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Displaced Colombians defend their community's right to peace

A brief history of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, Colombia

By Lucho van Isschot

This past July 8, at approximately 2:40 pm, 20 hooded men entered the village of La Unión and gathered together all of the people they could find.  They accused them of "helping the guerrillas", separated the women, children and old people, and then proceeded to open fire on the remaining group of men, killing six.  They left immediately following the massacre, warning the villagers to flee the area within three weeks' time.
Canadian Peace Brigades International (PBI) volunteer Scott Pearce was the first foreign observer to arrive at La Unión: "As we entered the village, we saw the bodies of the six men that had just been killed - Rigo, Jaime, Pedro, Diafanor, Eleodino and Humberto - covered in white sheets in the central plaza.  We spent that evening with the families and friends of those killed.  Some cried softly, others talked in whispers about the future, but most sat silently in shock."
La Unión is a small farming settlement in the municipality of San José de Apartadó, located at the foothills of the Abibe Mountain range in the region of Urabá.  San José is made up of a small town centre and a scattering of outlying hamlets where local residents grow crops for sale at regional markets.
Since March 1997 the people of San José have constituted a Peace Community, a model of active neutrality in the face of tremendous pressure to collaborate with armed actors who routinely manipulate, massacre, threaten and displace civilians to gain tactical advantages over their enemies.     
To the various armed actors present in the region, the Abibe Mountains represent a strategic corridor connecting the region of Urabá (one of the principal theatres of the Colombian conflict) to the neighbouring regions of Córdoba, Bolívar and northeastern Antioquia.
Since the mid 1990s guerrilla, paramilitary and military forces have been fighting over the network of mule and footpaths that rise up behind San José .  Actions carried out by paramilitary and military forces in late 1996 - including two massacres, a spate of selected killings, and a subsequent helicopter bombing campaign - led to the displacement of 4,500 civilians and the abandonment of numerous family farms.  
For several months the people of San José sought shelter in the shantytowns of the paramilitary-dominated regional capital of Apartadó, returning home for short visits to tend their crops.  But new pressures, including a blockade prohibiting the transportation of food in or out of the region and continuing insecurity, led them to seek a creative solution.
A majority of the displaced soon returned to the town centre at San José , from where they planned to eventually resettle nearby farms.  Then, on March 23, 1997, with the aid of the Centre for Research and Popular Education (CINEP), the Inter-Congregational Commission of Justice and Peace (J&P), the Diocese of Apartadó and the Dutch human rights organization Pax Christi, they declared themselves the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. 
Their declaration asks that all armed actors (guerrillas, the Armed Forces and paramilitaries) respect the community and not seek to involve its members in the conflict.  According to a billboard that announces the entrance to San José: "the Community participates in communal work, says no to injustice and impunity, does not directly or indirectly participate in the war or carry arms, does not manipulate or deliver information to either of the sides [in the conflict]."

Continuing violence
During the 18 months following their declaration of neutrality, the Peace Community denounced "50 murders in the region of San José , 8 by the guerrilla and 42 by paramilitaries and the army".   Still, with the help of national and international organizations, they pressed forward to strengthen their position.
Since late 1998 PBI has provided international accompaniment to the Internal Council of San José de Apartadó, as well as to the religious workers from J&P who support the organizational development of the community. 
PBI's presence (24 hours a day, 7 days a week since December of 1999) is itself supported by a variety of international organizations in the US, Canada and Europe who closely monitor the situation in Urabá.  The Peace Community has also received considerable attention through representatives of the UN human rights office in Colombia , the Inter-American Court system, and a number of foreign governments. 
Numerous diplomatic missions, citizens' delegations and international NGO visits have helped to raise the profile of San José 's struggle for local, non-violent solutions to the war that surrounds them. 
In particular, the Canadian government has been very supportive of the Peace Community.  But not even the visit of Canadian Ambassador Guill Rishchynski to San José on February 18 of this year was enough to deter the massacre of six civilians the very next day.
Community eyewitnesses have said that in both the February 19 and the July 8 massacres, soldiers from the 17th Army Brigade acted alongside paramilitary forces.  According to one account, one of the February 19 victims was shot moments after he personally identified several of the gunmen as regular army soldiers.  And on July 8 an Armed Forces helicopter was seen flying overhead at the time the massacre was carried out.
In statements to a regional newspaper made just weeks following the July 8 massacre, General Carlos Enrique Vargas (commander of the 17th Brigade, headquartered in Urabá) responded aggressively to the community's allegations.  He said that public accusations against the Armed Forces made by the Peace Community hurt the army than "the Northwest Front of the FARC [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia]." 
In the case of the February massacre, the 17th Brigade actually threatened to file legal action against both J&P and the Peace Community for publicizing claims of army collusion with paramilitary forces. 
The Peace Community's requests for international accompaniment remain constant in the face of stigmatization, intimidation and continued violence. 

Urabá in the context of the Plan Colombia

Two thousand kilometres from where most of the recently approved $1 billion in U.S. military assistance to Colombia is aimed, a vicious territorial battle is being waged between the dominant military and paramilitary forces and the insurgent Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).  As is the case in other regions of the country, incidents of direct combat between the armed actors are rare.  Instead, they have fought to gain territory and military-political dominance through terrorist acts committed against the civilian population.

  Massive forced displacement, massacres, selective assassinations, bombings and food blockades have been the primary weapons used against the predominantly African-Colombian and Indigenous peoples of Urabá.  Not coincidentally, the region of Urabá in northwestern Colombia is an area of limitless economic potential.  Known as "The Best Corner of the Americas ", Urabá is the proposed site of various mega-projects, including an inter-oceanic canal connecting the Pacific with the Caribbean, the completion of the Pan-American Highway between Colombia and Panama across the Darién Gap and various efforts to exploit the area's rare and abundant timber, biological and mineral wealth.  In the current context, arms smuggling, drug-trafficking and other contraband further complicate the situation.

  According to 1999 statistics, the northeastern part of Urabá (where San José de Apartadó is located) suffers a rate of war-related homicide of 246 for every 100,000 inhabitants (about double the national rate).

Lucho van Isschot is a PBI Colombia / North American representative

Social Justice Committee Supports Rigoberta Menchú Foundation Lawsuit

In September, Social Justice Committee president Joan Frances Tuck sent a letter to the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation expressing the SJC’s support for the Foundation’s lawsuit against various Guatemalan military officers and politicians. While this support is largely symbolic, it does mean that the SJC will assist in finding witnesses and victims in Canada and will lend the weight of our experience in the field of human rights to the case. Moreover, we will undertake to draw the attention of the Canadian public to this important case.

Background

On the 2 December 1999, the Guatemalan Nobel Peace Price winner Rigoberta Menchú requested a lawsuit against eight Guatemalan army officials and two politicians for genocide, torture and state terrorism at the Audiencia Nacional in Spain . One of those accused is General Rios Montt, who seized power in the 1982 coup. Under his regime, state terrorism reached a highpoint , with the so-called scorched earth policy, a policy which had been initiated by his predecessor, Lucas García. In an attempt to deprive the guerrillas of their social base, entire villages were burnt to the ground and their inhabitants slaughtered. During those years thousands of Guatemalans lost their lives in brutal circumstances, Mayan-Indians in particular. Torture, rape and forced disappearances were common, and hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans were forced to flee from their homes.

Those responsible for these crimes against humanity have never been put on trial in Guatemala . On the contrary, that Rios Montt's party, the FRG, is now in power is a poignant reminder of the exent of impunity in Guatemala . Rios Montt himself is now head of Congress; human rights violations continue, and the perpetrators are not prosecuted. The murder of bishop Gerardi in 1998, which remains unsolved, is a clear example of this. The legal system repeatedly proves itself corrupt and unprofessional, and the few judges, public prosecutors and lawyers that take their work seriously are threatened and intimidated, making it impossible for them to continue. The signing of the peace accords in 1996, which brought an official end to 34 years of armed conflict, has changed nothing in this respect. Although one of the peace accords provided for a Truth Commission to investigate the human rights violations that occurred during the civil war, another peace accord - the 'ley de reconciliación' - gave the perpetrators an amnesty.

The Spanish Case

Rigoberta Menchú justifies her action in the Spanish courts by referring to the impunity in her country that protects perpetrators of human rights violations and allows them to continue to occupy powerful positions. Moreover, the Guatemalan army killed Rigoberta’s father in the Spanish embassy in Guatemala City , on Spanish territory. His death is one of the central cases in the indictment, as is the assassination of other members of Rigoberta's family. They are examples of the genocide to which the Mayan Indians were subjected between 1980 and 1984. Menchú supports her indictment by referring to the two truth reports: the Catholic Church's REMHI, which was presented by bishop Gerardi two days before his assassination, and the official UN truth report, 'Memory of Silence'. Some 26 Guatemalan human rights organizations as well as NGOs from Mexico , Costa Rica , Belgium , the Netherlands , France , Italy , Germany , Spain , and now Canada have joined the lawsuit. Some have added new cases to the original indictment; others have joined in as new plaintiffs because they support the case and want to give it addional political weight.

On March 27th Judge Ruiz Polanco, a colleague of Baltasar Garzón - who is in charge of the Pinochet case - declared that the Audiencia Nacional, based on the instrument of 'universal jurisdiction', has the authority to investigate Rigoberta Menchú 's indictment. This legal instrument, which got worldwide attention with the Pinochet case, makes it possible to pursue war criminals in other countries if their own country fails to do so. The Spanish public prosecutor has appealed against Judge Ruiz Polanco's decision. The appeal argues that the Guatemalan courts offer sufficient possibilities to prosecute those responsible for crimes against humanity. It also asserts that the indictment fails to establish that the Audiencia Nacional has jurisdiction to deal with the case. Besides, it considers the crimes for which the accused are charged to be prescribed, pointing out that Guatemala adopted an amnesty law which was included in the Peace Accords.

Public Hearing, November 30, 2000

A decision on the public prosecutor's appeal has yet to be made. This will be done at a public hearing in which each side will have an opportunity to make their case. The date for the public hearing has recently been set for November 30th, when Rigoberta's lawyers will try to invalidate the arguments of the public prosecutor. The decision will determine whether the Audiencia Nacional will prosecute the indicted Guatemalans for genocide.

In the meantime, judge Ruiz Polanco has begun to hear the case and has heard three witnesses to date. On May 24th, Máximo Cajal y López, the sole survivor of the January 31st, 1980 assault on the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala City gave his testimony. Two witnesses have since been heard in relation to the two truth reports - Carlos Martin Beristain, a Spaniard, on 16 October on the Catholic Church's REHMI report, and Alfredo Balsells, a Guatemalan, on the official UN report on 26 October. Their testimonies about the scientific quality and objectivity of the reports will be an important element at the public hearing on 30 November.

The Pinochet case has made clear that the prosecution of war criminals using the instrument of universal jurisdiction can be an important weapon in the struggle against impunity. Although Pinochet will not face trial in Spain , the case itself, and the widespread international attention it has receved, have succeeded in stripping Pinochet of his parliamentary immunity in Chile . He will now stand trial in his own country if he is medically fit to do so.

In Guatemala there is now hope that Rigoberta’s legal action in Spain will result in pressure on Guatemala ’s legal system simlar to that which the the Pinochet case did in Chile . Although various organizations in Guatemala have pressed charges against those responsible for the war crimes, their expectations about the outcomes are very low due to the generalized impunity in the country. In addition, in recent months these organizations have increasingly faced severe intimidation and violent assaults on their offices during which computers and important files have been stolen. In light of these worrisome developments, a positive verdict by the Audiencia Nacional on the 30th of November is even more important. Human rights organizations in Guatemala hope that Spain will receive international support for Rigoberta Menchú's indictment of Guatemala .

A neo-liberal government takes shape in Mexico, raises doubts about socio-economic rights

By Karen Rothschild

On December 1^st, Vicente Fox Quesada of the National Action Party (PAN) will assume the presidency of Mexico . For the respective governments of Mexico ’s NAFTA partners, the victory of the rightist opposition party’s presidential candidate and the defeat of the PRI (after more than seventy years in power) are signs of the consummation of Mexico ’s transition to democracy. It is very evident that the majority of Mexicans (including many who did not vote for the PAN) welcome this alternation of political power. However, it is also very clear that a true democratic transition will imply fundamental changes in political administration and in the justice system - a long-term process in which the alternation in political power is just a first step.

Today, November 28^th, there is news of the President-elect’s cabinet nominations. As well as the positions that most Canadians usually think of as cabinet positions, the twenty-three appointments include nominations to the leadership of government institutions such as the National Water Commission and the Federal Electricity Commission and to the newly created post of Special Ambassador for Human Rights and Democracy. The latter position will be filled by Marie-Claire Acosta who, until her leave of absence to work in Vicente Fox’s transition team, was president of the (non-governmental) Mexican Commission for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights.

The Fox cabinet is divided into three areas: the area of growth with quality, which includes the Ministries of Trade, the Treasury, Foreign Affairs, Communications and Transport, Agriculture, Tourism, Energy, and the Environment and Natural Resources; the area for human development, which includes the Ministries of the Interior (Gobernación), Health, Labour, Education, and Social Development; the area of order and respect, which includes the Ministries of Defence, the Navy, the Auditor General’s office (contraloría), the Attorney General’s office, Public Security, and Agrarian Reform. (Maria Teresa Herrera Tello, who has been nominated to the latter ministry does not have previous experience in agrarian issues. She has, however, worked in the justice system in her native state of Nuevo Leon , where she promoted the use of computer technology in the courts with the goals of efficiency and time-saving - qualities that until now have been lacking in the Agrarian Reform Ministry.)

Non-governmental human rights organizations, who have for the past several years been publicly expressing their alarm regarding the encroaching power of the Mexican military in civilian affairs, are likely to be disturbed by the naming, for the first time in history, of a military man as the federal Attorney General. Indeed, many members of civic organizations would have liked to have seen a civilian named as Minister of Defence, contrary to expectation and to tradition.

Commenting on the nominations as a whole, political analyst Luis Hernández Navarro (in an article entitled "Business Presidentialism" in today’s La Jornada newspaper) observes that, "the future ministers will be, in their majority, either managers at the service of the most powerful financial and economic groups in the country or civil servants vouched for by them".

It is important to remember that the change of political regime from the PRI to the PAN does not imply a change in economic policy. It is expected, if anything, to intensify the neo-liberal programme espoused by Mexican presidents since 1982. In the words of Luis Hernández, "politics will make way for the market, public adminstration will be replaced by business mangement and social justice by good government… citizens will become clients".

From our human rights perspective, we at the SJC will be waiting to see if Fox is able to make good his promises to bring a real peace to Chiapas - if the army is withdrawn from indigenous communities, if the Mexican Constitution is amended so that the San Andres Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture can be translated into reality, and if effective measures are taken to disarm and disband the paramilitary groups that have been terrorizing civilian Zapatistas and members of independent (not affiliated to the PRI) social organizations. We will be waiting to see if there is an end to the military harassment and repression of indigenous communities in Oaxaca and Guerrero, and if there is a just resolution to the legal situation of the hundreds of indigenous people (some of whom are in prison and others of whom are the subject of pending arrest warrants) who have been falsely accused of membership in armed guerrilla movements. We will be waiting to see what steps the Fox government will take with regard to such well-known prisoners of conscience as General Gallardo (imprisoned for having publicly called for the creation of a Military Ombudsman) and the Campesino Ecologists of the Sierra de Petatlan and Coyuca de Catalán.

Finally, despite the enormous differences in social conditions in Canada and Mexico , we will expect to become increasingly aware of the similarities in neo-liberal policies and programmes - whether they are applied in Mexico or Canada . In short, we only foresee improvements in respect for socio-economic rights in Mexico or in Canada in so far as such improvements can be brought about as a result of peaceful struggle on the part of the citizenry.