Urgent ActionParamilitary Incursion against the population of Betoyes (Arauca)
csn-madison, april 12, 2002
We, the signing organizations make an urgent call for the national and
international communities to denounce the paramilitary attack that is
developing in the municipality of Tame (Arauca) in the township of Betoyes
only 30 minutes from the town of Tame and from the Naranjitos National
Army Military Base
Beginning in the early morning hours, approximately 200 strongly armed,
uniformed men, with garments exclusively used by the armed forces and
with bracelets that are distinctive to the AUC (Self Defense Forces
of Colombia), established a blockade on the road from Tame to Arauca
(the capital) close to the Betoyes township.
This act was followed by an incursion into the urban headquarters
where the inhabitants of the town were gathered and, list in hand, they
detained an undetermined number of persons, of whom they took four (among
them 19 year old Sifredo Valderrama). What's more, unconfirmed
information exists of the brutal assassination of an undefined number
of peasants.
It is also reported that at this time, there are people retained and
tied up in the town limits of Betoyes. More than 12 hours have
passed without the public forces making a presence in the zone. This
in spite of the fact that, before midday, drivers of cars and trucks
(that were marked with AUC Signs) and that had been able to get through
the blockade on the road, informed the military authorities at the Tame
checkpoint, with no action whatsoever received in response up
to the present time.
It is worth emphasizing that this zone has a very intense military presence this, as a result of accords signed with the government and which specify that the army should protect the municipality of Tame in the face of a paramilitary escalation. The Commandant of the 18th Brigade had ordered the withdrawal of the troops stationed in Cravo Norte and Puerto Rondón, in order to protect Tame. It is not understood, therefore, how a population, that is found only 30 minutes form the Military Base of Naranjitos which belongs to the Navas Pardo Batalion, can be assaulted and flagrantly massacred .
Considering the evidence of the early alerts by the population, the
closeness to the military base of the occupied zone, the complicity
of the military bases with paramilitary activity, the negligence on
the part of the authorities of the check points and military bases in
the zone, we can verify and provide evidence of the responsibility of
the state and its military forces in these abominable acts.
Signers:
Peasants Association of Arauca (ACA), Joel Sierra Regional Human Rights
Committee, National Association of Displaced Colombians (ANDESCOL).
Human Rights Department of the Colombian United Center of
Columbia (CUT), Young Workers Collective (CJT), Peasants Association
of the Rio Cimitarra Valley (ACVC), Effective Humanity Group,
Temporary and On Call Workers Union (SINTRADIT), Life and Liberty Group,
José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective (CCAJAR).
Original names of the signers in Spanish:
Asociación Campesina de Arauca -ACA-, Comité Regional
de Derechos Humanos Joel Sierra, Asociación Nacional de Desplazados
Colombianos -ANDESCOL-, Departamento de Derechos Humanos de la Central
Unitaria de Trabajadores de Colombia -CUT-, Colectivo de Jóvenes
Trabajadores -CJT-, Asociación Campesina del Valle del Río
Cimitarra -ACVC-, Humanidad Vigente Corporación Jurídica,
Sindicato de Trabajadores Disponibles y Temporales -SINTRADIT-, Corporación
Jurídica Vida y Libertad, Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear
Restrepo -CCAJAR-.