HELP TO SAVE ONE OF THE LAST NOMADIC TRIBES IN THE COLOMBIAN AMAZONIC REGION

(Translated by Stephanie DiBello, a CSN volunteer translator


Sent by CINPRODEC ( Centro Alternativo de Investigacion y Proteccion de los Derechos Fundamentales en Colombia)

 

Humanitarian Crisis in the Guaviare Middle River Region

Since the end of 2002, the indigenous areas and the civil population in the Guaviare middle river region have been increasingly suffering. Right now the armed conflict is heightened in the department of Guaviare, and in the past few days it has generated more incidents of forced displacement. This is especially prevalent in the indigenous towns of Guayabero and Nukak, which are situated in the Guaviare middle river region, an area comprised of the departments of Meta, Sur del Vichada, Guaviare and Guainia.
 
Since the end of 2005 100% of the ethnic group Nukak, approximately 186 indigenous people, were forcibly displaced by criminal armed groups. Before being displaced they had lived in that region of the country for centuries. And if that wasn’t enough, a member of the same group named Monikaro Nukak Maku was murdered in February 2008 in the reservation Barranco Colorado, and Daniel Nukak Maku was murdered in that same reservation in March 2008. Both victims were part of the same nomadic tribe.
 
The town of Guayabero is undergoing the similar hardships as a result of the degradation of this intensified war within their territories, with 186 habitants of the town displaced. To this date 86% of the population of Guayabero have been forcibly displaced as a result of the  worsening war, confinement, restrictions on mobility, forced recruitment, orders to abandon their territory, mines, and selective killings. For example, on July 19th an indigenous person from Guayabero, Marquito González, was extrajudicially executed in the reservation Barranco Colorado, causing a massive forced displacement from the reservation to the town of Mapiripán.
 
Historically abandoned by the Colombian State, these towns suffer the consequences of a lack of attention regarding education, health, infrastructural development, and lucrative projects that are socially, environmentally, and economically just and equal. Since the conception of the foul “Democratic Security” policy, the arrival of members of the National Army in the zone has worsened the war and deteriorated the humanitarian crisis. Colombia needs now more than ever a State presence that goes beyond just a military presence. It must recognize the civil population as an entity with rights and create projects aimed at integrally improving the quality of life of the indigenous and non-indigenous population that resides in the Department of Guaviare.   
 
We want to remind the Colombian State that:
 
ü    The Political Colombian Constitution of 1991 grants a wide range of rights, where institutional responsibilities fall to the executive branch, which should be the principal guarantor of said rights, and where the security forces are subordinates to the instructions of the civil government.
 
As we have pointed out, the “Democratic Security” policy favors the abuse of the current institutional mechanisms and stimulates the violation of human rights; it equally promotes the involvement of civilians in the armed conflict by creating networks of informants and providing rewards for information leading to the litigation of social leaders that work to restore rights. This is worsened in the case of the indigenous communities of Guaviare, where president Uribe himself has offered rewards to informants to resolve land conflicts.
 
Lastly, we urge the national government, in coordination with the organisms of State control and the human rights agencies of the UN, to arrange a high-level meeting with social organizations as soon as possible. It is with the social and human rights organizations, movements, and platforms of the Colombian civil society that it is possible to present what the threat of the armed conflict and the consequences of the “democratic security” policy mean to the indigenous communities. This meeting would aim to find solutions to this crisis, or at least to minimize the risk and anxiety that affects the indigenous, afro, rural, and urban communities of Guaviare.
 
WE DEMAND:

 
TO THE COLOMBIAN STATE:

·      The immediate compliance with the reiterated recommendations about the observance of International Human Rights Law that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and other international organizations have formulated.
 
 
·      An end to the repressive measures and the intimidation towards the indigenous communities in the Department of Guaviare who are being subjugated by the legal and illegal armed actors of the Colombian State.

TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF GUAVIARE
 
·      An end to the repressive measures and the intimidation towards the indigenous communities in the Department of Guaviare who are being subjugated by the legal and illegal armed actors of the Colombian State.
·      A guarantee to the right to life, personal security, physical and psychological integrity, and personal privacy. A guarantee to the honor, reputation and the right to free mobility within the indigenous reservations, which are affected by the illegal and arbitrary activities of the legal security forces of the Colombian State.
 
TO THE DEFENSORIA

·      To fulfill its institutional role to monitor the protection of and respect for human rights; to guarantee to the right to life, personal security, physical and psychological integrity, and personal privacy. To guarantee the honor, reputation and free mobility of the indigenous people of Guayabero and Nukat Maku, who are affected by the illegal and arbitrary activities of the legal security forces of the Colombian State.
 
WE ASK:

TO THE OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER OF HUMAN RIGHTS (OHCHR):
 
·      Within the framework of your mandate, work to ensure that the actions of the Colombian State correspond with the domestic and international laws that it has committed to respect, and that investigations are carried out to account for government actions.
 
WE URGE HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANISMS AND ORGANIZATIONS TO STAY ATTENTIVE AND ALERT TO THE CRITICAL HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF GUAVIARE IS CONFRONTED WITH.
 
 
INSTITUTIONS WHERE THIS LETTER SHOULD BE SENT
 
ALVARO URIBE VELEZ
Presidente de la República
Carrera 8 No. 7 -26 Palacio de Nariño Bogotá
Fax. 5662071
auribe@presidencia.gov.co

FRANCISCO SANTOS
Vicepresidente de la República
Carrera 8 No.7-57 Bogotá D.C.
fsantos@ presidencia.gov.co
 
JUAN MANUEL SANTOS
Ministro de la Defensa
Avenida El dorado con carrera 52 CAN Bogotá D.C.
siden@mindefensa.gov.co
infprotocol@mindefensa.gov.co
mdn@cable.net.co

FABIO VALENCIA COSSIO
Ministro del Interior y de Justicia
Avenida El dorado con carrera 52 CAN Bogotá D.C.
Fax.   2221874
ministro@minjusticia.gov.co

MARIO GERMAN IGUARAN ARANA
Fiscal General de la Nación
Diagonal 22B No. 52-01 Bogotá D.C.
Fax. 570 20 00
contacto@fiscalia.gov.co
denuncie@fiscalia.gov.co

WOLMAR ANTONIO PEREZ ORTIZ
Defensor del Pueblo
Calle 55 No. 10 – 32  Bogotá D.C.
Fax. 640 04 91
defensoria@defensoria.org.co
secretaria_privada@hotmail.com

EDGARDO JOSE MAYA VILLAZÒN
Procurador General de la Nación
Cra. 5 No.15 – 80F Bogotá D.C.
anticorrupción@presidencia.gov.co
reygon@procuraduría.gov.co

CARLOS FRANCO
Programa Presidencial De Derechos Humanos Y De Derecho Internacional Humanitario.
Calle 7 N° 5 – 54 Bogotá D.C.
Fax.   337 46 67
cefranco@presidencia.gov.co
fibarra@presidencia.gov.co


 

 
  








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