COLOMBIA: "Is that legal?" Campesino conversations with government human rights workers.
May 5th, 2008
in:
CPTnet
5 May 2008
COLOMBIA: "Is that legal?" Campesino conversations with government human rights workers.
by Jim Fitz
The following interchanges took place in southern Bolivar province 11-12 March at meetings between farming communities and Colombian governmental human rights workers. Also present were development, peace and human rights organizations, including the Organization of American States and Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT).
"Land mines are one of our biggest problems here," said one farmer. "When children go to school or to look for firewood it is dangerous. When we took one badly injured child to the hospital in San Pablo, they said they couldn't treat him there. We had to take him all the way to Bucaramanga, at our expense. There doesn't seem to be any help from the government."
Delcy Ruiz Torres, Regional attaché of the Vice President's Office of Human Rights, answered, "If they cannot treat a person in San Pablo, they are responsible for transporting him to where he can be treated. I will have that looked into."
"The Army treats us like dirt," said another farmer." They have checkpoints on the paths to our fields, and they stop us and accuse us of being guerrillas and detain us for hours at a time. They entice our children with candy and then try to pump them for information. Is that legal? Sometimes people just disappear and are never heard from again."
Ruiz answered again, "I am sorry to say they can legally detain persons for thirty-six hours. If the Army is doing things illegally, write down exactly what it is and their battalion, names, rank, etc. and when and where, as quickly as possible. Use your cell phones to call the Defensor [government human rights agency], me, or any government agency you have access to, and we will contact who is in charge of the battalion."
"Many times they won't tell us what battalion they are part of," another farmer responded, "or they come without shirts that identify who they are. Sometimes the illegal paramilitaries, the
"Black Eagles," are part of the Army too.
"Then just give us as much information as you can as soon as possible," Ruiz responded. "The sooner you let us know, the better the chances we can use this to stop illegal things from happening and prevent further wrongs."
"Another big problem here is the government spraying of our coca fields with extra strength Roundup," another farmer said. (Cocaine is made from coca leaves.) "Often they miss their mark, and we lose our food crops, or they hit the springs and wells that are our water supplies, or our corrals of our cows or mules. And when they miss, the government says they will reimburse us for any damages, but they never do."
The Defensor responded, "Get me the information as to when and where these mistakes happened, and I will inform the authorities whose job it is to investigate and pay you for the damages. If they don't do it in a timely manner, I will have the information and pressure for an investigation myself."
5 May 2008
COLOMBIA: "Is that legal?" Campesino conversations with government human rights workers.
by Jim Fitz
The following interchanges took place in southern Bolivar province 11-12 March at meetings between farming communities and Colombian governmental human rights workers. Also present were development, peace and human rights organizations, including the Organization of American States and Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT).
"Land mines are one of our biggest problems here," said one farmer. "When children go to school or to look for firewood it is dangerous. When we took one badly injured child to the hospital in San Pablo, they said they couldn't treat him there. We had to take him all the way to Bucaramanga, at our expense. There doesn't seem to be any help from the government."
Delcy Ruiz Torres, Regional attaché of the Vice President's Office of Human Rights, answered, "If they cannot treat a person in San Pablo, they are responsible for transporting him to where he can be treated. I will have that looked into."
"The Army treats us like dirt," said another farmer." They have checkpoints on the paths to our fields, and they stop us and accuse us of being guerrillas and detain us for hours at a time. They entice our children with candy and then try to pump them for information. Is that legal? Sometimes people just disappear and are never heard from again."
Ruiz answered again, "I am sorry to say they can legally detain persons for thirty-six hours. If the Army is doing things illegally, write down exactly what it is and their battalion, names, rank, etc. and when and where, as quickly as possible. Use your cell phones to call the Defensor [government human rights agency], me, or any government agency you have access to, and we will contact who is in charge of the battalion."
"Many times they won't tell us what battalion they are part of," another farmer responded, "or they come without shirts that identify who they are. Sometimes the illegal paramilitaries, the
"Black Eagles," are part of the Army too.
"Then just give us as much information as you can as soon as possible," Ruiz responded. "The sooner you let us know, the better the chances we can use this to stop illegal things from happening and prevent further wrongs."
"Another big problem here is the government spraying of our coca fields with extra strength Roundup," another farmer said. (Cocaine is made from coca leaves.) "Often they miss their mark, and we lose our food crops, or they hit the springs and wells that are our water supplies, or our corrals of our cows or mules. And when they miss, the government says they will reimburse us for any damages, but they never do."
The Defensor responded, "Get me the information as to when and where these mistakes happened, and I will inform the authorities whose job it is to investigate and pay you for the damages. If they don't do it in a timely manner, I will have the information and pressure for an investigation myself."