(Translated by Patricia Paskov, a CSN Volunteer Translator)
Source : Asociación de Campesinos de Ituango http://prensarural.org/spip/spip.php?article15074
On Friday September 12, 2014, on the neighborhood of Capote of the small town la Granja, army members from the 18th Brigade, 104th Battalion arrived to the farm of campesino Alexander de Jesús Chavarría Montoya under the leadership of First Sargent Barrios. The troops located themselves just twenty meters from Señor Alexander’s place of residence. The first thing they did was tap the electric energy supply powering Señor Alexander’s house. Upon seeing this, Señor Alexander turned off the switches to avoid his energy meter from continuing to measure electricity. The following day, the troops took energy from the cables that conduct electric fluid nearby his house.
Señor Alexander has expressed his desire for Sargeant Barrios and his troops to retreat from the area, a request that Sargeant Barrios has ignored.
On September 16, Señor Alexander arrived to his house. When he saw the troops still in place, he spoke with them and made the decision not to occupy his home until the army members abandoned it, a plan that worries Señor Echavarría given that on the day of the coffee harvest, September 18, the troops still remained in place.
Within the municipality of Ituango, the army’s infringement on internationally recognized rights is an act that puts campesinos’ lives and possessions in constant peril. It is necessary to remind the National Army of Colombia of the words of the Fourth Agreement of Geneva: “members of the civil population enjoy principal protection. Everyone that does not form a part of the armed forces belongs to this category.”