URGENT ACTION: CAUCA: FATHER EZIO ROATTINO

                   (Translated  by CSN)

Father Ezio Roattino, an Italian priest and missionary working in
the parish of San Lorenzo de Caldono in the Department of Cauca in
southwestern Colombia, was charged by the commander of the police
of Cauca, Lt Colonel Guillermo Gutierrez Aranguren, with
supporting the FARC guerrilla who had taken over the town of
Caldono, and thus endangering the civilian population of Caldono.

On March 5, 1997, in a letter to Archbishop Alberto Giraldo
Jaramillo of Popayan, president of the Colombian Conference of
Bishops, Lt Colonel Gutierrez complained of Father
Roattino's "ideals and leftist tendencies" and criticized him for
wishing to have police forces removed from the community of
Caldono. He requested that the Archobishop not permit priests such
as Father Roattino to follow "dark paths" marked by violence and
leading to bloodshed.

Father Roattino responded by a letter of March 9, 1997, in which he
denied supporting violence and asked for an investigation with due
process in the ordinary justice system and special indigenous
jurisdiction. Calling attention to past persecution of the
indigenous community among whom he lives and works, Father Roattino
pledged to continue his efforts for justice and equality. He called
for those who had anonymously criticized him, the supposed basis
for Lt. Colonel Gutierrez's letter, to come out in public.
And he pledged to continue to proclaim "the Gospel of liberation
and acculturation, in common with the Bishop and with the
community, as much as the enemies permit me to, as long as God
gives me life and strength". And he went on to say : "If in this
violent hour and in this violent place I have to lay down my life,
I will not be mistaken. The only reason will be the cause of Jesus,
which is the cause of the poor, of the indigenous. I ask it of God
and I promise it. I wish to keep dreaming of and working for a new
heaven and a new earth where justice will live (Isaiah 66,22)".
Rejecting armed combat, Father Roattino called for combat of faith
and of good works, and said he prayed for a "culture of peace".

Mayor Gloria Cuartas of Apartado wrote on March 26, 1997 of her
support for the pastoral work of Father Roattino and asked help in
protecting him, saying that he, "like us, works with the community,
with special emphasis on the indigenous communities of the northern
part of Cauca ".

URGENT ACTION

This is an urgent call for solidarity. Please send letters and
faxes to  support the work of Father Ezio Roattino and other
missionaries who have been working for justice for the last 12 
years, following the example of Father Alvare Ulcue who was
murdered in the Cauca on November 10, 1984. They have developed
actions in defense of indigenous groups in the Cauca in the south 
of Colombia, where the indigenous peoples, have been caught in the
middle of a conflict between the guerrillas, the army and
paramilitary groups  linked to drug barons and corrupt politicians.
Father Roattino has been falsely accused of acting on the part of
the guerrillas and being responsible for recent guerrilla attacks.

Send appeals to :
1) President
   ERNESTO SAMPER- PIZANO
   Presidente de la Republica
   Palacio de Narino
  Carrera 8 # 7 - 26 
   Santafe de Bogota,Colombia 
Fax 011 57 1 2893377 or 286 7434

2) Attorney General
   ALFONSO VALDIVIESO- SARMIENTO
   Fiscal General de la Nacion
  Apartado Aereo 29855
   Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
Fax 011 57 1 287 0939 or 288 2828

3) Minister of Interior 
   HORACIO SERPA- URIBE
   Ministro del Interior
   Carrera 8 # 8-09
   Santafe de Bogota, colombia
Fax : 011 57 1 281 5884 0r 286 0053

4) Minister of Defense
   GILBERTO -ECHEVERRY MEJIA
   Avenida ElDorado CAN- Carrera 52
   Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
   FAx : 011 57 1 222 1874

5) Juan Carlos Esguerra-Portocarrero
   Ambassador of Colombia
   2118 Leroy Place, NW
   Washington D.C. 20008
  Fax : (202) 232 8643

6) Myles Frechette
   U.S. Ambassador to Colombia
   Fax 011 57 1 315 2209

7) Monsignor Alberto Giraldo Jaramillo
    Archbishop of Popayan
   Palacio Arzobispal
    Popayan, Colombia, South America 

SUMMARY OF A POSITION STATEMENT
OF THE 10TH REGIONAL CONGRESS
OF THE INDIGENOUS OF CAUCA

    (Summary and Translation by Colombia Support Network)

Meeting in Silvia, Cauca 

March 16, 1997

This document notes that since 1971 the Cauca indigenous leadership
has been carrying forward a political and social project with great
difficulty and more than 300 dead, victims of the persecution by
the forces of the State, groups of killers paid by large
landowners, and by the guerrilla in the region. Given by the
Constitution of 1991 control of their own lands and communities,
they call attention to their own political project, "which is to
recover our territory, our own authorities, laws, our education,
our health, our customs and forms of organizations, as well as our
own thought". the project is communitarian, not communist, and
autonomous.

The document says the indigenous are the victims of a permanent war
in which they are killed by the army, the guerrilla, and
paramilitary groups, accused by the army of collaborating with the
guerrillas when one or another Indian joins the guerrilla fleeing
from indigenous or civilian justice, and accused by both the
guerrillas and the paramilitary of siding with the other. And for
those indigenous community whose human rights are violated nothing
is done.

As far as spraying of illegal crops is concerned, the statement
notes that the indigenous leadership is not in agreement with
spraying with high toxic products such as glifosfato and other
herbicides because it affects biodiversity.

Giving the National government a time limit to comply with its
commitment to the indigenous peoples, the statement lists several
requirements :

1. the internal problems of the indigenous in their territories are
their concern exclusively -neither army, nor  guerrilla nor anyone
else should become involved.

2. The armed confrontation in the indigenous communities must
cease.

3. Recruitment of youth and use of indigenous children by the
guerrilla, the army and by paramilitary groups will not be
permitted.

4. Militias and militias members of the guerrilla in indigenous
communities are rejected, as they do not permit harmony in the
communities.

5. The Convivir cooperatives, which have been increasingly
strengthened with support of the National Government and the public
forces, are rejected.

6. The statement asks the army and the guerrilla not to impede
transportation of construction materials and foodstuffs. It states
that revenge killings by the guerrillas or paramilitary groups in
indigenous territories will not be permitted, as they sow terror
and hatred and cause people in the regions to blame the indigenous
for deeds with which they  have nothing to do. 

The statement ends with a call to the government, army, guerrillas
and other armed groups for a beginning of a peace process with
participation of those social forces, the civilian population, and
the actors in the conflict as long as there is political will among
the different sides. "It is urgent to negotiate peace in the midst
of the conflict to lower tensions of both sides; that is to say,
peace should be being sought in practice and surrender of arms
should not be spoken of first, because this complicates and
postpones a lasting peace in Colombia. Surrender of arms is a
pretext of the Government so that a peace process will not be
made..." the statement affirms that this will continue to be the
position of the Indigenous community when confronting conflict of
armed groups, and it asks that Amnesty International, the Inter-
American Commission of Human Rights, the International Committee of
the Red Cross, and other human rights organizations be spokesmen of
the indigenous peoples nationally and internationally. And equally
the statement calls upon existing indigenous communities to
continue their process of organization and integrated development
as a contribution to the peace process.