WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS
ISSUE #475, MARCH 7, 1999
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*2. COLOMBIA: US ACTIVISTS MURDERED
Three indigenous rights activists from the US were kidnapped on
Feb. 25 in the northeastern Colombian department of Arauca after a
week-long visit to the land reserve which is home to the 8,000-
member U'wa indigenous nation. Terence Freitas, Ingrid
Washinawatok and Lahe'ena'e Gay were abducted by armed men in
civilian clothing as they headed to the town of Saravena to take a
flight to the Colombian capital of Bogota. A week later, on Mar. 4, the
bodies of the three were found across the Arauca river in the
Venezuelan state of Apure, 30 meters from the Colombian border.
"Everything indicates that they were killed on the Colombian side
and thrown over here," Venezuelan interior minister Luis Miquilena
told Reuters.
The bodies of the three US activists were found barefoot, blindfolded
(some sources say their heads were covered with black hoods), with
their hands bound behind their backs, and, according to some
sources, showing signs of beatings and torture. Their ankles and
wrists showed signs of having been tied with rope for an extended
period of time. Gay and Washinawatok had been shot four times each
in the face and chest, and Freitas had been shot six times, all with
9mm weapons, Venezuelan police said. Freitas was hit twice in the
back from a distance, suggesting he may have tried to flee, they said.
Sources differ on whether the bodies were found by a patrol of
Venezuela's Technical Judicial Police (PTJ) or by Segundo Salamanca,
a local rancher, who reportedly "heard bursts of automatic gunfire,
waited 10 minutes, and then ventured out to investigate." [Cable
News Network 3/6/99, with some info from AP, Reuters; El
Espectador (Bogota) 3/6/99; El Nuevo Herald (Miami) 3/7/99;
Reuters 3/5/99; El Heraldo (Barranquilla) 3/7/99; El Tiempo (Bogota)
3/6/99]
Gay was director of Hawaii-based Pacific Cultural Conservancy
International, which sponsored the trip to Colombia. Washinawatok,
originally from a Menominee reservation in Wisconsin, was a
prominent indigenous rights activist based in New York. Freitas, who
had recently moved to New York, was head of a Los Angeles-based
campaign for the defense of U'wa lands against oil exploration by the
US-based company Occidental Petroleum. Freitas had visited the
U'wa at least five times in the last three years; he was serving as a
guide for Gay and Washinawatok, who had been invited by the U'wa
to visit the region. [Reuters 3/5/99] The U'wa won a legal battle
against Occidental in 1997 that prevented the Los Angeles-based
company from exploratory drilling on traditional U'wa territory. [CNN
3/2/99 from AP]
In a Mar. 5 statement, Colombian president Andres Pastrana Arango
condemned the killings and pledged close bilateral cooperation with
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to track down those responsible,
who were "apparently members" of an unnamed Colombian
subversive group. [Reuters 3/5/99] Investigations into the murder of
the three US activists are under way by the PTJ, the Colombian
attorney general's office, and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI). [ET 3/7/99; El Pais (Cali) 3/7/99]
Human rights groups in the Venezuelan town of San Cristobal, capital
of Apure state, staged protests on Mar. 6 to condemn the killings and
show support for Colombia's peace process. [El Heraldo 3/7/99]
*3. COLOMBIA: WHO KILLED US ACTIVISTS?
Several days before the bodies of the US activists were found, U'wa
representative Roberto Afanador, who was with the three when they
were abducted, said he suspected the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC) were responsible for the kidnapping. Afanador said
the FARC frequently enters the U'Wa reserve without permission.
"The indigenous authorities are very upset by this because our
territory is not respected. We are humiliated. We are abused." [CNN
3/2/99 from AP] According to testimony from the U'wa, the three
activists were taken away by hooded or masked men dressed in
civilian clothing, who pointed pistols at their heads but said "soon
we'll let you go." [El Espectador 3/6/99] CNN reported that an U'wa
tribal leader who was with the three activists when they were seized
claims to have recognized the two armed, plainclothes men who
carried the US activists away as being FARC members. [CNN 3/6/99,
with info from AP, Reuters]
However, the New York Times says the attackers' style more closely
resembles that of rightwing paramilitary groups, since the guerrillas
usually wear uniforms, and use bandanas when they cover their
faces. The Times also notes that the dumping of the bodies on the
Venezuelan side of the border "is not in the rebels' long-term
interests," given the sympathy of new Venezuelan president Chavez
for their cause. [NYT 3/7/99]
On Mar. 5, a FARC spokesperson declined to confirm or deny his
organization's involvement in the kidnapping and murder. [Reuters
3/5/99] Calls to FARC spokesperson in Mexico Marcos Calarca
reached only an answering machine; Calarca usually responds in
person. [El Diario-La Prensa 3/7/99 from AP] On Mar. 6, a member of
the FARC's ruling council speaking on condition of anonymity told
Reuters by telephone: "This was an act of provocation by enemies of
the peace process. The actions of the kidnappers don't correspond to
the way our combatants operate, and it's very difficult to believe
that the FARC has some responsibility in this." The unidentified rebel
leader said the FARC's ruling council would issue a formal statement,
probably on Mar. 7. [CNN 3/6/99, with info from AP, Reuters; El
Heraldo 3/7/99]
There are currently some 800 people being held in kidnappings in
Colombia. According to Colombian government statistics, 62% of all
kidnappings are carried out by guerrilla groups. [El Pais (Spain)
3/7/99 from wire services] The FARC and the smaller National
Liberation Army (ELN) use ransom payments from kidnappings to
finance their operations. [Reuters 3/5/99] Venezuelan interior
minister Miquilena attributed the killings to the ELN, who he said
operate in that area of Colombia and occasionally venture into
Venezuelan territory. Miquilena said the ELN's members "are much
crueler" than those of other Colombian guerrilla groups. [ENH 3/6/99
from Reuters] No one but Miquilena has accused the ELN, which sent
out a communique denying any connection to the kidnap and murder
of the US activists. [Clarin 3/7/99 from AFP]
Colombian attorney general Jaime Bernal Cuellar warned that the
FARC's possible role in the murders could only be established after a
painstaking investigation, and cautioned against "jumping to
conclusions." [CNN 3/6/99, with info from AP, Reuters] However,
Colombian Army commander Gen. Jorge Enrique Mora Rangel told
reporters on the night of Mar. 5 that he had "practically no doubt"
the crime was committed by the FARC. He said the FARC rebels
operating in the area where the abduction took place are under the
command of German Briceno Suarez (known as "Grannobles"), a
brother of the FARC's number two commander and chief military
strategist, Jorge Briceno Suarez ("El Mono Jojoy"). [CNN 3/6/99 with
info from AP, Reuters] Mora said an U'wa leader confirmed that a
FARC unit under Grannobles' command operates in the area where
the kidnapping took place. "There is no doubt that this was a
genocide committed by the FARC," said Mora.
On Mar. 5 the Colombian army broadcast two alleged radio
communications between FARC guerrillas intercepted by military
intelligence over frequency 8,117.0. A transcript was also released of
the conversations, which were allegedly between an unidentified
FARC member and German Briceno, who heads the FARC's 45th and
10th Fronts. The voice identified as Briceno tells the other person to
"take them to the other side and burn them." [EE 3/6/99; El Pais
(Cali) 3/7/99; ET 3/7/99] "Oh son-of-a bitch, man, I thought all three
were men," the voice identified as Briceno is recorded as saying.
Then, in what the press suggested was a reference to Washinawatok,
he said, "Oh son-of-a-bitch, let the lady die, she wasn't from our
family." [Transcript of recording printed in El Espectador 3/6/99]
"We condemn the FARC in the strongest possible terms for this
barbaric terrorist act," State Department spokesperson Lee McClenny
said in a statement. [Reuters 3/5/99] "We have strong indications
that they were kidnapped and murdered by members of the...FARC,"
said White House press secretary Joe Lockhart in a statement. "We
demand that the FARC accept responsibility for these crimes and that
they immediately hand over those who committed them." Lockhart
said the US government "won't rest until those who committed these
crimes have been brought to justice." [El Heraldo 3/7/99, quotes
retranslated from Spanish]
State Department spokesperson McClenny called on the Colombian
government to arrest the killers and extradite them to the US. [CNN
3/6/99, with info from AP] Colombian justice minister Parmenio
Cuellar said any extradition request from the US would be analyzed
with respect to the legal and constitutional norms, but noted that the
crime was committed in Colombian territory, which puts it in the
jurisdiction of the Colombian justice system. [El Pais (Cali) 3/7/99]
[The bodies of the three US activists were found the same day that
US attorney general Janet Reno ended a two-day trip to Colombia,
during which she met with President Andres Pastrana and top
military and law enforcement officials. In a meeting with Chief
Prosecutor Alfonso Gomez, Reno discussed human rights and US aid
for criminal investigators, and pressed for the extradition of drug
suspects for trial in the US, Gomez told reporters. Four drug suspects
have been captured in Colombia since last year on requests by the
US, but their extradition must be approved by the Colombian
government and Supreme Court, said Gomez. [AP 3/3/99]]
The Colombian office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights also blamed the FARC for the killings. In a Mar. 6
communique, the UN office said "that despite this office having
transmitted to the FARC-EP its concern for the life and integrity of
these people and [having] requested the immediate release of the
same, [our] call was ignored." [El Heraldo 3/7/99]
A humanitarian group operating in the region where the kidnapping
took place said the FARC had granted permission to the three
activists to carry out their work. [CNN en Espanol 3/7/99, with info
from Reuters] Apesanahkwat, the chairperson of Washinawatok's
tribe, said the American Indian Community House (AICH) in New
York had been in touch with the rebels through the Red Cross and
other groups, and had received an email message from the FARC on
Mar. 5 in which it "sent its greetings and expressed solidarity" with
Native Americans. The activists had arrived in the area around the
same time as a Feb. 19 battle in Arauquita, across the river from
where their bodies were found, in which the Colombian army said it
killed 60 rebels. Apesanahkwat speculated the killings might have
been retaliation. [CNN 3/6/99, with info from AP, Reuters]
Melina Selverston, director of the Coalition for Amazonian Peoples
and their Environment, a Washington-based advocacy group, called
the region where the U'wa live "tense," noting that "both the ELN and
the FARC have a strong presence in the zone, and because of the oil
companies there is a strong paramilitary presence." She added that
the U'wa have always maintained an autonomous position. [EE
3/6/99] According to Selverston, some activists suspect the killers
were paramilitary groups allied with oil companies, angered that the
victims helped the U'wa fight oil exploration. [NY Daily News 3/7/99]
The New York Times reports that rightwing paramilitary groups have
been "extremely active" in the area in recent years. Selverston said
Freitas had received death threats on his answering machine from
rightwing paramilitaries operating in Arauca. [NYT 3/7/99] New
York's Daily News said Freitas had been "threatened at gunpoint in
Colombia last year." [DN 3/7/99]
Leslie Wirpsa, a close friend of Freitas, told Reuters: "In a trip they
made last March, Terry called me and said that he and an indigenous
leader were being followed by one or two people and that they had
reasons to believe that they were paramilitaries." On the same trip,
Freitas was taken to the police station in Cubara, the main town on
the U'wa reservation, and was interrogated about the purpose of his
visit, Wirpsa said. The police told Freitas that they could not
guarantee his safety in the zone and they made him sign a document
clearing them of any responsibility if anything happened to him.
Wirpsa still has a copy of the document. [CNN en Espanol 3/7/99,
with info from Reuters]
The Bogota daily El Espectador claims the area is controlled entirely
by the FARC and the ELN, and no "paramilitarism" exists there.
However, the newspaper admits that extreme rightwing groups
known as "the hooded ones" have carried out "isolated crimes" in the
zone. "These men appear in the night and murder guerrilla
sympathizers, especially in Saravena, a place considered the heart of
the ELN's operations," El Espectador reports. [EE 3/6/99]
Hector Mondragon, a former adviser to the National Indigenous
Organization of Colombia (ONIC) who went into exile in November
1998 after receiving death threats, sent out a statement over email
praising Freitas for his "tireless" work on behalf of the U'wa and
against Occidental. "The enemies of the U'wa can obtain and hire
paramilitaries or guerrillas or sicarios (professional killers) to
eliminate the fighters for indigenous rights, but the indigenous
people will continue finding the road to defend their rights..." wrote
Mondragon. [Mondragon statement, undated, posted 3/6/99]
"It is not at all clear which armed group is responsible for the
kidnapping and murder," reads a statement from the Madison,
Wisconsin-based Colombia Support Network. "We call upon the
Colombian authorities to act professionally and promptly to
investigate to determine who kidnapped and killed Ingrid, Terry and
Gay and to arrest and try all those responsible for this crime." CSN
urges people to demand "a prompt and full investigation to
determine the true authors of these crimes and see that they are
brought to justice," with letters to US and Colombian officials,
including Colombian ambassador to the US Luis Alberto Moreno (fax
#202-232-8643); President Pastrana (fax #571-283-7324, 286-
7434, 287-7937, 281-8262 or email ;
and Defense Minister Rodrigo Lloreda (fax #571-221-5363 or email
). For info contact CSN, PO Box 1505,
Madison, WI 53701; 608-257-8753; fax 608-255-6621;
; http://www.igc.apc.org/csn/. [CSN 3/5/99]
*4. ANOTHER PARAMILITARY MASSACRE IN COLOMBIAN OIL TOWN
On Feb. 28, members of a rightwing paramilitary group murdered
eight people and abducted at least three others in working-class
neighborhoods of Barrancabermeja, Colombia's main oil refining
town. Travelling in three trucks, at least 20 heavily armed men in
civilian clothing swept through the northeastern district of the city,
shooting at least four people at a street market before continuing
their killing spree in another neighbourhood, said regional human
rights prosecutor Cesar Ardila. "We've got a figure of eight dead, two
wounded and three people disappeared but there could be more," he
added. Barrancabermeja is a stronghold of the ELN's urban militias.
In a raid on the city last May, a paramilitary squad killed seven
people on sight and abducted 25 others, killing them later after
accusing them in a mock trial of being rebel supporters [see Update
#434, 436]. A government-led inquiry into last May's massacre
concluded that at least 10 soldiers either actively took part or turned
a blind eye to the killings.
Juan Carlos Sierra, government secretary for the Barrancabermeja
mayor's office, said that those responsible for the Feb. 28 massacre
were briefly stopped at an army checkpoint as they traveled on a
highway leading out of the city following the massacre. He said they
were waved through after telling the soldiers they were government
investigators. "That is absolutely false," said Gen. Jaime Uzcategui,
commander of Army Division II, which has jurisdiction over the zone.
A spokesperson for the army's Fifth Brigade said no military
checkpoint had been set up on that highway.
The attack came two days after the US State Department issued its
1998 report on Colombia's human rights record, charging that "[a]t
times the security forces collaborated with paramilitary groups that
committed abuses." "Throughout the country, paramilitary groups
murdered, tortured and threatened civilians suspected of
sympathizing with guerrillas... thereby depriving guerrillas of civilian
support," said the report. [Reuters 3/1/99; ENH 3/2/99 from AP]