Community Leader Killed by Colombian Army While Fishing

Date Issued: November 9, 2006

On October 24, members of a notorious Colombian army unit killed Mr. Leider de Jesus Castrillon Sarmiento and seriously injured his son while they were fishing. Mr. Castrillon was a well known community leader in Norosí, Bolívar department.

The army admitted shooting Mr. Castrillon and his son but described it as a “military error.” It also admitted killing a local mining union leader, Mr. Uribe, in September, but stated that he was a guerrilla-terrorist killed in combat.

The killings are the latest in a series of abusive violent acts attributed to the Air Defense Battalion “Nueva Granada” that stretch back over a decade. It also represents part of a broader trend by Colombian authorities to condone and even instigate attacks against nonviolent community leaders and human rights defenders.

Mr. Uribe was leading peaceful community opposition to possible future gold mining operations by a multi-national company in the region. He was also demanding justice for the killing of another local mining union leader in August, attributed to the same army unit. 

You can help to ensure future activists are not assassinated for voicing their opinions. Demand that the Colombian government investigate these killings as a way of deterring future executions. Also insist that the leaders of this army unit be suspended pending a full investigation into all of the alleged crimes committed by them over the last decade.

Background

General José Joaquín Cortes, Commander of the Fifth Brigade of the Army, stated that Mr. Uribe was a guerrilla-terrorist killed in combat. However, Mr. Uribe was President of the Junta de Acción Comunal de la Mina Gallo and member of the Federation of Agro-Mining for southern Bolivar (FEDEAGROMISBOL). He had actively campaigned for an investigation into the killing of another mining union leader and reported the incident to the Public Defender two weeks before he was killed. He had also mobilized peaceful community opposition to possible future gold mining operations in the region by the multi-national corporation Anglo Gold Ashanti (Kedahda S.A).

Local community members state that Mr. Uribe was found dead with clothes and weapons which did not belong to him, but which were planted by the army to make him look like a guerrilla fighter. His real clothes were reportedly found elsewhere. Previous UN reports have corroborated charges that the army placed weapons on civilians to make them look like guerrillas.

Local community members believe that the army killings and threats are part of a plan to intimidate them into accepting the presence of the multi-national mining company. After Mr. Uribe was killed, community members reportedly gathered in the town of San Luquitas on September 21 to seek an investigation into his death. Members of the army unit reportedly threatened them and warned them that more community leaders would be killed.

Given the admitted killings by the army unit and the threats and detentions attributed to them, it is not sufficient for them to cite a “military error”. A full and impartial investigation into the events is needed.

As far back as 1993 the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture found that this army unit had breached fundamental human rights. A case is currently pending before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights which also alleges serious human rights abuses were committed by this unit in the mid 1990s. Those violations appear to be continuing to this day.

More information:

Interview with Army General: http://colombiasupport.net/news/2006/09/
threats-of-nueva-granada-battallion.html

http://colombiasupport.net/news/2006/09/
bishop-of-magangue-rejects-laments-and.html

Sample Letter:

Spanish Version of this Letter (PDF-23KB)

Doctor Mario Hernán Iguarán Arana, 
Attorney-General
Diagonal 22-B # 52-01,
Bogotá.
Fax: +57.1.570.20.00; +57.1.414.90.00

Dr. Iguaran: 

I am writing to express my deep concern about the killings of community leaders in southern Bolivar. The Air Defense Battalion “Nueva Granada” has admitted to killing Mr Leider de Jesus Castrillon Sarmiento and shooting his son in Río Viejo on October 24. It has also admitted to killing Alejandro Uribe Chacon in the municipality of Monte Cristo on September 19. A range of other threats, detentions and executions, such as that of Arnulfo Pabon, killed in the municipality of Arenal on August 18, are also attributed to the battalion. The apparent targeted killings of human rights defenders seeking accountability for the battalion’s actions cannot credibly be attributed to “military error” (as explained by Colonel Gustavo Enrique Avendano of the Fifth Brigade).

Mr. Uribe was President of the Junta de Acción Comunal de la Mina Gallo and member of the Federation of Agro-Mining for southern Bolivar (FEDEAGROMISBOL). He had actively campaigned for an investigation into the killing of Mr. Pabon and reported the incident to the Public Defender two weeks before he was killed. He had also mobilized peaceful community opposition to possible future gold mining operations in the region by the multi-national corporation Anglo Gold Ashanti (Kedahda S.A).

I am dismayed by the comments of General Jose Joaquín Cortes, Commander of the Fifth Brigade of the Army, stating that Mr Uribe was a guerrilla-terrorist killed in combat. Moreover, I am alarmed that the UN Special Rapporteur for Torture has found that the Air Defense Battalion “Nueva Granada” has violated human rights stretching back as far 1993. I also note the current proceedings before the Inter-America Commission on Human Rights alleging further human rights violations by the battalion.

The 1998 U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Defenders affirms that: “The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection … of everyone … against any violence, threats, retaliation … as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration.”

I call on the government of Colombia to:

1. Immediately suspend from active duty the leaders of the Air Defense Battalion “Nueva Granada” pending a full, public, impartial and civilian investigation into the above mentioned killings and the range of other allegations against the battalion over the last 13 years.
2. Depending on the outcome of the investigations and given that civilians were killed, prosecute those responsible for crimes before an independent court in the civilian criminal justice system, rather than the military justice system.
3. Publicly declare that human rights defenders and community leaders, such as Mr. Uribe and Mr. Castrillon, were not terrorists, but instead performed valuable work. In particular, the government should repudiate General Joaquín’s statements and affirm that mining union leaders in southern Bolivar have the right to express their opinions on mining developments in a nonviolent manner free of the threat of violent reprisals from anyone.
4. Direct members of the Colombian armed forces not to persecute human rights defenders, with particular reference to community leaders in southern Bolivar.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.  I will continue to closely monitor this situation.

cc.

Dr. Carlos Franco,
Director of the Presidential Program for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law
Carrera 8 No. 7-26, Palacio de Nariño,  
Santa fe de Bogotá, Colombia
cefranco@presidencia.gov.co;

Vice-President’s Observatory for Human Rights
Carrera 8 No. 7-26, Palacio de Nariño,  
Santa fe de Bogotá, Colombia

Dr. Juan Manuel Santos Calderón,
Defense Minister,
Avenida El Dorado con Cra. 52 CAN,
Bogotá.
Fax: +57.1.222.18.74
siden@mindefensa.gov.co

Dr.  Edgardo José Maya Villazón  
General Ombudsman
Carrera 5 No. 15-80 
Santa Fe de Bogotá 
Fax: (+57 1)342.97.23