COLOMBIAN MILITARY FORCES
NATIONAL ARMY
SEVENTEENTH BRIGADE

	CAREPA, JULY 16 1997

NO. 02853/DIV1-BR17-DDHH-725
Re:	Respond to request
To: 	Reverend Father
	Javier Giraldo M., S.J.
	Executive Secretary
	International Commission for Peace and Justice
	Santafe de Bogota D.C.


In accordance to the established procedure in investigation No. 20789 
CEIGE-DH-725, of the Army General Superintendent.  I hereby respond to 
your request of 5-29-97, as follows:

CASE NO.1  "Kidnapping of MIGUEL and BERTHA GUISADO.  10-4-97.  
Vereda Arenas Altas,  San Jose de Apartado.

No information concerning these events was found in the following offices: 
Apartado Regional Attorney, Apartado Sectional Delegate Attorney, Military 
Penal Mandate Courts 21 and 114, War Assistant auditor 10 and 24.

We also verified information regarding the alleged kidnapping with the 
GAULA group from Uraba, in which they have no data about it.  No official 
report was made to the competent authorities that would allow them to 
confirm the alleged disappearing of these people.

CASE NO. 2  "On the 4th of May, in San Jose, Apartado, LILIANA LONDONO 
DIAZ was kidnapped.  She was the girlfriend of a lieutenant commanding the 
troop quartered in this settlement.  Eleven days her corpse was found 
decapitated.  The crime was attributed to the insurgent groups operating in 
this zone."

The above events are under investigation (Investigation Previa 4851) by the 
Apartado Regional Attorney.  It is noticeable that it was widely 
acknowledged by the public opinion that the kidnapping and murder of 
LILIANA LONDONO was commanded by the narco-terrorist JHOVERMAN 
SANCHEZ ARROYAVE, alias El Manteco or Ruben, head of the fifth crew of the 
FARC cartel. 

This atrocity performed against a civilian, not participating in the conflict, 
was executed in retaliation for the victim's relations with a member of the 
military.

CASE NO. 3  "On May 14th 1997 three young men... were surrounded by a 
group of armed men who started shooting at them, causing the death of 23 
year old DIOFANOR SANCHEZ CELADA.  The other two young men, LUIS 
HERNANDO DAVIS HIGUITA and ELKIN EMILIO TUBERQUIA SEPULVEDA, were 
beaten and threatened with death by the group of armed men.  According to 
the reports... the victims requested help form the Army unit quartered in 
this zone but the military did not pursue after the numerous assassins that 
were still around."

Regarding the homicide of DIOFANOR SANCHEZ CELADA, investigation 
No. 4884 has been put forward by the Sectional Delegate Attorney of 
Apartado.

Concerning the statement about "the victims requested help from the Army 
unit quartered in this zone..."; I inform you that there is no official report 
regarding these events in the Penal Mandate Military Courts.  Furthermore 
we have no knowledge that any denunciation or complaint was put forward 
to any other court or competent authority in the region.

Accordingly no procedural or extraprocedural petitions were made to the 
headquarters of the VOLTIGUEROS or VELEZ battalions.

Nevertheless the headquarters of the Seventeenth Brigade has requested 
Court 21 of Penal military mandate to initiate an investigation in order to 
determine their veracity.

CASE NO. 4  "Homicide of MR. RAMON JIMENEZ 5-15-97.  Arenas Altas 
settlement, San Jose de Apartado."

The Sectional Delegate Attorney of Apartado is advancing investigation NO. 
4878, concerning the homicide of RAMON ALFREDO JIMENEZ DUARTE.

CASE NO. 5 "Homicide of MR. FRANCISCO TABARQUINO.  5-17-97 In San 
Jose de Apartado." 

The Sectional Delegate Attorney of Apartado is advancing investigation NO. 
4876, concerning the above mentioned.

CASES NO. 6 and 7  "Concerning alleged occupation of the Vigia del Fuerte 
settlement by the paramilitary."  Because this settlement is not part of the 
jurisdiction of the Seventeenth Squad, we have no knowledge of these cases.

In the cases in which the National Army is directly accused of presumed 
intimidators of civilians, these accusations are tendentious and are aimed 
to obscure the image of the Military Institution.

These apocryphal accusations, a great proportion of which are made by non-
governmental entities, apparently defenders of Human Rights, attempt to 
withdraw the troops from the conflict zones, so that somehow the illegal 
groups may gain territory and fortify a zone.

The security procedures that take place in the conflict zones are held in 
order to guarantee a peace and do not attempt to frighten or intimidate 
civilians.

Furthermore your repeated requests have been answered timely as have been 
to the other local and international governmental and non-governmental 
organizations.

Finally, the Seventeenth Brigade has publicly denounced to the DIH all the 
violations that the illegal groups have incurred in.  Accordingly we have 
fought all the private delinquent groups (erroneously called paramilitary), 
as well as the narcosubversive groups...  This has been registered in the text 
handed over to the Dutch Parliament Delegate BRIGADIER GENERAL IAN 
JOHSTONE, and to the Subcomission of Prevention of Discrimination and 
Protection of Minorities of the United Nations.  There you can also find the 
following documents:

¥	Report on minors that have been withheld or that have deserted from 
the narco-bandit groups

¥	Extermination campaign orchestrated by the political movement Hope, 
Peace and Liberty, a wing of the FARC.

¥	Military actions committed by the National Army for the community 
through civilian-military cooperative work.

¥	Operation Results obtained by the Seventeenth Brigade in its struggle 
against the illegal groups.

¥	The situation of people displaced from Pavarando, municipal territory 
of 
Mulata, Antioqua.

¥	Report on Civilian-military action expeditions performed in 1996 and 
1997 by the Seventeenth Brigade troops.  

It is noteworthy that the NATIONAL ARMY, a state organization responsible
for guaranteeing PUBLIC ORDER in all national territory, has never tolerated
NOR will not tolerate the HORRORS that your describe, less be silence or
sponsor them.

The constitutional and legal reason for the Army to exist is precisely to 
avoid these barbaric events performed by all the illegal groups.





Signature
Brigadier General RITO ALEJO DEL RIO ROJAS
Commander of the Seventeenth Brigade


"URABA 2000 PLAN, A COMMITMENT OF THE NATIONAL ARMY"