29 April 1998

The Human Rights Collective Semillas de Libertad (Seeds of Freedom), made 
up of the organizations writing this denunciation, wishes to inform the 
national and international community of the events that occurred yesterday 
in El Pinar, in the municipio of Bello (Antioquia), where there is a 
settlement for those displaced by the violence. 

Facts:

1. Inhabitants of Uraba, Ituango, the northeast of Antioquia, Peque and other 
parts of the Antioquia Department who had been forced to flee occupied a 
plot of land in the municipio of Bello from March 1996, after having had no 
answer to their appeals from the municipal, departmental and national 
authorities.

2.On the 11th of April the police, with a Special Anti-guerilla Force, 
forcibly removed the people living in the Pinar area. At that time 7 leaders 
were arrested by members of that special force, and taken to the Police 
Headquarters in Bello, where they were treated like guerrillas, and told that 
the area would be militarized and house to house searches would be 
conducted.

3.On the 28th of April 1998 the authorities of Bello ordered those occupying 
the land to leave. Even the Consejero de Paz y Convivencia (Advisor for 
Peace and Cooperative Living) from the Bello municipio made it clear to 
representatives of the displaced and human rights organizations that "if you 
got here by force, you'll be made to leave by force". 

4. At about 4:00p.m. on the 28th April police from Bello showed up at the 
settlement and checked on the names of some of the inhabitants, letting 
them know at the same time that on the 29th, in the morning, the forced 
removal would begin. With them there was a woman, along with several 
other people in civilian clothes, who stated that "these H.P., we'll get them 
out of here one way or another."

5. Ten minutes after the Police left the settlement a group of 20 men turned 
up, in plain clothes, carrying weapons exclusive to the government forces 
and driving a 350 truck with a white cab. Several of them had their faces 
covered with ski-masks and were carrying cell phones and communications 
devices. 

6. One of the individuals who arrived there on the truck proceeded to point 
out several of the inhabitants who were beaten with rifle butts, thrown 
down on the ground face down and handcuffed. The men were separated from 
the women. 

7.These individuals claimed to be there on behalf of Carlos Castano, leader 
of the Cordoba and Uraba Campesino Self-Defense Group. Seven people were 
forcibly taken away:

EDGAR DURANGO Vicepresidente Junta de Acci—n Comunal LUIS PINEDA
	Presidente ComitŽ de Salud
MIGUEL GUERRA YANEZ	Integrante ComitŽ de Trabajo
RUBEN DARIO SEPULVEDA
HENRY RODRIGUEZ
MOISES QUIROZ

8.The residents were told that all the people in the settlement were 
involved in guerrilla activities and that by killing 40 of them the others 
would decide to collaborate as informants. Additionally the members of this 
armed group stated that "we already have all the leaders of the displaced 
and the human rights movement, and we're not going to give in to any NGO, 
this is just a warning from Carlos Castano. 

9 Codehsel, as soon as it knew of these events at about 5:20, went to 
various authorities (Attorney General, District Attorney of Medellin, 
Presidential Advisory Council for Peace, among others) asking for them to 
intervene so that the prisoners might be freed and those who had been 
forcibly disappeared could have their rights and saftey guaranteed. 

10. In spite of this, we have been informed that the Police showed up in the 
area after 6:00p.m., without carrying out any kind of investigation into the 
forcible disappearances that the above mentioned had suffered. 

11. At about 8:00pm Colonel Heran Bonilla was contacted, who informed us 
that, according to information from Colonel Arana, after an investigation it 
was confirmed that another abnormal had happened. It should be noted that 
at about 700 meters from the settlement for the displaced is the HQ for the 
Military Police, connected to the IV Brigade of the Army. 


The human rights organizations and social organizations who sign this 
current document want to state our indignation and repulsion at this new 
crime, where it is no longer just a case of wishing to bring about the 
displacement of entire communities, destroying their cultural and social 
environment, but that also in this politics of brutality against defenseless 
communities there is also a desire to eliminate those who have acted as 
leaders in the settlement, so that the authorities can fulfill their duties 
and obligations.

Medellin 29 April, 1998

Signed


Corporaci—n Jur’dica Libertad
Corporaci—n Sembrar
Asfaddes Sec. Medell’n
ComitŽ de Solidaridad con los Presos Pol’ticos Sec. Antioquia ComitŽ de 
Derechos Humanos de Segovia
Comisi—n de Derechos Humanos de Oriente Unido Corporaci—n Procuradores 
Comunitarios
Asociaci—n Campesina de Antioquia
Asociaci—n Nacional de Ayuda Solidaria Sec Valle de Aburr‡ Secretar’a de 
Derechos Humanos de Futran Comunidades Eclesiales de Base
Comisi—n Intercongregacional de Justicia y Paz Sec. Medell’n Grupo Justicia 
y Libertad
*********************************


The press today (April 30, 1998) announced the discovery of the bodies of 
the campesino leaders who had disappeared from El Pinal. 

Translated by:
Colombia Support Network
P.O. Box 1505  Madison, WI 53701