Department of Arauca, Colombia

3 June 2003

As the Arauca Peasants Community, we welcome the presence of a national humanitarian commission to interview and take statements from the families and members of the community where the savage massacre of 13 peasants took place on 20 May in Flor Amarillo, Piñalito, Cravo Charo and La Rochela.

We have had to declare a social and humanitarian emergency of the Arauca peasant population and call an agricultural strike to draw attention to the stark reality of what is happening to us and our territory.

We denounce the following facts:

1. From 2002, military presence in the area has increased, including specialised battalions and aerial enforcements, which operate permanently in the area. This has increased the chain of crimes committed against the civilian population, particularly peasants, causing over 700 deaths.

2. In addition, the paramilitaries, with clear links to the high command of the Army, carry out massacres, selective assassinations and displacement of the civilian population. Their presence has cost the lives of the civilian population, particularly the peasants, and has caused the displacement of more than 1,500 people.

3. The massacre of 13 peasants took place on 20 May, and not the 21 or the 22, as the Army have incorrectly stated. On 20 May the Army Commander MARTIN ORLANDO CARREÑO was present at the military base in Pueblo Nuevo, only 30 minutes from the scene. There is overwhelming evidence linking the Army to this massacre. According to survivors and family of the victims that managed to flee, this demented massacre was executed by individuals from army patrols that were undertaking the operation, who wore paramilitary arm bands, put up a road block in Flor Amarillo and Piñalito, removed the persons mentioned and cruelly murdered them one by one. We lay the blame for what is occurring in operation " Squall I ", conducted against the civil population, on the high military commanders of the 18th Brigade and Mobile V, Commanders GUSTAVO MATAMOROS CAMACHO AND WILLIAM CRUZ PERDOMO. The breakdown of the Army is so serious that the Commander of the Mobile Brigade V William Cruz Perdomo committed suicide on 30 May, ten days after the massacre.

4. There is total impunity. The civil authorities make excuses for this dirty war and simply repeat what the military command tell them, that "this is a dispute between illegal groups". They remain silent and hide the truth of what is happening in the region, and the communication media gag the victims' public denouncement.

5. In the face of this foolhardy and perverse attitude of the authorities, we make the state forces responsible for any criminal act undertaken under the pretext of the paramilitary mask against the civil population during the military operation "BORRASCA I" and all other military operations, as the military presence is permanent in the department.

6. The negligence of the national government in failing to implement the Intersectorial Commission to overcome impunity in Arauca, created by presidential decree during Andrés Pastrana's government, has contributed to the humanitarian crisis which we are living.

We are determined to stay, and we will continue fighting for a life with dignity. We are not prepared to let the multinationals contribute to the war that is killing us day by day in order to take oil from the region. Despite the millions of dollars being made, the social and economic problems of our people has reached a point in which we are dealing with a social and humanitarian emergency.
FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE LIFE, RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND CONTINUATION IN OUR TERRITORY.

Asociación Departamental de Usuarios Campesinos de Arauca ADUC,

ARAUCA PEASANT COMMUNITY, SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ARAUCA.

Recommended Actions:

Write to the authorities, demanding the following:

Respect the Right to Life and dignity of the peasant community, and their right to stay on their territory.

Provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the victims of these appalling crimes.

Ensure there is no impunity for these crimes by urgently implementing the Intersectorial Commission that was created by presidential decree and which previously played a very important role in the monitoring and investigation of breaches to human rights.

Send messages to:

Presidencia de la República,
Dr.