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Campaign against violence in Urabá
Death and impunity run rampant once
again in this tormented region |
A fierce storm was raging in Urabá last
Tuesday, August 22. The wind and rain
were coming down hard on the Indigenous
community of Currulao, municipality of Turbo,
ripping away dozens of rooftops and cutting off
the electric power, so that the village was
cloaked in total darkness. It was then that a
group of eight people, armed for combat, emerged
from the river, led by two hooded characters
that marched through the village pointing out
the houses of the condemned. Three women and
three men, allegedly involved with –or relatives
of– demobilized paramilitaries, were murdered in
the three hours it took the armed group to
complete its raid. The government claims that
the chaos caused by the extreme weather
conditions prevented police forces from taking
any action, and that they are still trying to
determine the identity of the attackers. While
one version blames the FARC (Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia), another points to a
settling of scores between bands connected with
rival paramilitary and/or drug trafficking
factions.
What’s undeniable is that violence is once again
running rampant and with impunity in this
region, with an escalating number of murders and
future retaliations that put the area’s
civilians, banana workers, and social and labor
leaders in a hostage situation, particularly the
last group, as violence always hits activists
the worst.
Given this intolerable situation and even worst
prospect, the IUF’s Latin American
Regional Office, Rel-UITA, is initiating
a new international campaign against violence in
Urabá, and is sending an open letter to
the President of Colombia, Álvaro
Uribe Vélez demanding that his government
fulfill its constitutional, political and social
obligation, guaranteeing the right to life and
dignity of the people of Urabá.
Letter to the President of Colombia
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Montevideo, August 27, 2007
To the President of the Republic of
Colombia
Dr. Álvaro Uribe Vélez
Bogota
Subject: Escalating Violence in Urabá
– Antioquia
Mr. President,
We have received the statement issued by
our affiliates in Colombia, the National Agro-Food Union (UNAC)
and the National Union of Agroindustry Workers (SINTRAINAGRO),
as well as the news reporting the new massacre committed
last Tuesday, August 21, in the Indigenous settlement of
Currulao, municipality of Turbo.
This horrendous and deplorable crime
demonstrates that the continuous denunciation by numerous
organizations, both Colombian and international, and their
appeals to your Government to bring security, justice and
peace with social development to the region of Urabá,
have gone unheeded, and, instead, the selective murder of
banana workers has started up again, along with threats
against unionists, and, now, massacres, like the one in
Currulao, are being perpetrated with absolute impunity
under the very noses of the authorities.
In the past, the IUF conducted a
huge international campaign in favor of human rights and
life in the region of Urabá, when violent illegal
armed groups had declared a “war of annihilation” against
workers and union leaders, following the peace process
signed with the People’s Liberation Army (EPL).
Criminal acts had diminished considerably
since then, but now, faced with the reemergence of the same
atrocities, we will launch a new denunciation campaign to
force your Government to fulfill its constitutional mandate
of protecting the life, honor and rights of its citizens.
We demand that the Executive Branch, the
Public Prosecutor, the Attorney General, and the Office of
the People’s Advocate take urgent and effective actions to
once and for all eradicate violence and its perpetrators
from Urabá, through the timely and efficient
administration of justice and the application of a social
investment program, which has always been lacking in that
region of the country.
Yours sincerely,
Gerardo Iglesias
IUF Regional Secretary
With copy
to:
National Public Prosecutor, Dr. Mario
Iguaran Arana / National Attorney General,
Dr. Edgardo Maya Villazón / People’s
Advocate, Dr. Wolmar Pérez /
UNAC / SINTRAINAGRO / CUT / ILO / IUF
(Switzerland)
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Rel-UITA
27-8-2007
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UITA - Secretaría Regional
Latinoamericana - Montevideo - Uruguay
Wilson
Ferreira Aldunate 1229 / 201 - Tel. (598 2) 900 7473 - 902 1048 -
Fax 903 0905
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