NEW DRIVER ASSASSINATED,
FOOD BLOCKADE CONTINUES
CSN-MADISON, MAY 24, 2002
1. On Saturday, May 18th, about 1:00 local time, members of the illegally armed paramilitary groups assassinated the driver, FABIO, (his last name has not yet been learned) who belonged to the Pentecostal church. FABIO was assassinated in the region of the area known as "Tierra Amarilla" (Yellow Land), where other drivers have also been killed recently. FABIO had left the bus station in Apartado about 12:00 and was on his way to the San Jose de Apartado Peace Community.
The car he was driving was one of the three cars which, in agreement with the Apartado's Mayor's office, would provide transport service to the Peace Community. This service is intended primarily for teaching personnel.
The vehicle which FABIO was driving today was the same one from which REYNEL ALVAREZ was ordered out of and subsequently killed (4-9-02).
2. On the afternoon of Friday, May 17th, it was impossible, due to the actions being carried out by the illegal paramilitaries against the people of San Jose de Apartado, for medical or any health care personnel of any kind to enter the outlying areas. The hospital personnel have made it known that if the Community requires any sort of medical attention that it is necessary for them to go down into the municipality of Apartado.
3. There have been no food deliveries to the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado since April 30th, not even for the Homes of Family Well-Being (Hogares de Bienestar Familiar). The effects of this humanitarian crisis, which this military action, proscribed by International Humanitarian Law, has given rise to, can now be seen. On Saturday, May 4th, the food supplies destined for the Peace Community were looted and stolen by members of the armed paramilitary groups.
4. The civil authorities, represented by the mayor, MARIO AGUDELO, stated yesterday to the National Government that there are no difficulties in the transport or delivery of food stuff; that all is working normally; that no other action to allow the deliveries need be taken.
5. Today, May 18th, our Commission became aware that starting on Monday,
May 13th, and for three days, the army and the FARC EP were engaged
in armed
combat in the Mulatos hamlet which has dispersed and scattered the population.
At this time the status and all the consequences of these events are
still not known, though it has been learned that the school and four
houses in this hamlet were burned. Between 3:00 and 5:00 P.M. helicopter
flights around the perimeter of Mulatos were heard.
A campaign of control and restriction of goods necessary for the subsistence
of the civil population was begun against the Peace Community and the
inhabitants of San Jose on the last Saturday of March. Public service
drivers and members of the Peace Community have been killed in this
offensive against the Community; the suppliers have been pressured to
stop the sale of food to the Peace Community and the health providers
have been intimidated. In Vereda, where there is looting and stealing
of food goods, the Union Peace Community has been forcibly displaced;
a campaign of misinformation and defamation is being carried out against
the Peace Community by the civil and military authorities. These actions
have been defended by falsely affirming that the food delivered is intended
for the FARC EP. This is in blatant denial not only of the principles
by which the Peace Community operates but also of the fact the amount
of food delivered is minimal and merely satisfies the basic needs of
the family units. It denies the fact that the guerrilla of guerrillas,
the FARC EP, is able to obtain food by other means certainly without
using the Apartado San Jose road. It also shows a refusal to adhere
to the dispositions of International Humanitarian Law, under the pretext
that it is a contra insurgent action against the FARC EP. In these actions
the civilian population is being attacked by both legal and illegal
forces. The situation of the inhabitants of the Mulatos is critical.
In spite of the fact that the national authorities are aware of the on-going situation in San Jose de Apartado, no political or administrative measures which are well-delineated in International Humanitarian Law and the human rights field have been adopted.
In spite of the new irreparable damage, the National Government has
not adopted combat and control measures over the paramilitary actions.
This is
COMMITTING AN ACT BY OMISSION and by ACTION. It continues the blockade
and the food crisis which particularly affects children, women, pregnant
and nursing women and grandparents. At the same time, the inhabitants¹
right to health is being denied; the early alert systems continue to
malfunction.
It is necessary to urgently demand:
1. The adherence of the State to the norms of International Humanitarian
Law in order to assure the possibility of delivery of basic primary
food stuff to San Jose de Apartado.
2. It is urgent that political and administrative measures over those
legal and paralegal actors who are responsible for the assassinations
and the violations of human rights and international law in San Jose
de Apartado be implemented.
INTERCONGREGATIONAL COMMISSION OF JUSTICE AND PEACE
Bogota, May 18, 2002