|
Four trade union leaders
have been assassinated in the week of the 6 March protests.
Urgent
Action ENGLISH
Foreign Office
Promotes Colombian Counter-Insurgency
Accion
Urgente ESPAÑOL
6 March: The dismissal of José Obdulio Gaviria
Iván
Cepeda Castro *
El
Espectador 14 March 2008
In the next few days I,
with those individuals and organisations who would like to add their names,
will lodge the following petition.
Señor President of the
Republic, the below signed citizens and organisations, in use of our constitutional
right to address the authorities with respectful petitions, request the
dismissal of your adviser José Obdulio Gaviria.
As you know, on 6 March
hundreds of thousands of people participated in events in102 cities in Colombia
and around the world in solidarity with the victims of the paramilitaries and
the crimes of the State. By means of a public communiqué, the Government pointed
that it did not support this demonstration, but offered guarantees for the
programmed events to take place. Nevertheless, Mr. Gaviria made public
declarations that affirmed that neither you nor he would participate in a march
“convened by the FARC”. In spite of the organisers of 6 March
requesting that these calumnious assertions be officially withdrawn, no
Government spokesmen did so.
This situation generated
an atmosphere of increasing insecurity. On 11 February 2008, the day after Gaviria’s
declaration, a pronouncement was made by the [paramilitary] Autodefensas Unidas
de Colombia that also affirmed that the march was instigated by the guerrillas.
Then on 13 February threats started against organisations promoting the day of
action in Nariño. On 28 February, individuals shot at the apartment of Adriana
González, march organiser in Pereira.
Four trade union leaders
have been assassinated in the week of the 6 March protests.
Carlos Burbano,
vice-president of the National Hospitalworkers Union was disappeared on 9
March in San Vicente del Caguán. He had led the local 6 March demonstration.
His corpse was found at the municipal rubbish dump with his faced disfigured
with acid.
In Caquetá the
preparations for 6 March were frustrated when General Oscar Naranjo affirmed that a FARC leaflet calling for
demonstrations had been found. General Naranjo did not mention that the actual
demonstration organisers had denounced parallel calls by armed groups. Women
from Caquetá who were going to take in a national march of displaced people
decided not to come because of the fear spread by the official announcement.
Libardo Pedrozo, one of
the organisers of the displaced peoples march, was threatened. On 12 March
threats were made against 28 human rights defenders and several social
organisations. These were signed by the group called the ‘Black
Eagles’ that announced it “will be implacable” against the
convenors of 6 March.
All these circumstances
demonstrate the continuity in the sinister actions of the paramilitary
structures and those who carry out state crimes. Their violent reaction is to
the massive citizens’ repudiation they were given on 6 March. But
besides, the Government has responsibility for this situation. The declarations
made by José Obdulio Gaviria generated a propitious atmosphere for violence
that has cost the lives of tour trade unionists. We will initiate legal proceedings
against him. Further, we ask you Mr President, to dismiss him: the initiation
of violence is a serious crime.
(*) spokesperson for Movimiento
Nacional de Víctimas de Crímenes de Estado (National Movement of Victims of
State Crime)
Assassinated Trade Unionists
in the week of 6 March
Carmen Cecilia Carvajal, teacher. Killed 4 March, in Ocaña.
Leonidas Gómez Rozo, member of the bankworkers union, Unión Nacional de Empleados
Bancarios (Uneb), president of the CITY-BANK Branco. Killed on 5 March, in
Bogotá.
Gildardo Gómez Alzate, teacher and activist of the Asociación de Institutores de
Antioquia (Adida). Killed 7 March, in Medellín.
Carlos Burbano, vice-president of the Hospitalworkers Union, Asociación Nacional de
Trabajadores Hospitalarios. Killed
11 March, San Vicente del Caguán.
See images of 6 March
mobilisations in Colombia and worldwide at http://www.movimientodevictimas.org/
RECOMMENDED ACTION / ACCION RECOMENDADA
Write to the President
Alvaro Uribe Velez along the following lines:
“I/we supported
the day of action on 6 March 2008 against paramilitarism and state crimes in
Colombia.
We believe that it was
completely wrong for your Adviser José Obdulio Gaviria to state that 6 March
was “convened by the FARC”, putting the members of the Movimiento Nacional de Víctimas de
Crímenes de Estado and other social organisations who actually convened 6 March,
in grave danger.
We are appalled that
four trade unionists organising 6 March have been assassinated;
Carmen Cecilia Carvajal, teacher. Killed 4 March, in Ocaña.
Leonidas Gómez Rozo, member of the bankworkers union, Unión Nacional de Empleados
Bancarios (Uneb), president of the CITY-BANK Branco. Killed on 5 March, in
Bogotá.
Gildardo Gómez Alzate, teacher and activist of the Asociación de Institutores de
Antioquia (Adida). Killed 7 March, in Medellín.
Carlos Burbano, vice-president of the Hospitalworkers Union, Asociación Nacional de
Trabajadores Hospitalarios.
Killed 11 March, San Vicente del Caguán.
We urge you to pay full attention to the petition of Movimiento Nacional de Víctimas de
Crímenes de Estado, and support their call for the dismissal of José
Obdulio Gaviria.”
Send to your local Colombian Embassy.
In the UK
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
; with copies to
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
Foreign
Office Promotes Colombian Counter-Insurgency
Wilton Park is a
conference centre in the Sussex countryside. It is also a wing of the British
Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). From 13 -16 March the FCO, in conjunction
with NATO and Canada’s ‘Stabilization
and Reconstruction Task Force’ (START) hosted a Wilton Park
high level meeting entitled “Meeting
The Challenges Of Counter-Insurgency And Stabilisation Operations: Strategic
Issues And Options”.
Colombia’s Vice Minister of Defence Juan Carlos Pinzón addressed the
conference on the theme of “Colombia and Counter-Insurgency: Strategy,
Accomplishments, Way Forward”. His talk was in the13 March session on ‘dealing
with complex conflict environments’ which compares counter-insurgency
fighting in Colombia with Iraq. Pinzón’s fellow panelist was Emma Sky, Special Advisor to Lieutenant General
Raymond Odierno, Vice Chief of Staff US Army and former Commanding General,
Multi-National Corps in Iraq.
The Uribe government has been condemned by Colombia’s
Latin American neighbours for its raid into Ecuador on 1 March in an operation
that killed 24 FARC guerrillas, including the organisation’s no 2 ‘Raul
Reyes’. According to the Wilton Park conference programme Pinzón and Sky
addressed “In what ways do the trans-national and trans-dimensional
characteristics of modern insurgencies affect classic counter-insurgency goals”.
Then on 6 March victims
of paramilitary atrocities and state crime in Colombia held demonstrations across
the country. A government spokesman José Obdulio Gaviria stigmatized the event on
national radio as being “convened by the FARC”, an invitation for
the paramilitaries to eliminate the organisers, the National Movement of
Victims of State Crime. Four trade
unionists involved in organizing the marches have since been assassinated. Perhaps
these assassinations feature among Uribe’s ‘strategy and
accomplishments’?
Coming a month after revelations of UK Foreign Minister Kim
Howells being happily photographed with the High Mountain Brigades (see The Guardian 11 February 2008), the Wilton
Park conference is further evidence not only of the Labour government’s
continuing collaboration with state crimes in Colombia, but implicates it in
the transnational destabilization of the Andean region. This is disingenuously called
counter-insurgency, but the underlying motive is directed at securing the area’s
enormous potential in natural resources for British and other multinational
corporations.
http://www.wiltonpark.org.uk/themes/defence/pastconferences.aspx
6 March: La destitución de José Obdulio Gaviria
Iván
Cepeda Castro *
El
Espectador 14 de
marzo de 2008
El siguiente derecho de
petición lo radicaré en los próximos días, acompañado de las firmas de las
personas y organizaciones que quieran suscribirlo. Señor Presidente de la
República, los ciudadanos y organizaciones abajo firmantes, haciendo uso de
nuestro derecho constitucional de dirigirnos a las autoridades haciendo
peticiones respetuosas, queremos solicitarle la destitución de su consejero
José Obdulio Gaviria. Como es de su conocimiento, el pasado 6 de marzo cientos
de miles de personas participaron en actos en 102 ciudades de Colombia y del
mundo, en solidaridad con las víctimas de los paramilitares y de los crímenes
de Estado. Mediante un comunicado público, el Gobierno señaló que no respaldaba
esta convocatoria, pero que ofrecía garantías para llevar a cabo los actos
programados. No obstante, el señor Gaviria hizo declaraciones públicas en las
que afirmaba que ni Usted ni él participarían en una marcha “convocada
por las FARC”. A pesar de que los organizadores de los actos del 6 de
marzo solicitamos que se desmintiera oficialmente estas calumniosas
aseveraciones, ningún vocero del Gobierno lo hizo.
Esta situación generó
un ambiente de creciente inseguridad. El 11 de febrero de 2008, al día
siguiente de las declaraciones del señor Gaviria, se dio a conocer un
pronunciamiento de las Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia en el que también se
afirmaba que la marcha era instigada por la guerrilla. El 13 de febrero
aparecieron en Nariño amenazas contra las asociaciones promotoras de la
jornada. El 28 de febrero, individuos dispararon contra el apartamento de
Adriana González, organizadora de la manifestación en Pereira.
Después de los actos
del 6 de marzo, en una semana cuatro líderes sindicales han sido asesinados. El
9 de marzo fue desaparecido Carlos Burbano, vicepresidente de la Asociación
Nacional de Trabajadores Hospitalarios en San Vicente del Caguán, y quien había
liderado la organización del acto del 6 en esa localidad. Su cadáver fue
hallado en el basurero municipal con el rostro desfigurado con acido. En el
Caquetá muchos de los preparativos para el 6 se vieron frustrados luego de que
el general Oscar Naranjo afirmó en
una rueda de prensa que había sido encontrado un volante en el que las FARC
invitaban a las manifestaciones en ese departamento. El general Naranjo hizo
ese anuncio sin aclarar que las organizaciones que habíamos impulsado la
iniciativa condenamos las convocatorias paralelas de grupos armados. Mujeres
que desde el Caquetá iban a tomar parte en la Marcha Nacional de los
Desplazados, decidieron no venir por temor a los efectos del anuncio oficial.
Luego de la marcha de los desplazados, fue amenazado uno de sus coordinadores, Libardo Pedrozo. El pasado 12 de marzo,
llegaron amenazas contra 28 defensores de derechos humanos y un conjunto de
organizaciones sociales. Están firmadas por un grupo que se hace llamar
‘Águilas Negras’ que anuncia que “será implacable” con
quienes invitaron a las manifestaciones del 6 de marzo.
Todas estas
circunstancias demuestran la continuidad de la acción siniestra de las
estructuras paramilitares, y también de quienes ejecutan crímenes de Estado. Su
reacción violenta obedece al masivo repudio ciudadano que recibieron el 6 de
marzo. Pero además esta situación compromete la responsabilidad del Gobierno.
Las declaraciones que hizo José Obdulio Gaviria generaron un ambiente propicio
para la violencia que ya ha cobrado la vida de cuatro sindicalistas. Contra él
instauraremos acciones judiciales. Pero además, le solicitamos a Usted, señor
presidente, que lo destituya: la incitación a la violencia es un grave delito.
Sindicalistas Asasinados durante la semana del 6 de marzo
Carmen Cecilia Carvajal,
profesora, 4 de marzo, en Ocaña.
Leonidas Gómez Rozo,
integrante de la Unión Nacional de Empleados Bancarios (Uneb), presidente del
sindicato del Banco CITY-BANK, 5 de marzo, en Bogotá.
Gildardo Gómez Alzate,
educador activista de la Asociación de Institutores de Antioquia (Adida), 7 de
marzo, en Medellín.
Carlos Burbano,
sindicalista, 11 de marzo, San Vicente del Caguán.
Movimiento Nacional de
Víctimas de Crímenes de Es
|
