy makers.

Executive Summary

In 1996, in part because of the deplorable human rights record of the Colombian security forces, Congress passed the first version of the Leahy Amendment which currently states that “no assistance shall be furnished . . . to any unit of the security forces of a foreign country if the Secretary of State has credible evidence that such unit has committed gross violations of human rights”.

In 2000, when Congress approved the multi-billion dollar assistance package to Colombia known as Plan Colombia, it established human rights conditions that must be certified by the US Secretary of State as being met by the Colombian Government before a certain percentage of military assistance is released.

Contrary to what one would expect given the tools in place to ensure that the United States is not funding abusive Colombian military units, initial findings from research by Amnesty International and the Fellowship of Reconciliation show that geographic regions with the highest levels of reported extrajudicial executions of civilians by members of the armed forces in 2006 were also largely regions with the most military units receiving US assistance. Between 2000 and 2003 security assistance to Colombia in the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act was about US$1.5 billion. During the four year period between 2004 and 2007, security assistance rose to US$2.5 billion. During the second phase of Plan Colombia and four years into the Secretary’s certification process on Colombia’s human rights progress, extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances by members of the armed forces rose from 218 in 2004-05, to 267 in 2005-06, to 287 in 2006-07.

Initial findings also show that the US is providing assistance to individuals from military units that have been deemed ineligible for US assistance because of being credibly alleged to have committed gross human rights violations such as massacres, extrajudicial executions and “enforced” disappearances.
Army Brigade Jurisdictions & level of U.S. support

click to expand map

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What? Colombia, a Presidential Campaign Issue?

Colombia received unusual media attention this month, as the Obama and Clinton presidential campaigns vied to oppose the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia. The Clinton camp got into some trouble, after chief strategist Mark Penn met with his clients in the Colombian government. Penn heads the Burson-Marsteller public relations firm, which has a $300,000 contract with the Uribe government to lobby for the FTA and US military aid. Penn apologized for meeting with his Colombian clients, but Clinton demoted him on April 6, and Colombia cancelled its contract with Burson-Marsteller.

What They Said about the FTA:

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Letter from the Field
The night of FOR and the tatabra—

By Chris Courtheyn

Nighttime in La Unión is usually a time of rest, a space of calm after a day spent working in the fields under a grueling sun or powerful rain shower. Certain nights, however, are more full of energy, such as when everyone gathers in the village center for a game of Bingo. Or, when the gringos are cooking meat caught that afternoon—

The day began as an innocent Sunday of “rest.” For four men in La Unión, their idea of taking a break from working in the fields, as they had done all week, was to go hunting. They invited me to go, and the five of us set out with a pack of dogs. Along the way, we passed a baby banana field (primitivos), so we ate a few and I stuffed some more in my bag for later. Soon we made it to a certain hill, where we began climbing through the thick vegetation in search of tatabra, a kind of mountain pig found in the region. We split into two groups and the dogs were sent out to locate the pigs.

Then the commotion begins. The dogs start barking when they encounter a wild pig, and the men respond by yelling at the top of their lungs to communicate their location to the others and to the dogs. The hunters remain stationary until it appears the dogs are chasing a tatabra to a specific point. Then we run through the forest to try and meet them. In fact, on one occasion the dogs led a pig directly to us, but it got away!

After about two hours, during which the other group had killed one pig, we met up and took a rest to eat some bananas. Then all of the sudden, the dogs ran away and started barking intensely, so we followed them running through the bush. I lagged behind, as I got my feet caught in vines and scraped my neck on a thorny branch— Soon enough, we all made it to the site: a huge tree that had fallen and created a sort of cave within its trunk. A tatabra was inside, encircled by barking dogs and hungry hunters. Once it was killed and removed from the tree, the men cut down a long and thin tree trunk and tied the three-foot long tatabras to it in the middle, one man on each side. It was so heavy! I only carried it for about 15 minutes, but even that wore me out and I arrived our house covered in sweat.

News passes quickly in a small village, so people immediately started coming by to ask about the hunt and hear my version of events. Since I had “participated” in the hunt (ok, so I really just yelled a few times and followed them around the mountain—), I was told to go pick up my share of the meat. They had prepared the meat by cleaning it, cutting it into pieces, and seasoning it with lime and garlic. I brought back our portion, and since my teammate and I were planning to go to town the next day and there is no refrigeration, it was time to cook and eat!

Two big tatabras caught in one day is a definite success; often the hunters come back empty-handed. Additionally, it’s rare to see meat being cooked in the FOR house. Consequently, our kitchen became quite a spectacle: full of adults and children watching me cook and waiting for a piece of meat. One of my good friends helped me cut up the meat into small pieces and deep fry it. I added some curry powder and cumin to give it a little more gringo taste (ie, unusual to the locals!). As pieces finished cooking, we handed them out to all those present.

In the hills and mountains of San José de Apartadó, one is in constant contact with life and death. In this case, the death of an innocent wild mountain pig, which then transformed itself into celebration and nourishment. An afternoon spent running around the mountain in small groups became a beautiful night of community in La Unión. And that lean tatabra meat tasted darn good—..

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Upcoming Events, Delegations and Trainings:

Nonviolent Resistance In Action: Human Rights Protection in War-torn Colombia

Monday, May 12, 7pm @ Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St (at Mission), San Francisco

Featuring:

  • The film "Hasta La Ultima Piedra" about the Peace Community San Jose de Apartado
  • Discussion, Food & Drink

Celebrate and support Moira Birss as she prepares to spend a year in Colombia providing human rights accompaniment to the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. For more info: 734.834.2356 moira@igc.org

Creative Resistance: Our Dreams Will Not be Recruited!

Friday, May 23 @ 6:30-9pm
Eastside Cultural Center, 2277 International Blvd., Oakland
$8-20 donation requested (free for youth)

Enjoy an energizing evening of spoken word, dance, music and community building where we will:

  • Experience awesome youth performances
  • Kick off the BAY-Peace Youth Manifesto Campaign against military recruiting in our schools
  • Participate in an interactive youth report-back from the FOR Arts and Action Delegation to Colombia
  • Silkscreen T-shirts—Bring your own shirt to silk screen or buy one at the event

Co-Sponsored by FOR, Not Your Soldier, BAY-Peace: Better Alternatives for Youth. For more info: baypeace@baypeace.org, 510-809-7416

Building Justice Across Borders:
Community Nonviolent Resistance to Impunity in Colombia

A Delegation August 2-16, 2008

  • Travel to the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó
  • Meet with people whose family members have been killed by the US-funded Colombian army and are non-violently working for justice for these crimes.
  • Meet grassroots activists who courageously and creatively advocate for truth, justice and integral reparations.
  • Experience unparalleled access to understand both impunity and advances to justice for a massacre in San José that shocked the international community.
  • Understand the U.S. media blanket on Colombia and get a glimpse of the side of Colombian life that rarely arrives to the U.S.

Cost from Bogotá: $1500

Contact Liza at 510-763-1403 or liza@igc.org to register by June 20.

Be a Nonviolent Rock Star in Colombia—

—We’re not looking for the next Shakira, but we are looking for folks to put their nonviolent training and beliefs into action! We’re seeking:

Human Rights Accompaniment Volunteers to work with Colombian Peace Community and Other Partner Organizations

Upcoming Training: July 29 — Aug. 3, 2008 in Nyack, New York

The Colombia Peace Presence is an accompaniment project that started in the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, one of several rural communities in Colombia that has taken an extraordinary stand against war by refusing to support any armed group. We also have a team in Bogota to support other Colombian peace initiatives. FOR seeks committed and skilled volunteers, with sound judgment and proficient in Spanish. Training participants must complete an application for service by June 30 and qualified applicants will be invited to the training. The training is free but applicants are required to pay their way to Nyack, NY.

For more information and to apply, please go to: www.forusa.org or contact us at: 510.7631403, email: susana@forpeace.net
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Posted in:

End U.S. Military Aid to Colombia

FOR Colombia Peace Update