Amnesty International
Group 27, Victoria
Concerns by Region: North Andes

group 27
Amnesty International
Victoria, BC

update: 29 October 2005

  Group 27
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  Victoria BC V8R 6N4
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launched on January 18, 2001

Colombian woman cries during funeral of armed conflict victims © AP

Women's bodies used as a battleground

13 October 2004

By sowing terror, exploiting and manipulating women for military gain, armed groups in Colombia have turned women’s bodies into a battleground.

During the course of Colombia’s 40-year-old conflict, all the armed groups – the security forces, army-backed paramilitaries and the guerrilla – have sexually abused or exploited women and girls. They have sought to control the most intimate parts of women’s lives.

These violations, committed against civilians and armed group’s own combatants, have remained behind a wall of silence, hidden by discrimination and impunity.

In early May 2003, rapes, killings and other attacks against civilians allegedly carried out by soldiers identifying themselves paramilitaries in Tame Municipality, Arauca Department, led to the displacement of over 500 people. In the village of Parreros, armed men raped and killed pregnant 16-year-old Omaira Fernández, and then ripped open her belly. According to one source, "[t]hey opened her up in front of everyone. The bodies of the girl and the baby were thrown in the river."

Guerrilla forces have also been responsible for repeated cases of violence against women, including rape. One woman told how she was raped by a FARC guerrilla : "He raped me and told me that it was a little reminder… not to get mixed up with soldiers"

Yet despite the gravity of such crimes, no real efforts have been made to fully investigate them, to bring to justice those responsible, or to prevent these atrocities happening in future.

All sides to the conflict must take action. Guerrilla forces must commit to upholding international humanitarian law. The Colombian government must act to prevent and punish all acts of violence against women. Only then will the people of Colombia have the opportunity to build a future safe from the threat of violence against women.

TAKE ACTION:
Write to the President of Colombia, demanding he takes immediate action to protect women from violence. You could base your letters on the sample below.
Sample Letter

Dear President Álvaro Uribe Vélez

I am writing to express my outrage about the widespread attacks on women and girls, including rape and murder, which are taking place during Colombia's armed conflict.

These attacks are being carried out by members of security forces, army-backed paramilitaries and guerrilla groups. Yet your government appears to be doing too little to ensure that those responsible for such attacks are investigated and prevented from carrying out further abuses.

All governments have a duty to prevent, punish and stop violence against women. The guerrilla groups, which are responsible for repeated violations of international humanitarian law, must also assume their responsibility for acts of violence against women.

It is now over a year since XVIII Brigade troops identifying themselves as paramilitaries entered Parreros in Tame Municipality, Arauca Department, and reportedly raped and killed pregnant 16-year-old Omaira Fernández. In the nearby community of Velasqueros, paramilitaries raped three young girls. There is no evidence that those responsible for committing such crimes are being brought to justice.

I urge you to acknowledge that violence against women is an integral part of the serious human rights crisis facing Colombia, and to publicly condemn this violence.

In particular, I would urge you to use your influence to immediately end abuses against women by forces under government control; to ensure that all reports of sexual violence committed by members of the security forces, paramilitary groups and guerrilla groups are investigated; and to guarantee the protection of women and respect for women’s rights by implementing UN recommendations and other international human rights standards.

Yours sincerely,

WRITE TO:

Presidente de la República de Colombia
Dr. Álvaro Uribe Vélez
Palacio de Nariño
Carrera 8 No.7-26
Bogotá,
COLOMBIA
Fax: +57 1 342 0592 / +57 1 337 5890

Human rights abuses in the following countries:

Colombia
Ecuador
Venezuela

(Select for country reports in Amnesty International Annual Report 2005)

News in the Region: Americas

Behind a wall of silence, a human rights and humanitarian tragedy is unfolding in Colombia

Embera Katio leader Kimy Pernia Photo: Embera Katio leader Kimy Pernia was disappeared more than three years ago. This crime has never been brought to justice and there are new threats to the safety of Embera Katio communities on the tributaries of the Upper Sinu River.

Safety of the Embera Katío still a concern

February 2005
Embera Katio leader Kimy Pernia was disappeared more than three years ago. This crime has never been brought to justice and there are new threats to the safety of Embera Katio communities on the tributaries of the Upper Sinu River.

The Indigenous Embera Katío people of Colombia are protesting against the impacts of a hydro-electric mega-project on the Upper Sinú River. Their safety continues to be a concern.

Amnesty International continues to be concerned for the safety of the Indigenous Embera Katío people of Colombia who are protesting against the impacts of a hydro-electric mega-project on the Upper Sinú River that received millions of dollars in financing support from Export Development Canada, a crown corporation of the Government of Canada.

Embera Katío leader Kimy Pernia Domico received threats against his life, while leading protests against the Urra dam. On June 2, 2001, Kimy Pernia was abducted by armed men reported to be members of a paramilitary group with links to the Colombian army. Kimy Pernia's fate has never been determined and those responsible for his "disappearance" have never been brought to justice.

In late December 2004, more than 400 Embera Katío set up an encampment outside the Colombian Ministry of the Environment in Bogotá to peacefully press for protection against further violence and implementation of promised mitigation of the impacts of the dam. There have been reports of the protesters being attacked and beaten by police.

TAKE ACTION:
Please urge the government of Canada to take immediate action to speak with Colombian authorities to indicate their concern about the safety of the protesters, seek clarification about the reports of protesters being attacked and beaten by the police and express their concern that the Colombian authorities act in a manner consistent with their obligations under international law.

Note: Those who have previously written letters on the case of Kimy Pernia and/or the Embera Katío should feel free to make reference to their earlier correspondence and ongoing concern.
WRITE TO:

The Hon. Pierre Pettigrew, Minister of Foreign Affairs,
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Fax: (613) 995-9926
Email: Pettigrew.P@parl.gc.ca

Send copies to:
Ambassador Jean-Marc Duval
Embassy of Canada in Colombia
E-mail: jean-marc.duval@dfait-maeci.gc.ca

Mr. Jose Herran-Lima
Director, South America Division
Foreign Affairs Canada
Email: jose.herran-lima@dfait-maeci.gc.ca

FURTHER BACKGROUND:

The Embera Katío say they were never been consulted about the Urra hydroelectric mega-project prior to its construction, in violation of protections for the human rights of Indigenous peoples contained in ILO Convention 169 and the Colombian constitution.

Kimy Pernia Domico testified before a Canadian parliamentary committee in 1999 about the impact of the Urra hydroelectric mega-project on his peoples' health and well-being. According to Pernia, fish, the mainstay of the Embera Katío's diet, had disappeared from the tributaries of the Upper Sinú River and malnutrition was leaving his people susceptible to disease. Fast-running rivers had been converted into stagnant water, bringing mosquitoes and life-threatening malaria. Fertile land and food crops were being flooded, further jeopardizing food security.

The construction of the dam had been supported by some $25 million in financing from Export Development Canada.

In April 2000, under national and international pressure, the Colombian Government and the Urra Corporation signed agreements Embera Katío in which they promised to provide compensation, measures to mitigate those negative impacts, protection from violence, and new lands acceptable to the Embera, as well as suspension of a second phase of the mega-project that would flood even more land. These commitments have not been delivered.

The Embera Katío are calling for:

  • negotiations in good faith with Embera Katío representatives towards solutions that ensure the security, human rights and well being of Embera Katío communities, whose physical and cultural survival becomes more precarious every day;

  • compliance with the April 2000 commitments: including compensation for the damage done to Embera land, communities and livelihood (which would enable them, for example, to obtain health care in the face of increased illness, and productive projects to replace lost livelihoods); respect for the Embera Katío 's own plans for community development; new land acceptable to the Embera Katío; human rights protection and the suspension of Urra II

  • concrete action to find and bring to justice those responsible for disappearing Kimy Pernia Domico

  • international monitoring of the situation in Embera Katío territory
Teresa Yarce, killed by a reported paramilitary in October 2004 © Private

Human Rights Defenders at risk in Medellin

7 September 2005

Teresa Yarce, a member of the Asociación de Mujeres de las Independencias, (AMI), the Women’s Association of Las Independencias, was shot dead on 6 October 2004 in a street near her home in Las Independencias, Medellín by a gunman recognized by witnesses as a paramilitary. At the time, Teresa Yarce was with one of her daughters, and her colleague Mery del Socorro Naranjo.

Teresa Yarce had condemned the fact that public funds earmarked for public services were allegedly being siphoned off to pay two paramilitaries. A few weeks before she was killed she had escaped a paramilitary attempt to abduct and kill her. Teresa Yarce was killed hours before she was due to testify to judicial authorities against a local paramilitary leader who had been detained.

About three hours after Teresa Yarce was shot, a known member of a paramilitary group approached Mery del Socorro Naranjo and told her that the paramilitaries were celebrating Teresa’s death and saying that they were now “going to kill the other two” , believed to refer to Mery del Socorro Naranjo and another member of AMI, María del Socorro Mosquera.

Both women remain at risk.

TAKE ACTION:
Write to the President of the Republic of Colombia. In your letter

  • call for full and impartial investigations into the killing of Teresa Yarce and the threats against AMI members, including María del Socorro Mosquera, Mery del Socorro Naranjo, and other members and associates of AMI, so that they can continue their human rights work;

  • raise concern at the ongoing campaign of the Government of Colombia to undermine and discredit the legitimate work of human rights defenders, trade unionists and other social activists;

  • ask that the Government of Colombia take every possible measure is taken to ensure the safety of human rights defenders in Medellín and across Colombia;

  • call on the Government of Colombia to elaborate plans, in conjunction with human rights defenders in Medellín, on implementing the principles of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and to keep you informed of these plans.
WRITE TO:

President of the Republic of Colombia
Presidente de la República de Colombia
Dr. Álvaro Uribe Vélez
Palacio de Nariño Carrera 8 No.7-26
Bogotá, COLOMBIA
Fax: +57 1 342 0592
Salutation: Exmo. Sr Presidente

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