CPTnet
11 July 2013
COLOMBIA: New acts of terrorism against the
community of Las Pavas
Following the recent attacks on the community of Las Pavas,
ASOCAB, the farmers’ association released the following denunciation:
THE FARMERS ASSOCIATION OF BUENOS AIRES “ASOCAB” denounces,
before the national and international community, the acts of terrorism to which
we are victims, which we add to our previous complaints of assaults by the
private security department of the palm company APORTES SAN ISIDRO S.A.S.
FACTS
On several occasions we have denounced the attacks carried
out by the private security department of the palm company APORTES SAN ISIDRO
against the ASOCAB farming community, ranging from threats, crop damage, shots
fired at community members, physical and verbal aggressions, all of which we
have related to agencies such as the Attorney General’s Office and the National
Police, at local, regional and national levels.
On Thursday 27
June 2013, in the presence of members of the international organization CPT
(Christian Peacemaker Teams), at around 11:10 a.m., a fireball was thrown, made
out of socks tied with wire and soaked in diesel fuel, at the settlement of our
community located in Las Pavas, in an attempt to burn down the communal ranch
structure that is constructed of wood and palm, and cause the death of those
who were there. The fireball overshot the ranch bouncing onto the tin roof of
one of the houses and fell to the ground.
A week later,
on Thursday, 4 July 2013 at 12:15 a.m., when all the families living in the settlement
were asleep, three fireballs were launched—using the same material [as was used
on 27 June]—at the community housing and the two communal ranches. Fortunately, one of the community
members felt when the first fireball fell and woke up the rest of the community
who came out and fortunately managed to put out the flames without any injury
and were able to document that one of the fireballs came from the backyard of
the company house where the workers of APORTES SAN ISIDRO SAS live.
These acts are creating
terror in our community. We feel
that despite the complaints we have filed, the Colombian State does not provide
answers or effective guarantees for the prosecution of these criminal acts that
threaten our human rights, actions orchestrated and conducted by the palm
company APORTES SAN ISIDRO SAS executed through its private security
department, who boast that they act in good faith, legally and legitimately.
We will continue
to announce and denounce the imminent risk that we experience and the actions
of the palm company APORTES SAN ISIDRO SAS who seek to displace and dispossess
us of our territory.
Therefore we
demand:
- Investigations and sanctions for those
responsible: the manager and company directors of APORTES SAN ISIDRO as well as
their employees, for the violence against us and the violations of our human
rights.
- The guarantee that these events will not be
repeated.
- Rehabilitation measures and satisfaction for the
community.
- Guarantees to fully exercise the right of possession
of the property of Las Pavas.
- The adjudication of INCODER’s [Colombian Institute
for Rural Development] ruling on the eleven plots of land.
- The titling and eminent domain of the plots of
land by INCODER.
FARMERS
ASSOCIATION ASOCAB BUENOS AIRES, 8 July 2013
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