They didn’t mince words. In the conclusion of the seven-page summary report of Sept. 29, a group of international activists and diplomats stated in plain language what they were predicting for Native communities in Colombia.
The report by the International Verification Mission on the Humanitarian and Human Rights Situation of Indigenous Peoples in Colombia concluded that “since the visit of the Special Rapporteur in 2004, the situation of indigenous peoples in Colombia has worsened to the point of not only creating a grave humanitarian crisis, but also of threatening certain extinction. In this regard, the Mission makes an urgent call to the international community and the Colombian state to do everything necessary to stop this risk.”
What is also at risk, in this profoundly tragic situation, is that their mayday call will not be heeded in time and the slaughter and displacement of indigenous Colombia will continue.
The crisis of death and displacement started many years ago but since 2002, when the United Nations sent a special observer to gather information and report to the Colombian government and to the international community, there had been some progress in getting promises of help from the Colombian authorities.
As Native communities throughout the hemisphere know all too well, promises without actions are just words. After four years of disastrous policies and violations at such a scale that it could be interpreted as genocide, indigenous leaders from across the country banded together last year to request a followup visit from international human rights activists.
On Sept. 19, after several years of studies, advocacy and other reports, a group of participants and observers from France, Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Spain, Holland, Norway, Canada, the United States, Ecuador and Colombia fanned out across five areas of the country that are the traditional territories of Native tribes and groups. Participants interviewed various Native citizens and leaders as well as a few representatives of municipal and regional authorities over a nine-day period. The notable no-show to these proceedings was Colombia’s vice president – who in theory is in charge of protecting human rights for all Colombians – or any other high-level representative of President Alvaro Uribe’s government.
Many of the participants had sent requests for meetings with the Uribe administration, as did the Native leaders. No luck. Undeterred, the group continued gathering data and testimonies.
Its summary report, entitled “International Verification Commission on the Humanitarian and Human Rights Situation of the Indigenous Peoples of Colombia,” includes sections on Verifications, Special Concerns, Conclusions and Recommendations.
Among the many disturbing allegations listed in the Verifications section are the following: political assassinations, massive and arbitrary detentions, torture and cruel treatment, forced disappearances, raids, unfounded arrests and accusations, and limitations on movement within their own country.
In the next Verifications section, more injustices are listed. The observers found that all of the armed groups, including government soldiers, were committing numerous violations of international law.
The report stated, “The public force [government] had constructed police and military posts, garrets [sentry stations], trenches and advance posts in the midst of the housing of indigenous people, in places extensively populated and in territories belonging to indigenous reservations. … All of the armed actors [combatants] have murdered indigenous men and women and occupy humanitarian zones and places for ongoing assembly – designated by the indigenous communities as places of protection against the effects of the conflict.”
In brief interviews during mid-October, two of the observers who had just returned from the commission’s investigation in Colombia spoke about their experiences and how they witnessed some of the violations listed in the report.
“It’s worse, it’s clearly worse than before,” asserted Natalia Cardona, of the Philadelphia-based American Friends Service Committee, and a member of the observer team in Colombia. Cardona, who is of Mayan descent and originally from Guatemala, has been an advocate for Latin American indigenous peoples for several years and has been involved in human rights work in Colombia as well.
“In Toribio, a town in the Cauca region, there were [military] bunkers on every corner, sitting right beside homes of indigenous families,” she stated. “This is against international law, to use communities as human shields. … These bunkers were located beside the mayor’s office, the radio station, parks where children play and even schools. It’s not something new,” Cardona continued. “But it just strikes me that the army and police having their bunkers there are doing the opposite of protecting people.”
The AFSC activist, as well as other observers, has noted that the presence of these military structures invites rebel or paramilitary strikes. A sad example of this occurred in the week prior to their visit: 10-year-old Wilder Fabian Hurtado, of the Nasa community in Cauca, was killed by a mortar bomb that landed on his home near a bunker. Also injured was 35-year-old Batista Yule. During a protest march following the youngster’s funeral, angry crowds tore down the bunkers and called for the government to try the soldiers responsible for Hurtado’s death.
“So when there’s a battle between the army and FARC, the community gets hurt,” Cardona recounted. “The government says they need to maintain a presence there, and the community doesn’t mind the patrols but they don’t want the bunkers constructed beside schools and homes.”
She went on to note that they had gathered a long list of violations by both the army and FARC, none of which were being investigated by the local prosecutor. “And then there are the collective rights that are being taken away by new laws, such as the new forestry laws which essentially open up the forests on indigenous territories for logging companies, allowing these enterprises to just come in and take them.”
The commission report does not only deal with infractions by the government and the guerillas, the infamous paramilitary groups have added to the misery of Native peoples in Colombia. Another U.S. participant in the commission, Jessica Eby, of the Washington Office on Latin America, pointed to problems with the paramilitaries and the so-called “demobilization” that was supposedly taking place.
“Based on this trip, WOLA is very concerned about the U.S. funding of the paramilitary demobilization process in Colombia because of a lack of justice for the victims of paramilitary crimes, including the indigenous,” Eby reported. “In Bogota I spoke with an internally displaced Kankuamo indigenous leader who had been forced to leave his home after watching his wife and daughter be raped by paramilitaries. His family still cannot return to their home because of threats from the ‘demobilized’ paramilitaries; the rapist, a paramilitary who was also wanted for 17 murders, only served 2 months in jail as part of his sentence for the demobilization process.
“Although internal displacement is a crime punishable by law in Colombia,” Eby continued, “there is rampant impunity for this and other crimes that have been committed by paramilitaries against indigenous peoples. There are serious obstacles that prevent indigenous peoples and other displaced persons from returning to their lands, while those responsible for causing the displacement remain unpunished. American citizens should be concerned about the fact that U.S. funds are supporting the paramilitary demobilization process while not assuring justice for victims such as indigenous internally displaced persons.”
During this same time period of the commission’s investigations, the Uribe’s administration began a media campaign, announcing the possibility of peace talks and neutral zones. Simultaneously, the leaders of the main revolutionary group, known as FARC, were speaking about their interest in a peace process. If these main combatants stop the killing, and the government is able to reign in the paramilitaries as they are attempting to do now, the threat of indigenous extinction could be reduced.
But these are big “ifs.” And based on past efforts, the outlook is not too good. However, Uribe has a close and complex relationship with the United States. If President George W. Bush decides that the protection of indigenous Colombian lives is a priority, then there may be reason for hope.
Rick Kearns, a writer on Latin American Native issues, teaches at Harrisburg Area Community College in Pennsylvania
