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COLOMBIAN ARMY MASSACRES MEMBERS OF THE PEACE COMMUNITY OF SAN JOSE DE APARTADO
On Monday 21 February 2004 in Rio Mulatos, armed and uniformed soldiers who identified themselves as belonging to the XI Brigade of the national Army detained LUIS EDUARDO GUERRA, his 11 year old son DEINER ANDRES GUERRA and DEYANIRA AREIZA and another four as yet unknown people. They took them towards La Resbalosa to a farm owned by ALFONSO BOLIVAR. One of the captives managed to escape from this illegal detention.
The following day, the person who had escaped, set out to look for the other captives. At the farm of Alfonso Bolivar, he found blood stains and what looked like a grave. He removed some of the earth and found the mutilated body of DEINER ANDRES GUERRA. He went immediately to the town of San Jose de Apartado where he informed the Peace Community Internal Council of what had happened. Other campesinos from the area also informed the Council that they had found a grave.
The whereabouts of the other captives remains unknown. Initial information points to a mass killing by the army of members of the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado.
LUIS EDUARDO GUERRA is a well known leader from the Peace Community Internal Council, and since October 2000 had been acting as one of the negotiators with the government over the implementation of the special security measures that had been ordered by the OAS Inter-American Court of Human Rights. On 3 occasions he had met with Vice President Francisco Santos who had personally assured him that the security measures would be implemented.
On 20 February at about 4pm. The army arrived in the village of Nieves near San Jose de Apartado. Two hours later they entered the house of GLADYS GUZMAN PALACIOS and her four year old daughter, and started shooting. They killed the childís father who the army later claimed was a guerrilla from the FARC. They also shot the young girl who is currently in hospital. The 33 Counter-Guerrilla unit of the XVII Brigade of the Colombian Army operate in the area.
On 22 February in the rural areas surrounding San Jose de Apartado, army helicopters carried out a heavy indiscriminate bombing of various villages, putting the lives of 200 villagers at risk. The communities had already been forcibly displaced in December 2004 and again in January 2005 by atrocities committed by the army.
1. That the Colombian government immediately send officials form the National Unit for Human Rights, the Attorney Generalís Office and specialists in forensic medicine to properly investigate these events. 2. That no member of the XI Brigade be allowed to participate in the investigations, so that they cannot manipulate the evidence and the investigation itself. 3. That the Colombian army cease all activities against the civilian population in the area of San Jose de Apartado.
President Alvaro Uribe Velez [email protected] President Francisco Santos [email protected]
Attorney Generalís Office [email protected]
Ministry of Defence [email protected]
Colombian Embassy in London [email protected]