No more violence! No more war! No more threats!

Indigenous, campesino, afro-Colombian communities and social sectors come together for the defence of life, peace and territory

This week more than 5000 people attended the Inter-ethnic and Social Public Assembly in Santander de Quilichao, Cauca department. The event, which took place on 14^th and 15^th June, saw indigenous, campesino and afro-Colombian communities come together with trade unions, human rights NGOs, students and women’s organisations come together to demand an end to the violence and intimidation which they are being subjected to by all groups in the armed conflict. The event was organised because of the continued intensification of the social and armed conflict in the South-west of Colombia, in particular in Cauca and Valle del Cauca department, under the slogan “for the defence of life, peace and territory”.

This year indigenous and afro-Colombian communities in Northern Cauca department have suffered scores of deaths and casualties at the hands of the army and FARC guerrillas, who have engaged in heavy combat in their territories. Both sides are ignoring International Humanitarian Law and human rights legislation by engaging in combat in civilian areas, and trying to force the civilian population to collaborate with them, thus putting the civilian population in grave danger. Jorge Arias, leader of the ACIN indigenous organisation, said “we say to the armed groups- leave, and leave now. This is not our war. We do not want your war. Army, guerrilla, paramilitaries- all of you- leave now. This is our territory: we will not leave”.

As the presidential elections approach and the administration of President Uribe draws to a close, the past 2 months have also seen a sharp upsurge in paramilitary violence and threats against community leaders, trade unionists, human rights defenders and other social sectors in all of Colombia. A report by Somos Defensores this month said that during May 7 human rights defenders were murdered in Colombia, and 102 social organisations received paramilitary threats. On Sunday 23^rd May, campesino leader Alexander Quintero was murdered in Santander de Quilichao, Cauca department. Alexander was President of the Alta Naya Association of Community Councils, and a key figure in the investigation into the Naya massacre, in which paramilitaries with support from state forces killed more 100 indigenous and Afro-Colombian community members in April 2001, and forcibly disappeared another 60.

The assembly began with a colourful and noisy march down the Panamerican Highway, which stopped only once at the point where Andres Quintero was murdered in order for marchers to pay their respects.

The level of paramilitary activity was made clear when several of the organisations involved in organising the event received death threats before the event started on the morning of 14^th June. The threats, which arrived by text message, stated “the assembley will be a guerrilla assembley, yet again we have proved that you carry out the FARC’s ideological process death to Nomadesc, FCSPP, CPDH, ECATE, CUT, you will not be saved.x1y” (sic).

Speakers at the event publicly denounced the Colombian state’s non-presence. The government and state institutions responsible for the protection of human rights and the respect of rural communities’ territories were invited to the assembly, but none of the accepted the invitation. “How long are they going to keep killing us? We must organise ourselves, we must keep marching and protesting, its the only way they will take any notice of us. It is our responsibility to protest in the Minga of Social and Communitarian Resistance in July. Please join us,” said Feliciano Valencia, indigenous leader and spokesman for the Minga of Social and Communitarian Resistance. Social sectors are planning mass demonstrations during July to counter the Colombian state’s celebrations of 200 years of Colombian independence.