07/01/2008, Tierra Alta, Colombia -- Refugees International called today for immediate action by Colombian security forces to protect displaced families in Tierra Alta and over 50 families still living in Murrillo Medio near Batata hamlet. Between June 15 and 29, 27 families from the area of Murmullo Medio have been forced to flee their homes following the assassination of a member of their community on June 15. The organization also urged local authorities and the presidential agency Acción Social to provide humanitarian assistance to those displaced by violence.
"Members of these communities have been forced from their homes multiple times over the last twelve years," said Andrea Lari, senior advocate for Refugees International. "As violent campaigns resume, these people are again being terrorized. Yet, government authorities have taken no meaningful action to protect these communities or provide them assistance."
Refugees International attended a meeting of the families of this community and recorded testimonies where individuals described feelings of despair, abandonment and fear of future assassinations. The families spoke of a death list with twelve names of community members that they believe is being circulated. Despite reporting the assassination and the list to civil and military authorities, no proper steps for the communities' protection have been taken. In fact, an army unit previously deployed nearby has been withdrawn.
"The man who was assassinated was not a thief, or a criminal. He was a dedicated person working hard to support his family," said one woman during the meeting. "We want to have his body back to the family and bury him as a Christian. He is not an animal to be dumped in a ditch."
The sharp deterioration of security in the area in the first five months of 2008 is corroborated by chilling data: 207 violent deaths were officially recorded in Tierra Alta municipality. Two disappearances were recorded in Batata hamlet, with five more alleged. Several massive displacements have occurred in southern Córdoba since January, including more than 550 families forcibly displaced from Puerto Libertador who sought sanctuary in Rio Verde and San Juan hamlets. Political instability has also been rampant, undermining effective government response to recent displacements: there have been 12 governors in the last 5 months.
"The gains that Colombians have seen in recent years are rapidly being reversed with the upsurge of violence in this area," continued Mr. Lari. "Thousands of people in communities like Batata, Saiza, and El Diamante returned home after years of exile and worked to rebuild their lives and regain previously lost lands. They are now forced to flee or at high risk of being displaced once again."
In addition to increased protection for newly displaced families, Refugees International is calling for investigations by competent military authorities to ascertain the veracity of serious allegations of misconduct and other crimes committed by its forces in the area and to prosecute members who have committed such acts. There are reports of narco-paramilitary fighters bribing lower-level and mid-level army and police personnel, including a US$20 food allowance paid weekly to soldiers. Recently, an army Colonel was arrested and accused of receiving bribes from those groups. Additionally, there are reports that criminal gangs and the leftist rebel group FARC, have established tacit agreements over a division of labor for cultivating, harvesting, processing and transporting cocaine to foreign markets.
"Without proper investigations of those who are enabling these selective assassination campaigns, there will be no justice and no end to this cycle of violence," said Mr. Lari. "Despite the prolonged counter-insurgency and counter-narcotic policies conducted by the Colombian government, violence in rural areas remains widespread, and hundreds of thousand Colombians are displaced each year with impunity granted to perpetrators."
Refugees International is a Washington, DC-based organization that advocates to end refugee crises. Staff members are currently on their sixth mission to Colombia in the last three years. The Colombian non-governmental organization Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento (CODHES) estimates that almost four million Colombians have been displaced from their homes. For more information, go to http://www.refugeesinternational.org
Contact:
Vanessa Parra, 202.828.0110 ext. 225
vanessa@refugeesinternational.org