DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER
CSN-MADISON, MAY 15, 2002
Dear Friends:
The following message was sent to us by Friends of Reconciliation. We
in Madison and this area are a sister community to San Jose de Apartado.
Would you please take the time to send this to your
Representative to ask her/him to sign onto this dear colleague letter?
For many of you who were in Washington, D.C. a few short weeks ago,
this could be an excellent follow-up of that visit.
Thanks for all that you do.
Sister Marge Eilerman
Dear Friend,
The situation in the peace community of San José de Apartadó
in Northern Colombia has deteriorated drastically in recent weeks. But
there is something very concrete that you can do
to help. Paramilitary killings and threats against public transport
drivers who work on the road between Apartadó and San José
have imposed what amounts to an economic blockade on the
community. Although some supplies have been delivered to the Peace Community
with the accompaniment of national government officials, the road remains
dangerous for public
service drivers, their passengers, teachers and health workers.
On May 4, a group of about 200 armed men believed to be paramilitary
troops invaded the hamlet of La Unión, most of whose residents
had fled that morning. The armed men
ransacked homes and stole food, clothes and 12 mules and other animals.
The 17th Army Brigade, responsible for the region, did not intervene
although it was alerted about the incursion
hours before the armed men left the community at 3:15.
In response to the continued blockade, threats and attacks against the
Peace Community, Congressman Sam Farr is sponsoring a "Dear Colleague"
letter to Colombian President Andres
Pastrana in support of the Peace Community and its demands for safety
and recognition. The letter is circulating in Congress as of today.
The closing date for signatures on the letter is
Friday, May 17.
To gather as many signatures as possible, your support is essential.
Please call your representative's Washington office, ask for the staffperson
who deals with Colombia, and say you
would like the Congressperson to sign a Dear Colleague letter sponsored
by Rep. Farr in support of a Colombian peace community. Explain why
this space for peace is so important,
and that there are U.S. citizens doing human rights observation there.
If you get voicemail, ask the aide to call you back. If you don't hear
back in a couple days, call again. Be polite,
clear and firm.
The text of the letter is included below. We also include a list of
Representatives who signed a letter supporting San Jose de Apartado
in 2001; if your Rep is listed, point out to the aide
you speak with that s/he signed a similar letter before. To reach the
DC office, call the congressional switchboard at 202/224-3121. If you
do not know who your representative is,
please see http://www.house.gov/writerep
If your Representative is interested in signing onto this important
letter, please ask them to contact Ned Steiner (5-2861, edward.steiner@mail.house.gov
<mailto:edward.steiner@mail.house.gov>) in Congressman Farr's
office.
Many of you may have seen news reports that on May 2, fighting between
the FARC guerrilla and paramilitary troops caused the death of 117 civilians,
among them 40 children, who
had sought refuge in the church in the town of Bojayá in the
Colombian state of Chocó. The church was hit by a gas cylinder
filled with explosives that was launched by the guerrillas
attempting to hit paramilitary troops close by. The community has now
asked all armed groups to leave just as they had before declared their
autonomy each time a new armed group
arrived in their community. As the fighting continues, many people are
fleeing to the near-by town Vigía del Fuerte and there are great
humanitarian needs for the refugees. On May 5, it
was reported from Vigía del Fuerte that State-lead military operations
are impeding the search for missing people, looking for the wounded
and the displaced, funerals for the casualties
and the arrival of humanitarian commissions providing medical assistance.
For more information and how you can help please go to www.forusa.org/colombia.
Thank you very much for your continued support for the Peace Community
and its commitment to resisting the war and building a life in peace
and dignity for its members. *************************************************************
President Andres Pastrana Arango
Republica de Colombia
Palacio Narino
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
Dear President Pastrana
We write to you to bring your attention to the humanitarian crisis facing
the civilian population of the Peace Community San Jose de Apartadó
and its outlying settlements.
Since the beginning of April, the Peace Community has been under siege
from an economic blockade imposed by paramilitary forces, which is not
allowing any normal food
shipments to enter or leave the community.
We urge the appropriate authorities of your government to dismantle
the paramilitary checkpoint on the road between San Jose and Apartadó,
ensure the continued safety of
the road, and fully investigate recent threats and attacks on the Peace
Community. The members of this community have explicitly committed themselves
to peace and
nonviolence, refusing to provide support for any armed group, including
both the insurgent and paramilitary organizations. They wish to remain
neutral in order to live their lives
in peace.
On March 31, Gilma Rosa Graciano, a member of the Peace Community, was
found murdered in Nueva Colonia, near the town of Turbo. She was abducted
the day before by
armed men identified as members of the paramilitary United Self-Defense
Forces of Colombia (AUC), while traveling on the road between the nearby
city of Apartadó and San
Jose. Paramilitary troops had established a checkpoint only four minutes
away from an official military checkpoint. Since then, three public
transport drivers, Reynel de Jesus
Alvarez, Osiel Monoya and Gonzalo Trejo have been killed, reportedly
by paramilitaries. The first two in the same place as Ms. Graciano,
while Mr. Trejo was killed outside of
his home in Apartadó.
These murders and continuing threats against drivers who take supplies
to and from the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartadó have
established an economic blockade
of the community and provoked a humanitarian crisis. After 13 days with
no shipments of food, the Community began to suffer from hunger. Not
even the national or the
international Red Cross brought humanitarian supplies up the road because
of the threats and killings of drivers. The community's banana crop,
on which it depends for
survival, is also at risk, while persons who are sick can only reach
medical help by riding mules or oxen on the dangerous road.
Although some food has been delivered since, accompanied by national
government officials, the road to San José de Apartadó
remains dangerous. Military personnel
reportedly filmed and registered names of residents who assisted the
unloading and delivering of the supplies.
On May 4, a group of approximately 200 armed men, believed to be paramilitary
troops invaded the hamlet of La Unión, most of whose residents
had fled that morning. The
armed men ransacked homes and stole food, clothes and 12 mules and other
animals. The 17th Army Brigade, responsible for the region, did not
intervene although it was
alerted about the incursion hours before the armed men left the community
at 3:15.
These attacks against the community and the legitimate economic activities
that sustain it are occurring in the wake of the Peace Community's fifth
anniversary
commemoration, during which it reiterated its commitment to non-violence
and neutrality.
The Peace Community San Jose de Apartadó and its settlements,
including the village of La Union, receive the permanent accompaniment
of international organizations.
These include Peace Brigades International (PBI), as well as the U.S.
Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), which currently has two US citizens
in La Union. We support the
work of these two respected organizations as well as the Peace Community
in its effort to build a non-violent alternative to the conflict.
We ask that your government respond to our above request, and to the
peace community's petition for a meeting with Vice President Dr. Gustavo
Bell Lemus to discuss their
needs and concerns. We thank you for your attention to this serious
and important matter, and thank you in advance for informing us of the
concrete measures you have taken
to prevent further attacks on members of the community of San Jose de
Apartadó.
Sincerely,
***************************************************************************************************
Representatives who signed the letter in 2001: James P. McGovern (D-MA)
Janice D. Schakowsky (D-IL)
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Henry Waxman (D-CA)
John Joseph Moakley (D-MA)
Benjamin Gilman (R-NY)
Pete Stark (D-CA)
James A. Leach (R-IA)
Nita Lowey (D-NY)
Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ)
William D. Delahunt (D-MA)
Christopher Shays (R-CT)
Ed Pastor (D-AZ)
Connie Morella (R-MD)
Sam Farr (D-CA)
Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
Lane Evans (D-IL)
Jim McDermott (D-WA)
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)
Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
Tom Sawyer (D-OH)
Bernard Sanders (I-VT)
Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)
Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH)
George Miller (D-CA)
Cynthia McKinney (D-GA)
Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
Joseph Crowley (D-NY)
John Tierney (D-MA)
Robert E. Andrews (D-NJ)
Jim Oberstar (D-MN)
Michael E. Capuano (D-MA)
John Olver (D-MA)
Michael Honda (D-CA)
Jose E. Serrano (D-NY)
Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD)