Wikipedia
~snip~
Another massacre took place in Betoyes, Arauca department in early May 2003. Several people belonging to the indigenous Guahibo community were killed and over 300 people fled. Three girls, ages 11, 12, and 15, were raped. Another 16-year-old pregnant mother, Omaira Fernández was raped, and then they cut her womb open and ripped out the fetus which they hacked up with a machete. They then dumped the bodies into the river. An Amnesty International reported on June 4, 2003 that the Colombian army's 18th Brigade's "Navos Pardo Battalion" fully supported the AUC in carrying out the massacre. "... in Betoyes in January 2003, witnesses said that
the AUC armband of one attacker slipped to reveal the words "Navos Pardo Battalion" printed on the uniform beneath."<80>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramilitarism_in_Colombia~~~~~FOUR INDIGENOUS KUNA LEADERS ASSASINATED BY COLOMBIAN PARAMILITARIES NEAR PANAMA BORDER. OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM THE INDIGENOUS MOVEMENT OF PANAMA.
CONTACT: Brendan O'Neill, ASEJ/ACERCA - 802-863-0571 or cellular phone-802-598-8373
Official Statement from the Indigenous Movement of Panama
Dear brothers and sisters from various organizations and communities of the world that fight against violence, against war, and against hunger-today we wish to mobilize against the War on Indigenous Peoples. On Saturday the 18th of January four Indigenous Kuna leaders, were violently tortured and assassinated by the Autonomous Defense Units of Colombia (AUC). These Indigenous spiritual leaders, are medicine men that hold the principal knowledge of our oral history, poets of truth, knowledgeable in medicine, the holders of our cultural heritage, the soul of our community, and are the maximum authority of the Paya and Pucuro communities. Four pillars of our community have been killed, if we compare this to western culture it is to say that our library of congress, our chief justice of magistracy, our minister of culture, our Nobel Peace Prize winners were killed. In the past years paramilitaries have assassinated indigenous teachers in Panama and an Embera Indigenous child Maria Mecha Tocamo. This past Saturday 50 Colombian insurgents tore apart the Paya Community, closed in the community, asked for the indigenous authorities to present themselves and then took them outside the community to torture them, and slash their throats. Upon hearing the various detonations from the Paya community the paramilitaries fled leaving the Pucuro community in flames. This was all confirmed by the only survivor, who followed the paramilitaries for one hour, his throat slashed and his stomach openly bleeding, to solicit help from the Pucuro community.
Not stopping at the assassinations of the Indigenous authorities, the AUC, planted land mines surrounding the community to prevent the Kuna to leave. They took all of the food from the only food warehouse that existed in the community and threatened the population for supposedly collaborating with the guerilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Since 1964 through 1998 there was a Cartel of the Armed Forces of Panama that safeguarded the lives of the Paya and Pucuro residents, but since then, although the Indigenous authorities have solicited support from the Police forces of Panama, they have been denied support to defend the borders in the Darien.
Now there are more than 700 people displaced, of the Paya and Pucuro Communities, the majority children, they are seeking refuge in Boca Cupe, who and are waiting for the Panamanian authorities to provide security for the area- not even one of the community members are prepared to abandon their ancestral lands.
As Kuna, we have lived more than 100 years on these lands, and now there is an intention to destroy the peace of our Indigenous communities, selectively assassinating Colombian and Panamanian Indigenous leaders. It is because of this that we are opposed and against the imposition of the FTAA, the Plan Puebla Panama, Andean Plan, and Plan Colombia that are policies to exterminate the communities of the Americas, to expropriate indigenous territories, our collective knowledge, oil, water, land and our cultural and biological heritage.
More:
http://dulenega.nativeweb.org/paya_en.html~~~~~Colombia: indigenous leaders murdered
Submitted by WW4 Report on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 23:41. Authorities in the south of Colombia on Aug. 29 found the bodies of two indigenous leaders who had been shot by unknown assassins. Ramiro Inampues and his wife, Maria Lina Galindez, were reported missing two days earlier, after Inampues failed to attend the regular session of the Guachucal Council in Nariño department, where he held a seat for the Indigenous Social Alliance (ASI). The bodies were found in a ditch in El Común, a pueblo near the border with Ecuador.
ASI is affiliated with Colombia's Green Party, which said in a statement that Inampues "together with other indigenous authorities, was preparing the negotiation of the managing of land with the national government." The statement said Inampues and other local indigenous leaders had been receiving death threats by email.
According to Colombia's human rights office (Defensoría del Pueblo), two other indigenous leaders from the same region were also kidnapped the same day by presumed members of paramilitary group Nueva Generación (New Generation). (Colombia Reports, LAHT, Colprensa, Aug. 29)
http://www.ww4report.com/node/8998~~~~~Canadian company linked to Indigenous murders in Colombia
7 December 2009 - Canada: Human Rights Hypocrites
Legislation ratifying a free trade agreement between Canada & Columbia is being passed in the Canadian Parliament. Canadian officials, claim that a free trade agreement with Colombia, will result in an improved human rights situation in Colombia. In recent days in Columbia five indigenous leaders have been murdered for their opposition to the Canadian mining firm Cosigo Resources of Vancouver.
It is objectionable that Canadian transnational companies are complicit in human rights abuses of this magnitude. Canada remains one of two countries that refuse to sign & ratify the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples. How can the Canadian government claim that Free trade agreement will improve human rights, when they refuse to acknowledge the importance of Indigenous rights?
http://intercontinentalcry.org/canadian-company-linked-to-indigenous-murders-in-colombia/~~~~~Colombian community leader assassinated by agroindustry-backed vigilantes
mongabay.com
October 16, 2008
A community leader who opposed paramilitary-based seizure and occupation of land for industrial oil palm plantations and cattle ranches in northwest Colombia has been assassinated, reports the Center for International Policy's Colombia Program and the World Rainforest Movement.
Walberto Hoyos Rivas, a community leader for two afro-Colombian communities in the Bajo Atrato region of Chocót; department, was gunned down by two paramilitaries on October 14, 2008 while participating in a community meeting, according to Justicia y Paz en Colombia, a Colombian NGO.
Walberto had been under protection by Colombia's Ministry of Interior and Justice for a 2007 assassination attempt. Walberto's efforts on behalf rural communities had put him at odds with large landowners who back vigilante paramilitaries. In 2005 Walberto served as a witness in the case of the police detention and subsequent murder of Curvaradó community leader Orlando Valencia.
Land conflict in the Colombian Choc´o; — a key corridor for drug trafficking — continues despite the government's inroads against leftist guerillas, notably the FARC. Paramilitaries backed by large landowners seeking to expand their holdings for agriculture and cattle ranching have been widely accused of running intimidation and terror campaigns against communal landowners. Seized land is increasing used for oil palm plantations and other large-scale agriculture.
http://www.mundoandino.com/Colombia/Mapiripan-Massacre~~~~~Colombian soldiers kill Indigenous leader's husband
Legarda among 1244 people killed in five years BOGOTA - On Dec. 16, 2008 Edwin Legarda was attacked by a shower of bullets from Colombian military personnel while driving an official vehicle of the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC).
According to press reports, bullets hit the vehicle 17 times, killing Legarda and wounding his passenger, a nurse, who accompanied him en route to pick up members of CRIC's Governing Council for a board meeting in the Indigenous Reserve of La Mesa de Togoima.
Among the leaders Legarda was to transport was his wife, Aida Marina Quilcué Vivas, CRIC's Chief Counselor, who had just returned from testifying before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva about the ongoing extermination of indigenous peoples in Colombia.
Legarda was the 66th indigenous person to be assassinated in 2008, and more than 1,244 people have been assassinated over the last five years, according to the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC).
CRIC leaders claim the attack was meant for Legarda's wife, who has been threatened by paramilitary groups - as have other indigenous leaders - for her work to defend indigenous peoples' fundamental human rights.
More:
http://www.indianlaw.org/en/node/383~~One Year Anniversary of Murder of Edwin Legarda by Colombian Army
By Privileged Insights — Global Blogger
Published: December 18, 2009 11:38 ET in The Americas On December 16th 2008, Edwin Legarda, the husband of Colombian indigenous leader Aida Quilcue, was killed when the Colombian army ambushed Aida´s car that he was driving that morning. Aida Quilcue at that moment was the Chief Councilor for the Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) and spokesperson for the Minga of Social and Community Resistance.
The CRIC believe that the bullets were meant for her for the fierce criticism of the Uribe government.(1) http://www.globalpost.com/webblog/colombia/one-year-anniversary-murder-edwin-legarda-colombian-army~~BOGOTA, Apr 16 , 2009 (IPS) - There is a heavy turnover of social movement leaders in Colombia, given the frequency with which they are killed, displaced or forced into exile. And because of the dangers, those who step up to the plate can be considered veritable heroes – one of whom is indigenous leader Aída Quilcué.
"Resistance" is a term frequently used by the 36-year-old Nasa Indian, who is chief counselor of the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC), and whose activism made her the target of an attack that cost the life of her husband, Edwin Legarda, in December.
More:
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46528~~~~~ Indigenous Peoples are Being Killed in Colombia with "Absolute Impunity"
By Victor Ray Garza
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America Desk
BOGOTA, Colombia - Eleven indigenous leaders in Colombia have been killed in the last three weeks.
The latest was the assassination of Nicolás Valencia Lemus by the right wing paramilitary group Aguilas Negras. Lemus was killed on the eve of a march of over 12,000 indigenous peoples in three regions in Colombia.
The marchers have formed blockades across the Pan American Highway, the major transportation route through the region. The government of President Alvaro Uribe has used the current "state of internal commotion" declaration currently in place in Colombia to respond with a heavy hand. The region of Cauca has become a militarized zone. Military helicopters are circling the protesters and police have had daily clashes. Dozens of indigenous peoples have been hurt in the clashes.
The military response has brought back memories of the initial impetus for the march. The indigenous communities are demanding a face to face meeting with President Uribe. They are demanding the reforms and lands promised to them in response to the Huellos and Naya massacres where hundreds of indigenous leaders and activist were massacred. After the massacres members of the national police were found to have participated in the attacks. In an attempt to reconcile with the indigenous communities following the massacres the government promised to return lands gained illegally by the paramilitary group.
The government has failed to deliver on any of these promises. In addition to these demands the indigenous leaders are asking for an end to all armed conflcits on their lands. The indigenous community has been caught in the cross fire of the war between the FARC and the right wing paramilitary groups. The assassination of Lemus by the right wing paramilitary group Aguilas Negras was said to be in response to the perceived cooperation between indigenous leaders and the FARC. FARC in response has also accused the indigenous leaders of sympathizing with the Colombian government. The result has been the death of 1,200 indigenous community members in the past six years.
The response of the Colombian government to the demonstration continues to be watched by international NGO and human rights groups. In the meantime, the investigations of the murders of the indigenous leaders has remained stagnant.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:oBFcMr18EWwJ:www.impunitywatch.net/impunity_watch_south_amer/2008/10/indigenous-peop.html+Colombian+paramilitaries+indigenous+murdered+killed&cd=25&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us ~~~~~Lutheran World Relief Partner Murdered in Colombia
Baltimore, May 20, 2010 — Lutheran World Relief mourns the death of partner Rogelio Martínez Mercado, murdered May 18 at 6:00 p.m. in the province of Sucre, Colombia. He is survived by his wife, Julia Torres Cancino, and four children.
LWR calls on Colombian and U.S. officials to quickly investigate Martínez’s murder, provide protection to his family and colleagues, and transform security and development policies on Colombia’s northern coast that have left small farmers vulnerable to violence.
In 2000, Martínez and his family were violently displaced from their farm, located in the municipality of San Onofre, by members of the paramilitary group “Héroes Montes de Maria.” Between 2000 and 2001, paramilitaries forced more than 50 other families from adjoining farms. The paramilitary forces, led by Rodrigo Tovar Pupo and Rodrigo Mercado Peluffo, turned these farms into a base for torture, murder and combat operatives.
After an initial demobilization of paramilitary forces in Colombia, Martínez returned to his farm in 2007 and helped lead the return of 53 other displaced farming families to the same area. With LWR’s support, Martínez and these families established La Alemania Farm, comprising 552 hectares for planting crops and grazing cattle.
In late 2009, Martínez told LWR staff, “I was forced to leave everything behind—my land, my crops, even my dignity. But now we have corn seed in the ground again and have harvested rice and yucca.” Before his death, Martínez was eagerly planning small pig and fish farming projects with fellow farmers.
In December 2008, after returning to La Alemania and assuming leadership in the National Victims’ Movement—Sucre chapter, Martínez began receiving verbal and written death threats.
Annalise Romoser, LWR’s acting director for public policy and advocacy explains, “Land is highly disputed in northern Colombia. Small farmers are under constant threat by reorganized paramilitary forces to turn over lands or face death. If they are not displaced by violence or fear then crushing debt and lack of credit drives them from their land.”
Because of the threats, Martínez was granted limited protection measures from the Colombian Ministry of the Interior, including two plane tickets to use in case of imminent threat and the need to flee Sucre.
Eyewitnesses report that hooded men approached Martínez’s moto-taxi as he neared his home at La Alemania farm on Tuesday evening and shot him several times. Before he was shot, Martínez managed to yell at his moto-taxi driver to flee and escape the attack. Martínez’s body remained on the roadside well into the night due to delayed action by local police. Today, LWR staff and Martínez’s family will participate in funeral and mourning services.
LWR joins Martínez’s family in calling for support from the Colombian government. Protection must be provided to his wife and children, and to his farming colleagues who remain in grave danger. LWR also calls on the Colombian government to swiftly resolve long-standing legal issues that have made it impossible for all farming families originally displaced from La Alemania Farm to return safely.
“Unfortunately, Rogelio's murder typifies the fate of far too many brave Colombian civil society leaders,” said Michael Watt, LWR’s regional director for Latin America.
“Colombian human rights organizations and individual rights defenders—women, men, Afro-Colombians, indigenous, and peasant community leaders, and labor organizers—are increasingly the target of violence from paramilitary factions, newly emerging criminal groups, and other armed actors competing for control of land and resources. Rogelio's murder is, tragically, an occurrence repeated on a weekly basis in far too many communities across Colombia.”
http://www.lwr.org/news/news.asp?LWRnewsDate=5/20/2010
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