NEW WAVE OF CRIME IN SARAVENA

(Translated by Stacey Schlau, a CSN volunteer translator)

“JOEL SIERRA” HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION

Saravena, August 12, 2008
 

EARLY ALERT
 

The Joel Sierra Human Rights Foundation offers this Early Alert to the regional, national, and international communities and to the justice and security agencies of the State. We demand that the measures that the national system has instituted be activated immediately:
 
Since Sunday August 3rd, 7 people have been assassinated in the township of Saravena, at the same time that, in some places of its metropolitan area, graffiti alluding to the Self-Defense United of Colombia (AUC) appeared.
 

1. On August 3rd, Mr. WILSON RODRÍGUEZ MOSQUERA, 31 years old, was assassinated in the neighborhood of Puerto Contreras.
   

1. On August 5th, Mr. OMAR YESID TARAZONA, 29 years old, was assassinated in the neighborhood of Cuatro de Diciembre.
   

1. On August 8th, Mr. URIEL ORTEGA CÁCERES, 31 years old, was killed in the neighborhood of Puerto Contreras. That same day, in the Galán neighborhood, at about 8:30 a.m., the social and political leader LUIS MAYUSA PRADA, 46 years old, was assassinated.
   

1. On August 10, at about 9:20 p.m., the young man LUIS ALEJANDRO DÍAZ VILLAMIZAR, 18 years old, was assassinated in the mall, La Chorizada de Papi, on Highway 9 at 28th Street.
   

1. Yesterday, August 11, at about 5:00 p.m., Mr. ALEXANDER TULIVILA, 29 years old, was assassinated at the corner of Highway 16 and 19th Street, in the Seis de Octubre neighborhood. Similarly, at about 7:00 p.m., in the neighborhood of Puerto Contreras, a man about 30-35 years old (who has not yet been identified) was assassinated in a violent manner.
   

On another matter: graffiti alluding to Self-Defense United of Colombia (AUC) has appeared on several facades of houses in different neighborhoods of the town in the last few days. Slogans like “YEGAN LAS AUC” [the AUC ARRIVE], have engendered fear, because of the threats that some defenders of human rights, journalists, storeowners, etc. have received.
 
These events remind us of the recent past, when hired assassins acting on behalf of paramilitary groups and who participated in the security cordons of the National Police, assassinated a large number of people, many of whom were social leaders.
 
The high number of violent deaths, in a region in which the police are so visible, means that democratic security has meaning for the economic interests of transnational companies, but not regarding the lives and safety of the people of the Arauca region.
 
Because of the above, we reiterate our demand that the Early Alert System be activated immediately, using whatever administrative, judicial, and security measures are needed in order to protect the lives and safety of the community in general.
 
And we demand that the justice system move forward with pertinent investigations to clarify the facts that surrounded the violent deaths listed above.
 
FOR THE DEFENSE OF LIFE, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND RIGHT TO REMAIN ON THE LAND

“JOEL SIERRA” HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION
OUR SOCIAL ACTION IS LEGAL AND LEGITIMATE

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