Santafé de Bogotá, December 10, 1998

Doctor

ANDRES PASTRANA ARANGO

President of the Republic

Doctor

GUSTAVO BELL

Vice-President of the Republic

Doctor

NESTOR HUMBERTO MARTINEZ

Interior Minister

Doctor

PARMENIO CUELLAR

Justice and Law Minister

Doctor

ALFONSO GOMEZ MENDEZ

Attorney General of Colombia

Doctor

JAIME BERNAL CUELLAR

National District Attorney

Doctor

JOSE FERNANDO CASTRO CAYCEDO

National Defender of the People

A heartfelt greeting..

Once again and for the third time, our Commission insists stubbornly in

bringing to your attention the drama that is underway in the so-called

"Door to Urabá", in the municipality of Dabeiba, in the Antioquia

Department. It is one more expression of the paramilitary structures that

are eroding the Rule of Law.

We cannot but to be profoundly shaken in the face of the demented and

atrocious actions that the peasants of Dabeiba have been suffering, most of

the time in silence.

We cannot simply look and remain silent in the presence of such a large

number of cut-up lives, of forced disappearances, of widows who cannot bury

their dead, of terrorized children, of anonymous displaced people, who live

in fear of saying anything because their oppressors make them pay for their

words with threats, disappearances, and death.

We cannot silence the real truth of those disappeared by force, who are

thrown into rivers so that the perpetrators scape punishment. We cannot

remain silent when faced with the checkpoints that are put in place during

the weekends 3 to 10 minutes from the urban edges of Dabeiba, on the road

that leads to the localities of Urama, La Balsita, and Camparusia. We

cannot remain silent when faced with the ultimatum: "Join us, die or

leave". We cannot remain silent when faced with the obvious harassment

that peasants suffer at the hands of paramilitaries at the stores where

they go to purchase foodstuffs. We cannot remain silent when faced with

the restrictions and the blockades that paramilitaries place on the entry

of foodstuffs to the towns that cling on the mountainsides of the Nudo de

Paramillo. We cannot remain silent when faced with the strict control that

paramilitaries have on intermunicipal transportation agencies and buses,

from where they define, list in hand, who will be their next victims. We

cannot remain silent when faced with the suffocating extortions that small

and middle retailers have to pay in order to support this machinery of

death. We cannot remain silent when faced with murders and assassinations,

persecutions and harassment that take place in Dabeiba's central park

and in its main street, without official response to them. We cannot

remain silent when faced with the large number of victims thrown into the

Riosucio River after having been tortured, burned with acid, decapitated,

or after being finished off or after being slit open so that their families

cannot given them a Christian burial or have a place where they can mourn.

We cannot remain silent when faced with the chill that penetrates to the

bone upon hearing that the tunnel at the location known as "La Llorona"

recalls vividly the practices of concentration camps. We cannot remain

silent when faced with the perpetration of such horrific crimes, many of

which have been committed openly in front of civil, police, and military

authorities without eliciting any reaction from them. We cannot remain

silent when faced with the complicity in the expansion and consolidation of

this paramilitary structure obvious in the silences, omissions, tolerance,

and abetting of and about such structure. We cannot remain silent when

faced with the free transit of paramilitary group members within the

confines of Dabeiba without any authorities assuming their

responsibilities. We cannot remain silent when faced with the easy life

that killers enjoy in public dancing places without the intervention of

control organizations. We cannot remain silent when faced with the open

dialogues that members of the public forces have held with paramilitaries

in the streets. We cannot remain silent when faced with the activities

that paramilitaries undertake inside the town with no reaction on the part

of the public forces. We cannot deny the activities of guerrilla groups in

the region, which many a time has transgressed the humanitarian norms of

war, generating human tragedies; but this fact cannot ignore the ethical

principles that humanity in its long struggle and its historical memory has

constructed in order to protect the Constitutional State. Nevertheless,

whenever the means used by that Constitutional State break the limits

accepted by it, not only does it become illegal, but illegitimate. And,

then, what sense of justice, truth, freedom, and beauty does the society

create when the murderers take refuge in the State to avoid punishment,

when the commission of such many crimes has the certain seal of impunity?

That is why, since what is at stake is the possibility of justice and of

reconstruction of the Constitutional State, we cannot remain silent when

faced State terror expressed in a counterinsurgency strategy as illegal and

illegitimate as that of paramilitarism.

We leave in your hands this moral evidence. It is born of our conviction

of believers and of the consciousness that the erosion of the

Constitutional State can only be reversed based on the principles of truth

and justice, and on the moral reparation of so many hundreds of victims.

These pages are a pallid reflection of hundreds of human rights violations,

of hundreds of crimes against humanity in the municipality of Dabeiba.

They are some cases that amid the fear, some witnesses or relatives of

victims have been able to share, after escaping the region. Some of theses

criminal actions have been so public that they could be hidden only with

great difficulty; others have been reconstructed in the memory of some

inhabitants who have not been able to bear in their conscience to keep such

daily tragedy, because remembering is difficult for them, but forgetting is

even more painful.

The daily strategy is embodied in the badly called "counterinsurgency"

struggle through which the terror is internalized, forces to be silent,

leads to the anonymous banishment, and imposes silence. Thus, it can be

understood through this moral declaration the why of the gaps in time, the

nameless victims, the facts without precise context. These limitations do

not express the ending of the strategy, but its apparent triumph. But,

these fallacies cannot deny the real truth, the daily martyrdom of the

inhabitants of Dabeiba.

JUNE 1997

* In the second week the paramilitary groups entered for the first time the

settlement of Llano Gordo and began threatening community members.

JULY - AUGUST 1997

* The FARC murdered JULIO CESAR DAVID, sixty-years old, EDUARDO, URIEL y

GONZALO.

* ALVARO TUBERQUIA, thirty-years- old, is murdered by paramilitaries after

being tied and tortured. The events took place near the settlement of

Betania, in the municipality of Dabeiba.

SUNDAY, JULY 13

* JHON JAIRO GUERRA is murdered at a paramilitary roadblock near Urama.

SUNDAY, JULY 20

* At about 2:00 a.m. about 80 men from the Peasant Self-Defenses of Córdoba

and Urabá (Autodefensas Campesinas de Córdoba y Urabá, ACCU) entered the

locality of La Balsita. In the first house they entered, they identified

themselves as members of the FARC, but as time they remained in the hamlet

passed by, they identified themselves as members of the paramilitary groups

that operate in the region. In one of the peasant houses, they murdered a

young man when he left the house running.

* At about 4:00 a.m. ROSENDO GUEVARA is murdered.

* Two hours later, about ten peasants that were in the hamlet of La Balsita

are detained by paramilitaries. They were forced to get on a bus, were

covered with guns, and were threatened with machetes. To the rest of the

population, the paramilitaries screamed: "This is so that you learn how to

recognize the paras".

Among the disappeared are MANUEL BERLY ACOSTA, father of five

underage kids, who was displaced from Riosucio, Chocó, in December 1996;

ARNULFO BELTRAN, MALENO MORALES, JAIME GRACIANO, MANUEL SALVADOR BERRIO,

FERNANDO MUÑOZ. The names of the rest of the disappeared are unknown

because their relatives fled the region.

Inhabitants of other hamlets say that 8 of the detained-disappeared

were seen as prisoners in two paramilitary roadblocks. According to what

some witnesses say, the peasants had their hands bound and were insulted

publicly by the group of paramilitaries. Since that day, the whereabouts

of these peasants are unknown.

SATURDAY, JULY 26

* At 2:30 p.m. in the municipality of Dabeiba, JOSE AGUSTIN ESPINAL,

resident of the area of Urama, is viciously beaten by several

paramilitaries. After leaving him on the ground, they dragged him to a

pick-up truck and lifted him onto it. His corpse was found at a site known

as El Remolino, next to another person by the name of OSCAR.

MONDAY, JULY 28

* In the Obrero neighborhood at Dabeiba, apparently at the hands of

paramilitaries, Mr. NOE DAVID is murdered.

* Paramilitaries demolished the bridge at Choromadó, on the road to the

place known as "El Pital."

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2

* At 3:00 a.m. 14 uniformed men, belonging to the Peasant Self-Defenses of

Córdoba and Urabá (Autodefensas Campesinas de Córdoba y Urabá) entered El

Pital. Among them, witnesses identified JAVIER GRACIANO, nicknamed

"Half-kiss" (medio beso). At about seven in the morning, they took from

their homes the peasants ARCADIO ESCOBAR, ARNOLDO DUARTE, RUBIELA RAMIREZ

and MANUEL DUARTE; as well as two Indians, ALVARO Y ENRIQUE DOMICO. They

forced ARNOLDO, ARCADIO y MANUEL to climb onto a paramilitary pick-up truck

to take them to the place known as Quebrada del Mohan. There, they

murdered ARCADIO.

According to the versions of some of the inhabitants, MANUEL

DUARTE, in an attempt to save his life, joined the paramilitaries. The

other three were taken to the Hacienda "El Pital", where, according to some

sources, operates a paramilitary base.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 3.

* At about 10:00 a.m., the peasants are moved to the site known as

Guayabito. Once there, the two Indians were given 17 lashes, while RUBIELA

was taken to a place in the area of Uramita. Up to now, the whereabouts of

those peasants remain unknown.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 9

* In the Alfonso López neighborhood, municipality of Dabeiba, ROBERTO PEREZ

and his son, who goes by the same name, are forcibly taken by members of

the Peasant Self-Defenses of Córdoba and Urabá. The whereabouts of these

two peasants are unknown. Testimonies by some witnesses indicate that they

were murdered and that their bodies were thrown away in the place known as

"La Llorona".

FRIDAY, AUGUST 10

* At the paramilitary roadblock erected in the place known as El Remolino,

FRANCISCO CORDOBA, a peasant from Urama, is murdered.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 16

* A group of paramilitaries murdered RAMIRO ANTONIO OQUENDO, after

torturing him and burning him with acid in some areas of his body. The

paramilitaries took RAMIRO from the bus in which he was traveling to

Mutatá. RAMIRO was with the other members of his youth group.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21

* A laborer, whose name is unknown, is murdered by paramilitaries in the

place known as Puente Blanco, less than one kilometer from the start of the

road that leads from Dabeiba to Mutatá.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22

* JOSE ANGEL HIGUITA, a loader, is taken by force by a paramilitary group

and taken to the Hacienda El Pital. He remains disappeared.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24

* LUIS ORLANDO DURANGO is forcibly detained by a paramilitary group and

taken to the site known as La Llorona. His whereabouts are unknown, but it

is pressumed that he was thrown over a precipice.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 26

* HERNAN ELADIO RAMIREZ is murdered by paramilitaries on the Victoria

Cárdenas neighborhood's soccer field located in the outer rings of Dabeiba.

MONDAY, AUGUST 27

* Paramilitaries murder JHON DANILO and RUBEN GARCIA at Puente Blanco. The

vehicle in which they travel is covered with graffiti that reads: "For

being guerrilla collaborators."

* Presumably at the hands of paramilitaries, ENID POSADA PEREZ is murdered

at the site known as "El Pital."

* Paramilitaries murder RAFAEL CARMONA in Dabeiba's surrounding area.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 30

* After being taken from the hamlet of El Pital, JOSE OCAMPO is forcibly

disappeared by paramilitaries. JOSE OCAMPO was a Unión Patriótica

sympathizer.

* An unidentified man is murdered in the area surrounding Dabeiba

FRIDAY, AUGUST 31

* Paramilitaries murder ADAN ESCOBAR after torturing him and burning him

with acid in various areas of his body. ADAN was detained at 6:00 a.m. by

the Peasant Self-Defenses of Córdoba and Urabá (Autodefensas de Córdoba y

Urabá) on the road that leads from Urama to Dabeiba. ADAN was a member of

the Unión Patriótica.

SEPTEMBER

* The Peasant Self-Defenses of Córdoba and Urabá (Autodefensas de Córdoba y

Urabá) murder 26-year-old MONICA PULGARIN. MONICA was traveling from

Dabeiba to Medellín, accompanied by his boyfriend, aboard a public service

bus. Upon leaving Dabeiba's environs, the paramilitary group halted the

bus on which the couple were. MONICA was forcibly removed from the bus.

Her body was found in Uramita, with signs of torture (fingernails ripped

out, broken back and legs, raped, hair pulled out).

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5

* FRANCISCO PINO, a 35-year-old man, is shot down by paramilitary groups a

few meters from the police station. His killers shot him at noon in

Dabeiba's main public square where he was with his wife and their

two-month-old baby. Injured, Francisco was forced to climb onto a

paramilitary pick-up truck. Minutes later, he was thrown over a precipice

in the place known as La Llorona.

WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12 AND 13

* All day the 12, paramilitaries prevented people from traveling to the

hamlet Llano Grande in Guaricama. ALBERTO USUGA y ALBERTO SIERRA were

detained on the 13 at the paramilitary roadblock, along with 3 other

people, who were summarily executed. ALBEIRO and ALBERTO, attempting to

save their life, accepted to become paramilitary "informers". After

ALBEIRO cooperated with the paramilitaries, he was murdered that same

November 14. His body was discovered with signs of torture and of acid

burns.

In the area of Llano Grande, the paramilitaries appeared first in July. At

that time, they gather all the inhabitants and threatened them by saying:

"We are going to clean up. . . .The people that are with the guerrillas

either leave or die." From then until November, there was in place a

blockade of supplies at the paramilitary roadblock at Guaricama. At the

beginning, the paramilitaries allowed goods of up to 40.000 pesos to go

through. A few days later, they were only allowing supplies of no more

than 25.000 pesos.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14

* At 4:00 a.m., an armed group of 50 men belonging to the so-called Peasant

Self-Defenses of Córdoba and Urabá (Autodefensas de Córdoba y Urabá),

entered the area of Llano Grande-Chimiadó. According to witnesses, members

of the Colombian Armed Forces belonging to the Coyara Battalion, based in

Mutatá, were recognized in this action. Among the paramilitaries, they

recognized ALBEIRO USUGA y ALBERTO SIERRA, a jail guard in Dabeiba. These

men arrived at the home of the MANCO USUGA family. There, they kidnapped

54-year-old FELIX ANTONIO MANCO; his sons, 24-year-old WILSON JAIRO, and

13-year-old ELIECER DE JESUS. FELIX's wife escaped alive. The three

kidnapped people were tortured and murdered at the roadblock at Urama's

bridge. Before murdering him, they dressed WILSON in guerrilla garb, and

paraded him in the area, saying he was a member of a subversive group. His

sons were found disfigured, burned with acid, and shot. FELIX was taken to

the site known as La Llorona, where he was thrown over a precipice. His

body could not be located.

Upon leaving the area, the paramilitaries announced that they would return

in January, emphasizing: "We still have five to extract."

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23

* Via the Sinú River, a large contingent of paramilitaries entered the

region. In their incursion they murdered ANANIAS GUISADO, President of the

Communal Action Association of Antazales; MILTON DAVID y PEDRO MONTOYA.

They had been detained in Buena Vista, in the farm belonging to SIMEON

TORRES, at about 5:00 p.m. ANANIAS was told by the paramilitary that his

cattle belonged to the guerrillas. He was taken with his two neighbors.

Their lifeless bodies were found with visible signs of torture, quartered,

burned with acid, and decapitated. According to some versions, ANANIAS and

PEDRO were buried in the same site were they were found. MILTON's body was

buried in Tocunal after one of his brothers claimed it.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24

* ALEJANDRO HIGUITA is murdered by paramilitaries. Neighbors found his

body in the place known as Epifanio, Loma Alta, in the locality of

Antazales. His body exhibited torture signs and rope markings on the neck.

It is presumed that he was murdered the same day he was kidnapped.

ALEJANDRO left home on November 24 to go to La Balsita in order to do some

shopping. On the way, he ran into an armed group belonging to the Peasant

Self-Defenses of Córdoba and Urabá (Autodefensas de Córdoba y Urabá) who

came from Argelia. His body was discovered at the site called Patahuevo,

Nudo Paramillo. ALEJANDRO was buried in the hamlet of La Balsita on

December 1. In the locality of Antazales, after murdering four people and

disappearing two more, the paramilitaries burned down eight houses.

* ROSALBA USUGA and her 18-year-old son, JOAQUIN EMILIO; wife and son of

ANANIAS GUISADO USUGA, are murdered. The crime took place at 4:00 a.m., in

the presence of 5-year-old, PAOLA ANDREA, 7-year-old JUAN CAMILO GUISADO;

7-year-old JONATHAN GUISADO; and CARLOS MARIO GUISADO. The whereabouts of

these minors are unknown. The oldest son, FLORENTINO, is taken by the

paramilitaries and forced to drive cattle. Later, he escaped.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25

* Early in the morning, the Peasant Self-Defenses of Córdoba and Urabá

(Autodefensas de Córdoba y Urabá) enter Tocunal, and from there the

mobilize towards Antazales. At 7:00 a.m., they went house to house to

inform the inhabitants that they were going to burn down the homes, and

that they had until 6:00 p.m. to leave the area. They also threatened the

inhabitants by saying: "if you do not leave, then, the bombings will come."

They also forced the youngsters to gather all the cattle because they were

going to take it with them. After some minutes, they burned down 8 homes

and blew several bridges that communicate Antazales with other hamlets.

* The Peasant Self-Defenses of Córdoba and Urabá (Autodefensas de Córdoba y

Urabá), enter 46-year-old SIMEON TORRES's home. In the presence of his

niece, he was tied down. He was accused of being a guerrilla collaborator,

was beaten, and taken to a nearby bridge. Once there, he was placed in the

middle of the bridge tied to a metal rod, and blown to pieces with a

dynamite charge.

* At 2:00 p.m., the same paramilitary group detained 42-year-old REINALDO

RAMIREZ, in the locality of Antazales. REINALDO's whereabouts are unknown.

His abusers burned down his home. His wife and four children remained in

the brush for four days.

* In the same incursion, they murdered 48-year-old LUZ ENYDA and MARCOS

DUARTE in their own farm, "El Sande", located in Galilea. After being shot

to death with rifles, their house was burned down and their cattle stolen.

Their bodies were eaten by vultures.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26

* When the paramilitaries entered the region of La Balsita, they murdered

32-year-old HERIBERTO AREIZA. They shot HERIBERTO once in the head and

gouged his eyes out.

* 35-year-old JESUS AREIZA is detained, tortured and hanged. These events

took place in La Balsita.

* 16-year-old RICAURTE MONROY AREIZA, is murdered by paramilitaries in La

Balsita. After gouging his eyes out, and burning his legs with acid,

RICAURTE was decapitated. His extrajudicial execution occurred about 4:00

p.m., while he was going to a relative's farm.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27

* Paramilitaries shot to death 60-year-old OSCAR VALDERRAMA and his

25-year-old son, ALFONSO in the hamlet of Tocunal, while they were roasting

coffee. Both were members of a Pentecostal church.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29

* On the previous day, there is a simulacrum of a confrontation between the

army and the paramilitaries.

* 17-year-old LUIS ALBERTO AVENDAÑO is murdered by paramilitaries.

Apparently, LUIS resisted them.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14

* A 13-year-old girl that was in Dabeiba's hospital was kidnapped by a

group of armed men. Next day, her lifeless body was found at the morgue.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16

* MAURICIO PRIETO, an officer of the Armed Forces, invited the displaced

communities of the hamlet of La Balsita, who are now in the vicinity of

Dabeiba, to return to their plots. The officer expressed that "Over there,

an army unit is located. . .We give you security. . .You are people of the

land. . .We are going to give out I.D. cards. . .And do not forget that

whoever gives the guerrillas even a glass of water should be very aware of

the consequences."

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17

* Paramilitaries threatened a La Balsita displaced youth while he was

having a refreshment in Dabeiba's "Las Delicias" cafeteria.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18

* At Urama's bridge, armed men, dressed in civilian clothes, who identified

themselves as Peasant Self-Defenses of Córdoba and Urabá (Autodefensas de

Córdoba y Urabá), made all passengers get off a bus, requesting identity

documents and threatening them. They bound the hands and feet of two

20-year-olds who were on the bus, put them in a car, and took them away.

One of them, who offered resistance was hit in the head and furiously

beaten all over the body.

* An older man, a salesman in Camparusia, was shot and thrown into the

river. The paramilitaries told the peasants not to comment about the

events with anyone.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24

* In the hamlet of El Páramo, near Tocunal, paramilitaries murder EDISSON

GUERRA at about 8:00 p.m. EDISSON was a member of the Pentecostal church.

OCTOBER

* GLORIA GRACIANO, a neighbor of the hamlet called Guadualito, is murdered

with a shot to the temple at a paramilitary roadblock. GLORIA was pregnant.

* Paramilitaries murder JHON GILDER MANCO, a resident of Agualinda, while

he is selling his coffee crop at a store in the outskirts of Dabeiba.

After being murdered, he was thrown on a pick-up truck. His dead body was

abandoned in the "La Llorona" tunnel.

* Just outside Dabeiba, paramilitaries murder IVAN QUIROZ, resident of El

Mango.

NOVEMBER

* EDGAR MANCO and two young men whose last name was FRANCO are murdered by

paramilitaries.

A woman was forced by well-armed men to have sexual relations with them.

She was told: "If you do not obey, we will rape you. . .If it is not us, it

will be those who follow us." This took place before paramilitaries entered

La Balsita. Various versions indicate that military units were in the area.

JANUARY 2

* 30-year-old PABLO EMILIO TUBERQUIA is murdered at about 2:00 p.m. after

being forced into a double-cabin green pick-up truck used by paramilitary

groups. His body was abandoned outside Dabeiba in the place known as La

Llorona.

* 20-year-old ARLEY UZUGA is murdered by paramilitary units, and his body

thrown in the place known as La Llorona.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24

* Several men who identified themselves as members of the office of the

public prosecutor from Bogotá, after collecting information from a peasant

woman, called more than 10 displaced peasants to render testimony in the

offices of Dabeiba's Municipal Council. Among those that testified was

FRANCISCO JAVIER MONTOYA, a displaced community leader who was murdered

five months later by paramilitaries. To one of the peasant women, they

asked about her husband who was disappeared on July 20, 1997. To respond

to the questions, she said that "he was a hard-working peasant." They

recriminated her by saying that "we know that he is a militia commander."

In the declarations that with fear and mistrust the peasants gave before

the public prosecutor's officers, the peasants felt that the interrogation

was oriented towards the ratification of information that the officers had

and presumed to be true.

FEBRUARY

* Paramilitary groups murder MANUEL ZAPATA and GLORIA AGUDELO in the

Antazales hamlet, area of La Balsita, in the last week of February. Two of

his daughters are disappeared. According to peasant versions,

paramilitaries destroyed the few possessions they owned, destroyed their

homes, and stole their cattle. The authorities report not to have any

knowledge of these events in spite of the information presented by the

peasants.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11

* Six displaced peasants are detained between nine and ten in the morning

by two police officers, who take them to the police station. Both the

place of their abode and the station are at the principal square in

Dabeiba. The two peasants were kept at the station for 30 minutes. When

they asked the reasons for their detention, they were told: "Because we can

suspect of anyone and we must check them out for criminal background." It

was added that they had to "check" five or six a day. The peasants had to

show their "cédula" (identity card) and saw that their numbers were

registered into a book.

THURSDAY, MARCH 12

* At a meeting attended by Dabeiba's parish priest, a Catholic nun, an Army

officer, an International Red Cross Committee delegate, two officers from

the Mayor's office, and several members of the displaced community, the

issue of a possible return home was discussed. The peasants expressed

difficulties in two fronts. In the first place, there were problems due to

the control over foodstuffs and to the economic blockade imposed by

paramilitaries at their roadblocks. Moreover, they expressed the need of

protection in the various hamlets to avoid becoming military targets. A

displaced woman said that at a previous meeting, the proposal emanating

from Army Officer PRIETO about protection was: "If anyone gives even a

glass of water to the guerrillas, should be very aware of the

consequences." The officer who was present at this meeting became upset.

SATURDAY, APRIL 11

* At 3:00 p.m., when in the company of his brother and a 5-year-old nephew,

he was on a "Gómez Hernández" company bus destined for Chigorodó, a group

belonging to the Peasant Self-Defenses of Córdoba and Urabá (Autodefensas

de Córdoba y Urabá) detained and disappeared 22-year-old CARLOS ENRIQUE

MASO VARGAS, a displaced peasant from the hamlet of Antazales, La Balsita

area, municipality of Dabeiba. His lifeless body was found four days

later, on the Riosucio River banks, near the municipality of Mutatá. When

the bus reached the site known as "La Llorona", 10 minutes from Dabeiba, a

group of men, in civilian outfits and riding a pick-up truck, made the bus

stop, got on board and went directly to CARLOS ENRIQUE's seat. They forced

the other passengers to remain silent, and in their presence, they beat him

and forced them off the bus. As they did so, they screamed: "For being a

guerrillero."

* Accused of being a guerrillero for not having a hand, ALVARO GAVIRIA, a

displaced peasant from the area of La Balsita, who is staying at the site

of the Liberal Directory of Antioquia, was threatened by paramilitaries

SATURDAY, JULY 4

* FRANCISCO JAVIER MONTOYA, leader of the displaced communities of La

Balsita, is murdered by paramilitaries. The bus in which FRANCISCO JAVIER

traveled was stopped by the group five minutes outside Dabeiba in the site

known as the straight of "La Papayera". FRANCISCO was forced to get off,

was beaten, and made sit down on the road. He was questioned about his

work, was vilified as "guerrilla snitch", and was accused of manipulating

the displaced peoples. Afterwards, they took his hat off and shot him

three times: first in the chest, then in the mouth, and finally, in the

temple. The paramilitary, then, ordered the vehicle to continue its trip.

Meanwhile, they put FRANCISCO's lifeless body in a blue pick-up truck,

license plates KFD 965 Medellín. The truck went in the direction of the

Bridge at Urama. In spite of the many efforts by relatives and friends,

the whereabouts of FRANCISCO's body remain unknown.

SUNDAY, JULY 19

* At Dabeiba's public bus stop, members of paramilitary groups got on a bus

in which several peasants were traveling to the hamlet of Antadó. Inside

the vehicle, they verbally mistreated the passengers, and requested that

these showed their identification documents. Later, the paramilitaries

ordered the driver to start the vehicle. The known paramilitaries followed

the bus on a motorcycle. After some kilometers, they ordered all

passengers off the bus. One of these, from the hamlet of Llano Grande, was

accused of being a "guerrilla collaborator". Then, they beat him savagely,

threw him on the ground, and insulted him. Gravely injured, he was put on

the motorcycle and taken back to Dabeiba. The whereabouts of this peasant

are unknown.

FRIDAY, JULY 24

* In the area of La Balsita, farm "El Jilguero 5", paramilitaries, some

with their faces covered, asked the lady of the house for ANASTASIO ARANGO.

Minutes later, they ran into him on the road, shot at him, but ANASTASIO

could escape. In the same action, the paramilitaries killed two cows.

* During the night, members of the same group arrived at the "La Linda"

farm, dressed in military garb, some with hoods, and one wearing a

sweatshirt. They put a gun to the lady of the house's head, beta an old

man on the chest, physically assaulted a minor, and asked them about a

young man. Later, they threatened all of inhabitants of the finca saying:

"If we ever find that young man in the house, all of you are as good as

dead."

SUNDAY, JULY 26

* Paramilitaries murder the owner of farm "La Cerrazón" in the central

street of Dabeiba, Uribe Uribe Street. He was shot from a yellow taxi in

which there were two armed men.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2

* Paramilitaries brought a peasant from the hamlet of Carrá, tied him down,

killed him, and threw him into the Riosucio River, in the site known as "La

Llorona".

* A peasant, JUAN DE JESUS CARDONA, from the hamlet of Llano Grande is

murdered by paramilitaries. JUAN DE JESUS was traveling from Dabeiba's

skirt to his house in a public transportation vehicle. In it, there were

two paramilitaries who, at the straight of "La Papayera", forced JUAN DE

JESUS to get off the bus. Then, they tied his hands behind his back, and

with a new machete that he had just bought, injured him. They ordered him

to get on their car, and since he was not able to do so, threw him on the

ground face first. As they beat him they accused him of being a

"collaborator" of the guerrillas. Meanwhile, they threatened the other

passengers, warning them that they could face the same fate for being

guerrilla "collaborators." They left the passengers at the site known as La

Papayera, and forced the driver to take them to another location known as

Las Partidas de Chimiadó. There, the forced the peasant down and told the

driver to wait for them. After some minutes, shots were heard. The

paramilitaries returned, got on the vehicle, and returned to La Papayera to

pick up the other passengers. It is believed that the body was thrown into

the river from the Bridge of Urama.

MONDAY, AUGUST 3

* Paramilitaries detain and disappear a couple and a youngster in Dabeiba.

These were taken to the Bridge Sábano near the Revenidero. Twenty minutes

later, the killers return to Dabeiba without the prisoners. Next day, the

youngster is found. The couple's whereabouts are unknown. At noon,

paramilitaries take a man out of a bar in Dabeiba and disappear him.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 30

* JOSE HIGUITA is murdered by paramilitaries. A well-known paramilitary

told him: "get in this car that we are going to do one in." After several

minutes, he was taken out of the car and murdered. During the peasant

exodus from the area of Antazales, paramilitaries facilitated JOSE's trip

towards the Sinú, where he was for a while at the hamlet of El Tomate in

the municipality of San Pedro de Urabá. Later, he went to live at Tierra

Alta Córdoba, and four months afterwards, he returned to Dabeiba,

fulfilling information gathering activities for paramilitary groups that

operate in the area.

* At about 4:30 p.m., a man who traveled on a motorcycle belonging to

paramilitary groups, parked in front of the refuge where are located the

Displaced Communities of the Area of La Balsita. Later, he asked: "Is the

"blondie" here?" The displaced answered that they did not know her. Then,

he insisted: "that woman, the one called "the blondie." He was talking

about a displaced community leader, who had participated in dialogues with

the local and national authorities. In several arenas she has denounced

the existing ties between the Army and paramilitary groups. His husband

was disappeared on July 20, 1997.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8

* At farm "El Alto", Llano Grande hamlet, FARC guerrillas took JAIME URREGO

DUARTE out of his house and murdered him on the road.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

* José María Córdoba FARC's unit, operating in fronts 5, 34, 57 and 58,

occupied the urban area of Dabeiba for 12 hours, between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00

a.m. next day. From 4:00 p.m., the guerrillas set up two roadblocks, one

at the entrance of Dabeiba, on the road from Medellín; and another at the

entrance of the road that comes from Mutatá. Such guerrilla presence

remained until well into the evening of September 25. In the guerrilla

incursion, the FARC blew up a supermarket belonging to the VANEGAS family,

and the Banco Cafetero offices. They also caused serious damage to the

Caja Agraria and the Banco de Bogotá, as well as the site of Empresa

Departamental de Telefonía de Antioquia, EDATEL. As they came into

Dabeiba, and at the roadblocks, the guerrillas said: "We come for the

paramilitaries, not the policemen."

During the guerrilla occupation, there were 8 people dead, 19 injured and,

according to some versions, 15 kidnapped people. The civilians who died

are: HONORIO DE JESUS CARTAGENA, MAURICIO GIRALDO,

JAVIER HIGUITA, OTALVARO PALACIO, SAID GIRALDO, ARTURO DURANGO. These

policemen also died: DALTAN ARAUJO VIDAL, RENE MAURICIO TORO. Injured are:

the civilians EFRAIN HIGUITA, MARTIN ALONSO VELAZQUEZ, DORA SOL LOPEZ,

GUSTAVO TORO LOPEZ, ALFREDO TORO LOPEZ, JHON CARTAGENA, HENRY BEDOYA,

SALVADOR PANIAGUA, JESUS BEDOYA, HUMBERTO SILVA, ALVARO TORRES, and the

policemen HUMBERTO SIERRA, PEDRO SOLER, JHON BOTERO, JOSE DIAZ, GUSTAVO

MORA, ELMER GARCIA, OSCAR ZAPATA, ARTURO GONZALEZ

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

* In the afternoon, about fifty Army units march through the streets of

Dabeiba and follow the road that leads to the hamlets of Camparusia, Llano

Grande, Urama and La Balsita. They are mobilized along the paramilitaries

from the urban center of Dabeiba. Another significant number of military

units remained in the municipality.

* Paramilitary groups distributed pamphlets in the areas surrounding

Dabeiba, in which they warn: "we are not responsible for what takes place

in the homes near guerrilla encampments, nor in the houses where guerrillas

stay, even though they may be in civilian outfits. Our war fronts will

arrive very soon to combat the guerrillas."

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

* In the morning, four paramilitaries under the command of one of their

leaders, nicknamed "Escalera," set up a roadblock, just three minutes from

Dabeiba on the road that leads to Urama. There, they distributed a leaflet

in which they declare war on the guerrilla at the same time that they tell

the peasants not to collaborate with the guerrillas. It is the same

leaflet that has been distributed in other areas of the country.

* At about 6:30 p.m., two caged trucks transporting about 50 armed men,

presumed to be paramilitaries, enter Dabeiba.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

* At 7:00 p.m., two well known paramilitaries, one of them nicknamed "La

Lombriz" went to ROBERTO ANTONIO's home in the Víctor Cárdenas

neighborhood. They beat him up, tied him up, and forced him to get on a

motorcycle that took the road towards Urama. Days later, a version

circulated, according to which, ROBERTO was able to escape after struggling

with his captors. "La Lombriz" was taken to Dabeiba in order to receive

medical attention.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

* Two uniformed men, one belonging to the National Police and the Other to

the Army, entered the refuge where the Displaced from the Hamlet of La

Balsita are housed. When one of the people that escort the displaced

questioned one of the uniformed about his activities, he responded: "I am

just taking a walk." The uniformed men tried to collect information about

the community, without offering any explanation about the reasons or the

purpose of their questions.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2

* In the morning, the well-known paramilitary, "Escalera," entered a

crockery shop and demanded that she pay him 50.000 pesos owed for the

"vaccination" from the month before. The lady refused to pay, arguing that

she "had not been able to sell anything and that she had been forced to

borrow money in order to buy groceries." The paramilitary threatened her,

telling her: "pay, leave the municipality, or die." The lady answered him

vociferously: "kill me and get it over with."

* In the afternoon, the local radio station, "Radio Ciudad Dabeiba",

alerted the populace, announcing a simulacrum of an army takeover of the

urban area.

* Within Dabeiba and in the hamlets surrounding the municipality, a

paramilitary detachment announced the demand for payment of "vaccinations"

saying that "those who do not pay must leave since they are guerrilla

collaborators."

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5

* From 7:30 a.m. until 12:30 a.m., in the former facilities of the military

base, in the Bernardo Guerra neighborhood, several explosions were heard.

According to CARLOS MAURICIO TORRES, the National Police Commander, "they

were part of training exercises."

* The blue pick-up truck of the well-known paramilitary nicknamed

"Escalera" parked in front of the site where the Displaced from the Hamlet

of La Balsita are provisionally lodged. Then, he went into a store next

door. During most of the day, 5 motorcycles of high cylinder capacity,

used by the paramilitaries remained in front of the refuge for the

displaced.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6

* A bus traveling from Dabeiba to Camparusia was followed by a white and

blue on which two well-known paramilitaries were traveling. These two had

been parading downtown Dabeiba. When the vehicle arrived at the Urama

Bridge, they forced it to stop, and demanded that the passengers get off.

Two of the peasants aboard were detained and asked why they had left

Chirigodó. Then, the rest of the passengers were ordered to get back on

the bus to continue their trip. Since then, the whereabouts of the two

peasants is unknown.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8

* During the morning, a series on intense explosions was heard for an

hour-and-a-half, coming form the old military base.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9

* Renewed explosions were heard coming from the old military base.

* Encounters between the Army and the guerrillas in the area of Chever,

which lies between the municipalities of Mutatá y Dabeiba.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10

* From early in the morning, paramilitaries set up a roadblock at the

straight of "La Papayera", on the road that leads to La Balsita. They

stopped one of the "chivas" (buses) and questioned all minors aboard; then,

they wrote down the name of JORGE ELIECER MANCO. later, they ordered the

driver to continue the trip.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11

* On the road straight "La Papayera," paramilitaries stopped a bus on which

BERNARDO GRACIANO was traveling. BERNARDO was forced to get off the bus,

was tied up, and taken away. Since then, his whereabouts are unknown.

* All day long, paramilitaries stopped vehicles going to Camparusia and La

Balsita. They warned drivers and passengers that within eight days,

paramilitaries would hold a meeting with farm owners and coffee producers.

To all, they advised to seek Mr. OCTAVIO CARTAGENA, an active member of the

Convivir, in order to find out the place for the meeting.

* FARC guerrillas murdered LUIS CARLOS HENAO, brother of a man nicknamed

"Colacho", presumably member of the Convivir or of a paramilitary group.

* At a paramilitary blockade in the Nuevo neighborhood, four paramilitaries

dressed in civilian clothes, forced 14-year-old RUBEN DARIO USUGA AREIZA to

get off the collective bus going to La Balsita. They interrogated him and

threatened him saying: " We hope not to see you around here again because

if we see you, you know what will happen to you." The paramilitaries stole

the provisions that two families carried.

* Members of the Displaced Communities of the Area of La Balsita addressed

the Mayor, ANTONIO VARELA, to request their provisions. The Mayor answers:

"What good is the NGO that is with you, only to denounce our bad deeds?

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13

* Unknown persons muredered CAMILO DAVID at the site known as "El

Encierro", on the road that leads from Urama to La Balsita.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15

* Members of the FARC guerrillas murder CAMILO TORRES, in the urban area of

Urama.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16

* At the site known as Alto Bonito, in the farm "La Golondrina," located on

the road that leads from Dabeiba to Mutatá, a group of FARC guerrillas

asked for two workers and for the owner, ANGEL GOES, to whom they accused

of being allied with the paramilitaries. Since the guerrillas could not

find them, they took 95 cattle and two mules. Next day, ANGEL GOES and his

son went to look for the guerrillas in order to recuperate their cattle.

Their whereabouts are unknown.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17

* Paramilitaries searched the bus that covers the route Dabeiba - La

Balsita at the bus stop located in the center of the municipality. They

requested to see the purchase bills for the supplies they were carrying.

The events occurred on the main road, a few meters away from where the

National Police and the Army patrol.

* At about 8:00 in the evening seven vehicles (pick-ups and "chivas"

--buses) were seen moving towards Urama, carrying uniformed and very well

armed men. An hour later, they returned. Based on this it is possible

that they could have reached "El Encierro."

* Paramilitaries gathered together for several hours at "El campesino."

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18

* The paramilitary road blockade of the Nuevo neighborhood operated all day

long.

* OCTAVIO CARTAGENA, a well-known member of the Convivir, and two reputed

paramilitaries, among them one nicknamed "Caballo," set up a roadblock at

the Urama bridge. There, they threatened a 14-year-old girl. She was

interrogated and threatened. They had done the same three months before to

her 10-year-old sister.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 19

* The army shot ORLANDA ESTRADA, in the hamlet La Chiquita, on the road

between Urama and San Agustín. ORLANDA and her sister, who were returning

from gathering firewood, happen upon a group of soldiers who were eating

breakfast. When they saw the men, they escaped running. The soldiers shot

in their direction and injured ORLANDA in the stomach. The army took both

of them to Dabeiba's hospital by helicopter, warning them no to say

anything and that they "would take care of everything." Later, the badly

injured ORLANDA, and her shellshocked sister were taken to Medellín. On

October 30, ORLANDA died at San Vicente Hospital. Her cadaver was

transported to Dabeiba.

* Inhabitants of the area testify that paramilitaries and soldiers traveled

together from Urama to Camparusia.

* The businessmen who own the drugstore "Dabeiba" were forced to abandon

the municipality. They were accused by paramilitaries of aiding the

guerrillas because when the FARC took medicines out of the place, they did

not damage the locale. Moreover, they had celebrated Valentine's day on

September 26, which paramilitaries interpreted as a party to celebrate the

arrival of the FARC in town.

* At a meeting in which the Mayor, other members of the municipal

administration, and members of the diocese, among them the Bishop of

Santafé de Antioquia, Monsignor IGNACIO GOMEZ ARISTIZABAL, representatives

of the displaced clearly and emphatically rebuked the Mayor for all the

promises made and not fulfilled. The upset Mayor expressed that such

recriminations got them nowhere. At the end of the meeting, the Mayor

approached a female representative of the displaced and told her: "You were

quite a loud-mouth today."

* Paramilitaries murdered 61-year-old FILEMON CASTAÑO and his 20-year-old

cousin OMAR GIRALDO. Both were taken from their home, and on the road

between the sites known as Fuemia and Barrancas, they were tortured, tied

down, and decapitated. The bodies were abandoned on the same road.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28

* In the area of Urama, men who identified themselves as belonging to

paramilitary organizations, detained and threatened an underage boy. He

was a witness of a roadblock set up by paramilitaries. These took his

machete and put it to his throat at the same time that said: "What do you

want? Don't you know the paramilitaries" At the end, they let him go.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29

* Three paramilitaries set up a roadblock in the area of Urama. There,

vehicles were inspected, passengers checked into books, and some peasants

were threatened and questioned about guerrilla presence in the area.

* In the afternoon, on the banks of the Riosucio River, the body of an old

man was found. It showed clear signs of torture all over, and had the head

deformed due to gun butt blows.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30

* All day long, there was a paramilitary roadblock at Urama.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2

* On the road that connects Dabeiba with Medellín, three passengers who

identified themselves as paramilitaries, stopped the bus at the site known

as Río Verde. There, they forced three men off the bus, but allowed two of

them to return to the vehicle. The person that remained with them was shot

in front of the passengers. His cadaver was abandoned.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8

* AT 6:30 a.m., at the roadblock set up at the Urama bridge, paramilitaries

made peasant LEONEL DAVID get off the bus that covered the route between

Dabeiba and La Balsita. Since then, his whereabouts are unknown.

* Paramilitaries murdered a lady of about 56 years of age. She was

traveling on a bus from Dabeiba to Camparusia. She was forced off the bus,

shot, and her body thrown into the Riosucio River.

* Between 9 and 10 in the morning, three military helicopters flew over the

western area of Dabeiba while the paramilitaries did their routine week-end

roadblocking.

* Paramilitaries murdered peasant FIDELINO PUERTO. FIDELINO was on the bus

that covers the route between Dabeiba and Camparusia. Near Urama, he was

forced off the vehicle and shot to death in front of the other passengers.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11

* In the Cuchillo hamlet, paramilitaries murder EMILIO DAVID.

* Paramilitaries disappear a 14-year-old girl from Dabeiba.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14

* At 7:30 a.m., HERNAN ANTONIO got aboard a bus belonging to the "Gómez

Hernández" company, at the main square in Dabeiba. At this place, there is

police and military presence. Meanwhile, two paramilitaries, one of them

about 14 years of age, and the other the reputed paramilitary "Alquiber,"

got on the bus to inspect it, but got off immediately. Ten minutes later,

after the bus started its route towards Medellín, it was forced to stop by

the two paramilitaries who were riding a motorcycle of high cylinder

capacity. The bus stopped near farm "El Pital," in a place known as "El

Mango." "Alquiber", the paramilitary, gets on the bus and, pointing to

HERNAN ANTONIO, he says: "You". HERNAN ANTONIO obeys and when he is about

to descend from the bus, tells the driver: "Tell my dad. . ." At that

moment, the paramilitary grabs him by the neck and shoots him twice in the

head. HERNAN ANTONIO's body is sort of suspended in the air, and

"Alquiber" kicks it all the way to the edge of the road. Later, he tells

the driver: "Ready, brother. Continue." The two paramilitaries returned to

their powerful motorcycle and go right through the place where police and

army forces are.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29

* At the end of a pilgrimage to the locality of La Balsita to mark the

first anniversary of the displacement of more than 500 peasants of this

area of the municipality of Dabeiba, two bus drivers hired by the church

were recriminated by paramilitaries, who expressed in a threatening manner

their disagreement with the fact that they had allowed two banners to be

displayed. They read: "Remembering pains us, but forgetting pains us more,

Displaced from La Balsita;" and "Return and relocation with dignity,

Displaced Communities of La Balsita." Another banner of the Group of

Support to the Displaced, association that groups together 12 NGO national

human rights organizations, read: "No more forced displacement." Priests

and nuns from various areas of the country, and international journalists

and delegations were present at the pilgrimage.

We wish to leave with you another list of victims about whom we know only

sketchy information, but whose context, nevertheless, can present clues

about those responsible for the crimes. These events occurred during the

second semester of 1997.

* ALBERTO ANIBAL TUBERQUIA, murdered by paramilitaries in August.

* PATRICIA CARDONA, murdered by paramilitaries in September.

* NUBIA, murdered on August 12.

* EDILBERTO UZUGA, who lived in Camparusia, murdered by paramilitaries.

* JHON JAIRO GUERRA, murdered at the paramilitary roadblock in the area of

Urama.

* Peasant by the last name of BERRIO, murdered presumably by paramilitaries

on September 5.

* MARIA IRIS BENITEZ GUZMAN presumably murdered by paramilitaries at a

place known as "Cruces."

* LUIS ALDANA, ALBERTO ARBOLEDA, JESUS DARIO GOEZ, N.N, murdered in

Chichiridó on September 13.

* MORELIA RUEDA, murdered at El Pital.

* MANUEL ALBERTO PARRA GOEZ, murdered at El Remolino on September 21.

* ARTURO CANO, murdered on September 26 at Puente Blanco, presumably at the

hands of paramilitaries.

* N.N. and N.N., murdered on September 28 at El Guadual.

* EDGAR MANCO, and peasant N.N., both murdered on September 28.

* JUAN DE JESUS BEDOYA, murdered at Puente Blanco on September 28.

* YAMER ENRIQUE GAVIRIA HIGUITA, FELIX MANCO, WILSON MANCO, murdered at

Llano Gordo on September 29.

* N.N., murdered at La Palmita.

* ALBERTO MARTINEZ, murdered on October 6.

* JHON YERSON ALVAREZ, murdered on October 6 at Patio Rico.

* SOTO, murdered on October 9 at Patio Rico.

* CARLOS VERA murdered in the hamlet of Armenia.

* EMILIO AREIZA, murdered at Antadó on October 11.

* JOSELITO HIGUERA, murdered at Llano Gordo.

* Peasant FRANCO, murdered at El Pital.

* LEANDRO DOMINGO HIGUITA, murdered in Dabeiba on October 13.

* JESUS AREIZA, tortured.

* ANIBAL SUAREZ, murdered by paramilitaries at a roadblock near Urama.

* HERNAN CORREA, from Camparusia, murdered by paramilitaries.

* CECILIO TUBERQUIA, murdered by paramilitaries.

* ENRIQUE CORDOBA CHARRASCAL, murdered at a paramilitary roadblock.

* N.N. and N.N., murdered by paramilitaries downtown Dabeiba on December 14.

* N.N., murdered by paramilitaries at the Urama bridge.

* N.N. and N.N., disappeared by paramilitaries at the Urama bridge.

* EDISSON GUERRA,murdered at Tocunal.

* N.N., murdered at Dabeiba.

Thus, we conclude this painful voyage. We cannot but ask ourselves the

reasons why our three previous calls and our clamoring to stop the

bloodbath, to prevent this death machinery from imposing its merciless

crimes on a defenseless population, have not been heard.

In our previous reports, we adduced exact information about the facts, its

circumstances, the operation of the death machinery, the complicity of

public forces, police and Convivir, all of who, thanks to such omission and

lack of response, continue to enjoy all of the help necessary to operate

openly with its iron face uncovered.

How can one understand that two paramilitary roadblocks are set up every

week-end right under the noses of civil, police, and military forces

without any of these responding to that fact? How come the paramilitaries

are not arrested? What further proof is required? How can one explain the

strict control that paramilitaries maintain over public transportation and

over the foodstuffs that peasants need as much for mobilization as for

sustenance, without any effort on the part of the authorities to

put an end to such abuses? How is it possible that this terror structure

operates openly on the streets of the towns, but no municipal,

departmental, or national authority attempts to hound, capture, and

prosecute those responsible for such outrageous crimes and abuses against

the population? How can one understand the harassment, the hounding, the

accusations, the persecution, the murders bestowed upon the displaced

people that are lodged in the offices of the Liberal Directorate of

Antioquia (Dirección Liberal de Antioquia), amid subhuman conditions, at

the mercy of those responsible for their displacement, and without any

public authorities that assume the responsibility of protecting them? How

can one explain that the paramilitaries summon coffee growers and gather

peasant communities to intimidate them, threaten them, and force them to

act according to the parameters they impose, but no official authority

attempts to defend the freedom of conscience of the population? How to

understand the confusing relationship between the Convivir and the

paramilitaries? How to understand that the investigations place the onus

of responsibility and proof on the victims, not on the murderers and

criminals? Negligence? Fear? Aren't these attitudes perhaps the

expression of a de facto deference to the para-state?

We cannot but be profoundly shaken in the face of the bloody criminal

activities in which this tortured population lives.

Today, as we celebrate the 50th. anniversary of the Universal Human Rights

Declaration, the expression of the minimal ethical principles of humanity

in the face of the experience of barbarity, of concentration camps, of

genocide, we leave this historical and moral testimony, in the firm

conviction that the erosion that our Constitutional State will only be

rebuilt when the impunity comes to an end.

In the name of so many victims from Dabeiba at the hands of the para-statal

structure, in memory of their lives, deeply terrified and aghast,

Intercongregational Commission Justice and Peace (Comisión

Intercongregacional Justicia y Paz)