Annex
REPRESENTATIVE CASES OF VIOLATIONS OF
HUMAN RIGHTS AND BREACHES OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
In addition to the cases
referred to in the body of the report, the Office in Colombia of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights has received information on several other representative cases
of violations of human rights and breaches of international humanitarian law
during the period corresponding to this report which are described below.
A. Extrajudicial executions
1.
In the
department of Antioquia, the Office continued to register a high number of alleged
extrajudicial executions. For example, on 4 January in Montebello, members of the Combat Engineers
Battalion No. 4 “General
Pedro Nel
Ospina” allegedly killed one
person. In Yondó, two persons were presumably killed on 30 January by members
of the “Calibío” Battalion. On 1 February in Segovia, members
of the “Especial Energético y Vial No.8 Battalion” allegedly killed a 16 year
old youth.
2.
Other departments also
registered possible cases of this disturbing practice. On 7 March, in Puerto Asís (Putumayo), two persons
were murdered and presented as guerilla members killed in combat by members of
the Counterinsurgency Battalion No. 87 of the 13th Mobile Brigade. In Sabana de
Torres (Santander),
four persons were allegedly murdered on 19 February by members of the V Brigade.
On 23 February in Algeciras
(Huila), one person was allegedly killed by members of the Ninth Brigade.
3.
Alleged extrajudicial executions
were registered by the Office after the persons had been victims of enforced
disappearance. In Abrego (Norte
de Santander), on 15 January, a
person was found dead after he had been reported missing on 13 January in
Soacha (Cundinamarca). The disappearance and murder of this person was allegedly
committed by members of the 15th Battalion “General
Santander”. Members of this same
Battalion presented a minor, that may have been mentally disabled and that had
disappeared the day before in Gamarra (Cesar), as killed in combat on 31 August
in Abrego (Norte
de Santander). In Ocaña (Norte de
Santander) on 27 January, two persons that had
disappeared from Soacha (Cundinamarca), one a minor, were presented as
guerrillas killed in combat by members of the 15th Mobile Brigade.
4.
The Office also
received complaints about possible extra-judicial killings attributed to
members of the National Police. In Bogotá D.C.
on 22 April, National police agents allegedly killed the president of the
public services union and member of the association of civil servants of the
District Comptrollership. On 26 May, a complaint was received about the
possible extrajudicial execution of a person that had been previously detained
by National Police agents in Pereira (Risaralda).
B. Illegal and arbitrary detentions
5.
The Office received
information on cases of both individual and collective illegal and arbitrary
detentions in various departments in the country. Reports were received that members
of the National Police and the Army conducted detentions apparently based on uncorroborated
statements made by informants, with no valid in flagranti delicto or
without the necessary judicial warrants.
6.
On 23 February in Puerto
Leguízamo (Putumayo), members of the Administrative Security Department (DAS) and
the XXVII Jungle Brigade detained 16 persons and accused them of rebellion and
drug trafficking. On 28 February, a judge in Puerto Asís
(Putumayo) granted a writ of habeas corpus
and liberated seven of the detainees due to irregularities in the detention process.
In Arauca (Arauca), on 15 June, 16 peasant farmers were allegedly illegally
detained by members of the Support Structure of the State Prosecutor’s Office
with headquarters in the XVIII Brigade in Arauca.
7.
Five persons were
detained by members of the “Luciano
del Huyer” Battalion in the
vicinity of the Triangulo in Simití (Bolívar) on 20 May. Days after, these
persons were released without charge. In the village
of Santa Ana en Granada (Antioquia) on 28 March, three
persons were detained by members of the “Bajés” Battalion.
8.
The Office was also
informed of cases of illegal or arbitrary detention of human rights defenders
and social leaders who had been accused of rebellion, apparently without
sufficient cause. For example, on 12 January in Arauquita (Arauca)
the municipal ombudsman was detained under these circumstances, together with
11 other persons. In the same village, on 4 November, the president of the
Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CPDH) and other social
leaders were also detained without sufficient cause. On 15 November in San Onofre
(Sucre), a leader of the Victims of State Crimes Movement, and Technical
Secretary of the Sucre Chapter, was detained without apparent cause, in this
case on charges of “conspiracy to commit a crime” with paramilitary
organizations.
C.
Torture and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or sentences
9.
The Office was
informed of cases of public servants whose behavior constituted cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or sentences and excessive use of force.
10. In Medellín (Antioquia), repeated complaints were
received about the widespread abuse of force, cruel and inhuman treatment, and
threats made by the National Police against the population, particularly in 13 of
the city’s communes identified with numerals 1 through 13.
11. On 21 January in Buenaventura
(Valle del Cauca), National Police agents allegedly assaulted a taxi driver who
was under the effects of alcohol, causing his death.
12. In Caucasia
(Antioquia), on 23 January, four youth were reportedly brutally kicked and
beaten with fists and rifle butts inside a police station. Another case was
reported on 21 April in Cimitarra (Santander), where
a youth was allegedly subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by
National Police agents.
13. In Corinto (Cauca), on
9 April, members of the Army detained and allegedly assaulted three persons,
who suffered multiple injuries. These same members of the Army allegedly
threatened to kill these persons, accusing them of involvement with guerrilla
groups.
14. The Office received information regarding
sexual abuse committed by members of the Armed Forces. Members of the “Hilario
López” Battalion allegedly sexually
harassed girls of the Santa Cruz village (Cauca) on 14 May. Information was received that four
girls from the Chanó indigenous community of Bojayá (Chocó) were sexually
harassed by various soldiers on 11 February.
15. On 15 April in Medellín (Antioquia), students from the
National University were reported to have been
violently repressed in a disproportionate reaction by members of the Antiriot
Mobile Squadron of the National Police (ESMAD) during a peaceful manifestation
that had been previously authorized by the mayor’s office.
D. International Humanitarian Law
(i)
Guerrilla groups
16. The Office was informed of various
massacres allegedly committed by guerrilla groups, such as the case of three
persons in Pensilvania (Caldas) whose death on 14 February was attributed by
the authorities to the FARC-EP. In Santa Cruz (Nariño), the
FARC-EP allegedly killed four teachers, three of them women, who had been
previously abducted between 11 and 24 June for being considered informants of
the Army. On 25 December, alleged ELN militiamen killed four persons from one
family and a neighbor who was a minor, and injured another four persons in the village of Mata Oscura
in Arauquita (Arauca).
17. The Office also received information
regarding selective homicides allegedly committed by guerrilla groups. In the Arauca department, authorities attributed most of the 143
homicides of civilians committed in the first nine months of the year to the ELN
and the FARC-EP.
18. On 9 February in Algeciras
(Huila), the FARC-EP reportedly killed a journalist and municipal council
member, as part of an alleged plan against mayors and councilpersons in the
region. In Ituango (Antioquia), on 30 April, the Office registered the death, reportedly
at the hands of the FARC-EP, of a 14 year old girl that had previously been
accused of having an intimate relationship with a member of the security
forces. On 12 August in Yarumal (Antioquia), FARC-EP militiamen allegedly killed
the director of the municipal Social Welfare office, while he was on official
mission. On 17 October, the FARC-EP also allegedly killed the president of the
Community Action Council of Tierra Alto (Córdoba), after accusing him of
collaborating with the Army.
19. The ELN reportedly murdered the president of the
Municipal Council of Saravena (Arauca) on 5
February. In Morales (Bolívar), on 1 May, members of the ELN allegedly killed a
person accused of collaborating with the Army. Subsequently, this guerrilla group
allegedly threatened other persons from the same village who had been similarly
accused, causing the displacement of approximately 18 families. The ELN allegedly
killed the leader of the Association of Displaced Persons of Arauquita
(ASDENAR) on 28 November in Arauquita (Araua).
20. The Office also registered death threats made
by guerrilla groups. Various municipal ombudsmen
have also received death threats from guerrilla groups, such as the case of the
municipal ombudsperson of Villarica (Tolima) who was allegedly threatened by
the FARC-EP on 23 January.
21. On 6 March, the FARC-EP set up a roadblock on the
Samaná-Victoria (Caldas) road, where they allegedly killed the driver of a
public bus, which was then incinerated. On 27 October, a municipal public transport
boat on the Atrato
River (Chocó) with 18
civilians aboard was shot at by alleged members of the FARC-EP, resulting in
the death of one person and four injured.
22. The Office registered various cases of
terrorism attributed by the authorities to the FARC-EP, such as the case that
occurred in Buenaventura (Valle del Cauca) on 10 June, when an artifact located
on a median strip exploded, leaving 12 persons injured.
23. The Office received information that,
since January, in the village El Decio in Samaniego (Nariño), the ELN have allegedly increased
the use of anti-personnel mines, causing various incidents and isolating the
population. These events have also resulted in the isolation of various rural villages
in the municipality and mass displacement in the area.
24. On 17 February in Yarumal (Antioquia), an
anti-personnel mine allegedly planted by the FARC-EP caused the death of one
person and injured three more, including a three year old. In El
Tarra (Norte
de Santander), on 5 August, a 16
year old died when he accidentally activated an anti-personnel mine, allegedly
planted by the ELN.
25. Minefields planted by the FARC-EP are one of the
principal causes of the displacement of various families from the village of Canelos
in Santa Rosa
(Bolívar) on 14 January.
26. On 11 June, the FARC-EP allegedly planted mines around
the coca cultivations that surround the village
of Santa Rosa in Puerto Asís
(Putumayo), isolating the population and creating
shortages of food and medicine.
27. The Office also received complaints that
guerrilla groups were recruiting boys and girls in various departments, such as
Antioquia, Arauca, Caquetá, Norte de Santander,
Putumayo, and Valle del Cauca. In various villages
in Caicedo (Putumayo), the FARC-EP had been
threatening to recruit minors in the area since late February. On 27 March, in
the department of Caquetá, alleged threats from the FARC-EP to recruit a minor
forced the displacement of that family. In the same month, in the department of
Norte de Santander, a family was forced to leave
after receiving threats, reportedly from the ELN, that they were going to
recruit one of their underage children. In April,
the FARC-EP allegedly recruited three minors in Palmira (Valle del Cauca), one of which, a 14
year old girl, was presumably subjected to sexual violence by the recruiters.
28. The Office received complaints on the
recruitment and use of boys and girls in combat, logistics, and intelligence
activities by the FARC-EP, such as the case in May in Ituango (Antioquia) where
a minor was apparently used to transport arms and explosives.
(ii)
Security Forces
29. The Office has observed the practice of
locating police stations and army battalions in populated areas, very close to
homes and other protected infrastructure, such as schools. For example, on 10
May, members of the Ayacucho Battalion occupied a school in the village of Guayaquil in Pueblo Nuevo (Caldas). On
14 May, the Office confirmed that members of the Army established a military
camp in the school of the village of Santa Cruz (Cauca).
30. On 5 October, members of the 59th
Counterinsurgency Battalion of the 27th Jungle Brigade arrived at
the Nasa indigenous community of San Luis Alto Picudito in Villagarzón (Putumayo) and began interrogating and taking photographs
of the inhabitants. After this incident, the FARC-EP threatened the population,
accusing them of being Army informants.
31. The Office was informed of arbitrary
restrictions imposed by members of the Army on the transportation of persons
and goods, such as food, medicine, and fuel. For example, since January, troops
from the 20th Mobile Brigade have limited the passage of food to
various villages in the municipality
of El Dovio (Valle del
Cauca), as part of a strategy to combat illegal armed groups.
32. The Office registered injuries to the
civilian population, including boys and girls, caused by clashes between the
Army and the FARC-EP in rural areas of the department of Arauca.
This was the case, for example, of the 18-month old girl that was injured by
gunfire on 15 September, resulting in the loss of one eye.
(iii)
Kidnapping
33. The guerrilla groups continued to kidnap persons, as
was the case of four students, one a minor, who were presumably kidnapped by
the FARC-EP on 5 October in the village of San José de Purré in Quibdó (Chocó).
On 22 March, a doctor was presumably kidnapped by the FARC-EP in Ocaña (Norte de
Santander).
34. On 31 July, five workers of an Ecopetrol contractor
were kidnapped in the urban center of the village of Orú
in Tibú (Norte
de Santander), allegedly by ELN
militiamen.
E. Illegal armed groups that emerged from
the demobilization process of paramilitary organizations
35. The Office observed that crimes allegedly committed by
the illegal armed groups that emerged from the demobilization process of the
paramilitary organizations produced high levels of violence against the
civilian population.
36. While some of the killings allegedly committed by
these groups have characteristics of “social cleansing”, in some municipalities
and departments the increase in the murder rate may suggest disputes between
these groups for the control of territory and illegal activities. For example,
for the period being reported, the clashes between the group apparently led by
alias “Don Mario” and the group called “Los Paisas”
may have caused the death of at least 70 persons in the department of Córdoba
alone.
37. In January, just in the cities of Barrancabermeja,
Bucaramanga,
and Cúcuta the Office registered over 50 selective killings.
38. The execution of nine persons in the month of May in
the community of Pizarro in Bajo
Baudó (Chocó) was allegedly committed by members of
the group called “Los
Rastrojos”. Members of this group allegedly killed a
prostitute in Orito (Putumayo) on 26 March. On
14 October, a community leader from Curvaradó (Chocó) was killed, the same day
that he was going to testify against various paramilitaries in a Medellín
courtroom.
39. On 24 May, members of a group called “Autodefensas
Campesinas Nueva Generación AC-NG” (New Generation Self-Defense Peasant
Farmers) allegedly forced over 200 displaced persons that had arrived at the village of Sánchez in Policarpa (Nariño) that
month, to return to their homes. The AC-NG is allegedly responsible for the
death threats made against human rights organizations in the department of
Nariño, such as those made on 12 February against the Unidad Indígena del
Pueblo Awá – UNIPA (People’s Indigenous Unit), the CPDH or the Pastoral
Social, among others.
40. On 15 June, an estimated 100 families were displaced
from the village
of San
José La Turbia (Nariño), reportedly by a group called “Águilas Negras”
(Black Eagles).
F. Vulnerable Groups
(i)
Human Rights
Defenders and Union Members
41. The Office was informed of various murders of union
and social leaders as well as of human rights defenders. For example, on 10
December 2008 in San Vicente de Caguán (Caquetá) the body of a renowned local
human rights defender and social leader was found incinerated, decapitated and
with signs of torture. On 9 February in
Balboa (Cauca), a union leader was stabbed to
death. On 9 March in San Vicente del Caguán (Caquetá), a union leader was disappeared
and was found dead three days later with 11 knife wounds. On 16 May, a member
of the Amor por Cartago Civil Committee (Valle del Cauca) was killed and other
members of the committee received death threats, and on 28 October, the FARC-EP
allegedly killed a community leader in Puerto Leguízamo
(Putumayo).
42. The Office received information on death
threats, attacks, and thefts against non-governmental organizations, and unions
and their members. Since January, the Ombudsman from San
Miguel (Putumayo) has been receiving
death threats. In Medellín (Antioquia), between
4 February and 18 September, various unions and social and political
organizations were being followed, intimidated and received anonymous death
threats. On 29 February, a member of the CPDH in the department of Risaralda
suffered an attempt against his life. On 20 April, information related to cases
of human rights violations, victims and perpetrators was stolen from the Red
Juvenzar organization of Valledupar
(Cesar). In Saravena (Arauca), on 19 November, an explosive artifact was
detonated in a building that housed the following social organizations: the Asociación Juvenil y Estudiantil Regional – ASOJER (Regional
Youth and Student Association), the Asociación Departamental de Usuarios
Campesinos – ADUC (Departmental Association of Peasant Farmer Users), the Asociación
Amanecer de Mujeres por Arauca – AMAR (Dawn for Women of Arauca
Association), the Asociación de Desplazados (Association of Displaced
Persons), the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT) Subdirectiva
Arauca (Workers Unitary Head Office, Arauca Subdirectorate), and the Fundación
Comité Regional de Derechos Humanos Joel Sierra (Regional Human Rights
Committee Foundation Joel Sierra).
43.
The Office
received information regarding attacks on the honor, reputation, or dignity of
human rights defenders. On 2 September, in Bogotá D.C.,
governmental authorities accused members of the human rights organization MINGA
of having links to the FARC-EP and ELN.
(ii)
Indigenous communities and peoples and Afro-Colombian groups
44.
The Office
received information on the execution of members of indigenous communities and
peoples. On 22 May, three members of the Chingu
Chinguza reservation in Ricaurte (Nariño) were killed. On 22
May, an indigenous ex-governor was found dead in the El Tigre River on the
Sirilio indigenous reservation in the Litoral de San Juan (Chocó). On 14 October, an
indigenous person participating in a manifestation near the La María
reservation in the village of Piendamó (Cauca) was
killed, allegedly by gunshots fired by the National Police.
45.
On 22 January, after
clashes between the FARC-EP and the Army, the guerrilla group allegedly made
death threats against the population of the Siona Bajo Santa Helena indigenous
assembly in Puerto Asís (Putumayo), accusing the inhabitants of collaborating
with the security forces.
46.
On 18 June, members of
the FARC-EP allegedly launched explosives into a school in the Siona de Buenavista
indigenous reservation in Puerto
Asís (Putumayo).
The attack caused such fear that it resulted in the mass displacement of the
population. On 16 March, in the Tacuevo indigenous reservation in Toribio (Cauca), clashes between the security forces and the
FARC-EP caused the displacement of over 600 others.
47. The Office was also informed of the killing of and
threats against Afro-Colombian leaders, such as the death of a member of the
Community Council Board of Bajo Mira and Frontera de
Tumaco (Nariño) on 25 June. Since February,
the FARC-EP have also reportedly threatened the representative of the Pacific
Afro-Colombian Corporation to the Municipal Council of Guacarí (Valle del
Cauca). An Afro-Colombian leader was also killed on 29 June in Buenaventura (Valle del Cauca).