STATEMENT BY COLOMBIA SUPPORT NETWORK ON THE MASSACRE OF RIVERA MUNICIPAL COUNCIL MEMBERS
We received the shocking news of the murder of nine members of the municipal council of the town of Rivera in Huila Department just a few days after a Colombia Support Network (CSN) delegation had visited the town. We deplore this unconscionable attack on municipal officials, which has been attributed to FARC guerrillas. This attack is a clear violation of international humanitarian law. We believe the perpetrators of this violence must be brought to justice and appropriately punished for this totally unacceptable attack on noncombatants. And we call upon the FARC to desist immediately from this type of criminal conduct, which can only reinforce the conclusion to which many Colombians have arrived that the FARC guerrillas have betrayed the revolutionary principles their organization originally announced as guidelines for their movement.
We are particularly distressed by this attack on a community which received our CSN delegation so cordially and showed us a vibrant grass-roots movement for peace and justice.
We send our condolences to the families of the council members whose lives were so unjustly snuffed out, and we express our continuing solidarity with the community organization in Rivera and reaffirm our commitment to the sister community relationship our CSN delegation discussed with them.
Colombia Support Network
March 1st, 2006
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