Plan Colombia and Beyond

Extrajudicial Executions
Date: Late July to early August, 2006
Place: Arauca
Victims: Campesino and urban residents from Arauca
Likely Perpetrators: Farc
Summary: The Farc has recently increased hostilities, leaving several victims:

• Inocencio Velandia Osorio was killed by a landmine on July 20th  in Arauquita
• Jairo Fandiño Fonseca was killed on July 24th in El Vigía outside Arauca
• Maria Fajardo Gutiérrez was severely wounded on the July 25th in Birmania, outside Fortul
• Luís Fernando Acevedo Garzón was killed by a car bomb on July 25th in Birmania outside Fortul
• Alberto Tovar Trujillo was killed on July 27th in Alto Cauca outside Tame
• Omar Castañeda was killed on July 27th in El Botalón outside Tame
  Euclides Galvis Moreno and José Ananías Durán Moncada were killed July 28th in Santa Clara outside Arauquita
• Floiran Cuervo was killed on July 30th in Puerto Nidia outside Fortul
• José Calderón was killed on July 31st in Saravena
  Guillermo Lagos was killed on August 3rd in Santa Isabel
• Daimer Duarte was killed on August 5th in El Botalón outside Tame
• Jaime García, founding member of the Puente Tabla Banana Growers Association, was killed on August 9th
• Over 100 families have had to leave their homes in the villages of El Botalón, Bajo Cusay I, Bajo Cusay II, Caño Claro, Alto Cauca, Arabia, Las Floridas, Piñalito, Los Andes, Santo Domingo, Progreso, Holanda, La Esperanza, Las Nubes, Filipinas and others, as well as the indigenous community of Caño Claro.
• Several families have reported missing cattle and property

In other cases, the perpetrator has been unclear:

• Pedro Javier Corzo was killed on August 9th in Esmeralda, outside Arauquita
• Diós Naín Contreras was killed on August 10th in Puente Tabla, outside Saravena
• Hector Julio García Ariza was killed on August 10th in Saravena
• Marcelino Carrerro and Eliberto Jiménez were killed on August 13th in La Primavera, outside Fortul. Both men were members of the local Community Action Junta.
• William Niño Mora was killed on August 16th in Saravena
• Taxi driver José Ignacio Olaya Riaño was killed on August 16th in Arauca
• Victor Manuel Amado Alchuri was killed on August 19th in Arauquita
  (Source: the "Joel Sierra" Regional Committee for Human Rights Foundation)

Security Operation
Date: August 2nd, 2006
Place: Bogotá
Victims: Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CPDH)
Perpetrator: National Police
Summary: The Police conducted a search without a warrant of the CPDH offices and took note of the names of all CPDH staff. The Police explained the search saying that the building was suspicious, although the authorities themselves had granted the organization the use of the building.
(Source: CPDH)

Threats / Break-in
Date: August 3rd, 2006
Place: Bogotá
Victims: The non-governmental Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (Codhes) and other human rights non-governmental organizations
Perpetrator: unknown
Summary: In the early morning hours, the hard drive and memory cards were stolen from two Codhes computers. These had stored information for Codhes's database on internal displacement. According to an August 14 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights memo, several NGOs have been victims of stolen computers and digital information in recent weeks.
(Source: Codhes and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Office)

Security Operation
Date: August 3rd, 2006
Place: Bogotá
Victim: SINALTRAINAL, food and beverage workers' union
Likely Perpetrator: Service for Judicial Investigations and Intelligence (SIJIN) police intelligence agency.
Summary: Uniformed men identifying themselves as part of the SIJIN judicial police entered at about 12:15 p.m and conducted a search without a warrant, calling the search "voluntary." The officers claimed that it was a preventative operation in anticipation of President Uribe's upcoming inauguration on August 7th. Police were seen filming the office building from the outside in the morning hours.
(Source: SINALTRAINAL)

Security Operation
Date: August 3rd, 2006
Place: Aguazul, Casanare and surrounding villages
Victims: Luís Alejandro Moreno Barahona, Juán de Jesús Rodríguez, Maria Fernanda Hurtado Burgos, Edgar Vitalina Fula, José Epaminondas Rodríguez Martínez, and Jefry Martínez
Likely Perpetrators: Officials from the Administrative Security Department (DAS) in Yopal, Casanare
Summary: In separate incidents, the above listed people were apprehended by DAS officials. Luís Alejandro Moreno Barahona, president of the Community Action Junta of his town of Retiros Milagro, was arrested during a lunch event sponsored by the BP oil company. Juán de Jesús Rodríguez, Maria Fernanda Hurtado Burgos and Edgar Vitalina Fula were arrested at their homes in Triunfo village, as was José Epaminondas Rodríguez Martínez from his home in Cunamá village. Jefry Martínez was arrested at the hospital emergency room where his wife was giving birth. After his family protested, Jefry Martínez was released, but, as of August 10th, the remaining six were still in custody. Juán de Jesús Rodríguez, Maria Fernanda Hurtado Burgos and José Epaminondas Rodríguez Martínez have all been victims of threats and other persecutions in the past. This is the sixth time that a group of civilians has been similarly arrested by DAS officials; in the past, residents have been arrested, taken to Yopal for questioning, and handed over to the Fiscalía investigators who, realizing there are no grounds to continue holding them, eventually release them.
(Source: the Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners Foundation - FCSPP, the Corporation for Community Capacitation and Counseling - COS-PACC, and the Association of Family Members of the Disappeared - ASFADDES)

Security Operation
Date: August 3 and 4, 2006
Place: Ibagué, Tolima
Victims: Orlando Raúl Flores Orjuela, Carlos Alberto Castaño Martínez, Jhon Jairo Nieto Rodríguez. The men are prominent community activists with ties to the University of Tolima, the local government of Ibagué's Comuna 8, the opposition party Polo Democrático Alternativo, and other groups.
Likely Perpetrators: the Cuerpo Técnico de Investigación (CTI) of the Fiscalía, and others unknown
Summary: In the early morning hours (starting at about 3:30 a.m.) of August 3rd, the houses of all three men, separately, were surrounded by soldiers. A prosecutor and several CTI officials entered the homes and conducted a search, apparently without a warrant. Victims and their families were told they were searching for weapons, explosives and, in Castaño's case, members of the Farc and the Eln.
At 11 a.m. the same day, Nieto received a phone call from someone who claimed to be from the government reintegration program. The caller accused Nieto of being part of the Eln, demanded that he stop his activist work and that he leave Ibagué before Monday, August 7th, saying that even if he had a bodyguard he would not be saved because "we don't want anything to do with guerrillas anymore" before abruptly hanging up.
The next day at 11:40 a.m, Flores received a phone call from a person calling himself Juan Carlos who said he was from the government reintegration program. He insinuated that several of Flores' colleagues were part of the Eln, mentioning "JJ," Nieto and Castaño specifically. He then accused Flores of being a member of the Eln, and offered him money for "turning in" his Eln friends. "Juán Carlos" called again at 6:30 p.m. that day, with a similar message.
(Source: the Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners - FCSPP)

Threats
Date: August 4th, 2006
Victims: Several human rights NGOs: The José Alvear Restrepo Lawyer's Collective; Media for Peace;Voz, the Communist Party newspaper; Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (Codhes); MINGA; Colombian Indigenous Organization (Onic); Corporación Compromiso; the Philosophy department at the Industrial University of Santander; Ethnicities of Colombia; Notipaco; Prensa Rural; University of Caldas; University of Valle del Cauca; University of the Llanos; Movement of the Victims of State Crimes; and the Arauca, Pasto and Valledupar Permanent Assemblies for Peace.
Perpetrators: "Amigos Colombia Pro Derecha"
Summary: On the evening of August 4th, the above listed organizations received a threatening email promising to "exterminate the revolution," adding that the group was "taking measures against those low-caliber lawyers and journalists that claim to be defenders of human rights," and claimed to be acting in support of President Uribe.
(Source: Coordinación Colombia-Europa-Estados Unidos)

Extrajudicial Execution
Date: August 4th, 2006 and
Place: Cristal Páez indigenous reserve, near the town of Florida, Valle del Cauca
Victims: Rosa Tulia Poscue Ortiz
Likely Perpetrators: unknown
Summary: At about 6:30 a.m., a group of hooded men stopped the public transportation vehicle that the victim was riding, forcing her to get off. Hours later her body was found brutally stabbed.
(Source: Indigenous authorities in Valle)

Disappearance / Extrajudicial Execution
Date: August 5, 2006
Place: Las Heliconias village, outside the municipality of Puerto Asís, Putumayo
Victims: Duglas Antonio Pérez Silvaja, and other village residents
Likely Perpetrators: Fifty armed men dressed in camouflage and seen wearing armbands with the letters AUC
Summary: At about 9 p.m., the armed men entered the village, interrupting a town celebration. Residents were verbally and physically assaulted and threatened with death; women were sexually assaulted, although not raped. The men stayed for two hours, stealing the funds collected at the event, any valuables and cash that residents had on hand, and even the food for the party. Upon leaving, villagers were warned against reporting the incident or leaving the village before 7 a.m. the next day. The men took three individuals with them when they left, including Pérez Silvaja, a member of the Nasa indigenous nation and resident of the Kiwnas Chxab reservation. Two days later, Pérez's body was found, dressed in camouflage, at the Puerto Asís morgue; the body had been brought in by the army, and reported as a guerrilla member killed in combat. The other two kidnap victims were still missing as of August 9th. These events took place in the context of days of heavy military presence in the area.
(Source: MINGA)

Security Operation
Date: Morning of August 6th, 2006
Place: La Julia, La Uribe municipality, Meta
Victims: Twenty-four residents of La Julia, including two elderly persons
Likely Perpetrator: National Army, Fiscalía Sexta of Bogotá
Summary: When residents arrived at a town meeting, the National Police selected twenty-four individuals, saying they needed to take them to the neighboring municipality of La Macarena to make some statements, and telling the community that the group would be returned to La Julia as soon as they had finished. Hours later the group was informed that there had been a warrant for their arrest on charges of sedition and criminal intent to act for terrorist purposes; these charges are based on testimony of Farc deserters.
(Source: the Inter-Ecclesiastical Commission for Peace and Justice)

Extrajudicial Execution
Date: August 6th, 2006
Place: road that links the towns of Villa Pinzón and Florida, Valle del Cauca
Victims: José Olmedo Pillimue
Likely Perpetrators: unknown
Summary: At about 6:15 a.m., an unidentified armed group halted the public transportation vehicle Olmedo was driving and shot him three times in the head.
(Source: Indigenous authorities in Valle)

Security Operation
Date: August 6th, 2006
Place: Río San Juan residents, in the El Retén region outside Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca
Victims: Activists from the Río San Juan community, particularly Jairo Gómez, Janeth Perdomo, Jair Mina, Demetrio Conquista and Euclides Membache
Likely Perpetrators: SIJIN (Service for Judicial Investigations and Intelligence) police, including SIJIN Comander Fabio Mauricio Gómez Méndez.
Summary: Fifty residents riding a bus towards Buenaventura on their way to a regional conference on social and community issues were stopped, searched and threatened. They were held for five to seven hours at a local CAI (satellite police station), questioned and, in the case of the leaders, interviewed on film. During the conference, individuals both in plainclothes and in the uniform of state agencies, took photos, filmed, and harassed participants for information. Delegates from Cajambre, Yurumanguí and Chocó were prevented from participating in the conference, having been stopped on the way there and told to turn back.
(Source: Comité Permanente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, Capítulo Valle del Cauca)

Massacre
Date: August 9, 2006
Place: Altaquer, Nariño
Victims: Jesús Chagui Chambuza, Mauricio Burbano, Jairo Ortiz, Marleny Pai and Adelaida Ortiz
Likely Perpetrators: unknown
Summary: Nine hooded men entered the village and conducted house-to-house searches before dragging out five Awá indigenous people and shooting them. The victims were part of the 1,700-person Awá exodus displaced in early July due to heavy military-Farc combat, and are the latest of thirty-two indigenous murder victims from Nariño department so far this year.
(Source: WOLA/AFSC, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, others)

Security Operation
Date: August 13th, 2006
Place: Fortul municipality, Arauca
Victims: Sixteen community activists in Fortul
Likely Perpetrators: Army, members of the Grupo de Caballería Mecanizado Number 18, "General Gabriel Revéiz Pizarro," part of the 18th Brigade
Summary: Between the night of August 12th and August 13th, sixteen community leaders were detained, informed of charges against them for sedition, and transferred to Arauca, the departmental capital. The arrests occurred days before the deadline to register a candidacy in the upcoming mayoral elections, leading community members to suspect a political motive, especially considering the rising popularity of the opposition party, the Polo Democrático Alternativo, in Fortul municipality, made evident after the May presidential elections earlier this year. Similarly motivated arrests took place in 2003. Among the arrested were teachers Abdón Goyeneche, president of the teacher's union, William Saenz, and activist Luz Marina Rodriguez.
(Source: the "Joel Sierra" Regional Committee for Human Rights Foundation and Scott Nicolsen)

Threats / Assault
Date: August 15, 2006
Place: Bucaramanga, Santander
Victims: Martha Cecilia Díaz Suárez, president of ASTDEMP, the Association of Departmental Workers
Likely Perpetrators: unknown
Summary: At about 5:30 a.m., the victim was approached by two strangers in a car who began taunting and intimidating, displaying a photo of her daughter and claiming to have kidnapped her. Finally the strangers forced Díaz into the car and drove to a spot on the road that links the cities of Girón and Florida Blanca. There the two beat her severely, showing her photos of herself at marches and demonstrations and shouting at her that if she was tough enough to go to protests, she should defend herself. (For this reason union workers complain about the police and army's practice of taking covert photos at union demonstrations and conferences, as they are often used by attackers to identify leaders and intimidate them.) This incident was preceded the week before by threatening calls to Díaz's cell phone and a stranger following her on a motorcycle; both incidents were reported to local authorities.
(Source: Central Unitaria de Trabajadores - CUT - Santander)

Threats / Security Operation
Date: August 17th, 2006
Place: Bogotá
Victims: Carlos Lozano, editor of the Communist party weekly Voz
Likely Perpetrators: Officials from the Administrative Security Department (DAS) and/or the Police Service for Judicial Investigations and Intelligence (SIJIN)
Summary: On August 17th, Lozano described being followed and photographed by four men from the time he left an interview with Álvaro Leyva, opposition politician, as he traveled across Bogotá to the airport where he awaited the arrival of Liam Craig-Best, director of the British NGO Justice for Colombia, and until he dropped Craig-Best off at his hotel. At that time, Lozano decided to confront the men. Three fled, and one told Lozano's bodyguard that he was a SIJIN agent; Lozano also noticed another man wore a DAS vest and believes he was a DAS official.
(Source: Carlos Lozano, in a letter addressed to President Uribe)

Extrajudicial Execution
Date: August 17th, 2006,
Place: Barrancabermeja, Santander
Victim: Carlos Arturo Montes Bonilla, member of the unions SINALTRAINAL and SINTRAHOCAR
Likely Perpetrator: unknown
Summary: The victim was assassinated at approximately 11:00 p.m. as he was arriving at his home in Barrancabermeja. The victim was involved in protest activities against Coca Cola and in union work in the city's petroleum industry.
(Source: SINALTRAINAL)

Extrajudicial Execution
Date: August 19, 2006
Place: Saravena, Arauca
Victims: Anival Flórez Becerra
Likely Perpetrators: Army, members of the Grupo de Caballería Mecanizado Number 18, "General Gabriel Revéiz Pizarro," 18th Brigade
Summary: On the night of August 19th, the victim was killed on the Banadias II bridge in Saravena. Official reports claim that the young man was a member of the guerrillas and was trying to place explosives on the bridge when he was killed. His family and longtime community residents, however, contest that version, saying that he was a young worker with a clean record and no involvement with guerrilla groups, and call this incident an extrajudicial killing.
(Source: the "Joel Sierra" Regional Committee for Human Rights Foundation)

Disappearance
Date: August 19th, 2006
Place: Bucaramanga, Santander
Victim: Adalberto Carvajal Salcedo, founder of the Association of Labor Lawyers and counsel for several unions, including the Petroleum Industry Union.
Likely Perpetrator: unknown
Summary: At about 7 p.m., Carvajal arrived at the hotel of the La Triada shopping center, where he was staying, and has been disappeared since then. There was an order for Carvajal's arrest (medida de aseguramiento) related to a case in which he had represented faculty at the University of Antioquia, but Carvajal's family had not received any government notification that he was in state custody. Carvajal had defended workers in the court room for over forty years, had been a president of the FECODE teachers' union and a founder of several others. 
(Source: National Board of Directors, Oil Workers' Union)