Peace Community Reports: Continued Persecution

The Peace Community of San Jose de Apartadó informs the national and international community of continued murders and persecution against our members.

On 13 August 2005, at about 9am, CARLOS LOPEZ, a member of the Peace Community and father of 5 children was murdered about 10 minutes away from San Jose. At about 11 am, the police began forcing residents from the town, telling people that the guerrilla were about to attack.

On 26 July in the village of Mulatos, the army burned down Fernando Osorno's house. Fernando is a displaced person living in San Josito. Soldiers told a local campesino, that they had burned the house so that they could see who were the guerrillas among the population. On the same day, another army patrol entered the humanitarian zone of Alto Bonita and ate a pig and some
chickens that belonged to Rafael Guerra. The soldiers told Rafael that if he reported them, they would come back and kill him.

On 24 July and 30 July, the police set up a road block outside San Jose. Members of the Peace Community were threatened and accused of being guerrillas. Tools used in their work were taken and thrown away.

On 24 July, at about 9am, the police arrested John Fredy Usuaga in San Jose. He was detained until 30 July, during which time he was told that the police had a list of 40 people who they were going to "fuck with" and that the "peace community was a place full of guerrillas", and that "its not worth arresting them, but just get the paramilitaries to shoot them, and finish off the lot of the sons of bitches who were fucking everything up so much."

All of these events prove that that the Security Forces are continuing in their attempt to destroy our community and process of non-violent resistance. We denounce the vile assassination of Carlos Lopez, and although we do not yet know who killed him, commentary evidence points to the guerrilla. All of these events are supremely worrying to us, and are clearly an attempt to criminalize and stigmatize us, based on lies and set ups. Once again we appeal to the international community to support us in our demands that the government stop their aggression against us, and that all armed actors respect the lives and the integrity of the civil population that make up the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartadó.

Please send messages of protest to the following: /
Por favor mande la carta en español adjunta a las seguintes direcciones:

Señor Presidente Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Presidente de la República
Palácio de Nariño Carrera 8 N° 7-2
Bogotá, COLOMBIA

Telefax: (00 57) 1 337 5890, (00 57) 1 342 0592, e-Mail:
auribe@presidencia.gov.co
OR to better send e-mail to Uribe login to http://www.presidencia.gov.co and
click on ESCRIBALE AL PRESIDENTE at the bottom of the page

Dra. María Carolina Barco Isakson,
Ministra de Relaciones Exteriores, Interior y de Justicia,
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Calle 10 N° 5-51,
Palacio de San Carlos, Bogotá, COLOMBIA
(Tratamiento correcto: Sra. Ministra)
Telefax: (00 57) 1 562 7822, e-Mail: ministro@minjusticia.gov.co

Dr. Mario Iguaran , Fiscal General de la Nación,
Fiscalía General de la Nación,
Diagonal 22B 52-01 (Ciudad Salite)
Bogotá, COLOMBIA

Telefax: (00 57) 1 570 2017, Sekretariat: (00 57) 1 570 2000
e-Mail: denuncie@fiscalia.gov.co

Colombian Embassy
in UK mail: mail@colombianembassy.co.uk Fax: +44-(0)207 58 118 29

In the USA: Embajada de Colombia
2118 Leroy Place, NW,
Washington, DC 20008
Phone: (202) 387 8338
Fax: (202) 232 8643

emwas@colombiaemb.org

Colombia Support Network
P.O. Box 1505
Madison, WI 53701-1505
phone: (608) 257-8753
fax: (608) 255-6621
e-mail: csn@igc.org
http://www.colombiasupport.net