AI Index: AMR 23/006/1997 1 February 1997 COLOMBIA Hacienda Bellacruz: Land, Violence and Paramilitary Power February 14 1996 will be a date long remembered by a large group of peasant farmer families in Colombia. It was the day when they found themselves without land, without a home, without most of their possessions and, eventually, even without their loved ones. It will also be remembered by many as the day when the Colombian authorities once again averted their gaze, and allowed powerful economic and military interests to prevail over basic human rights. On the night of 14 February, over 250 peasant farmer families (nearly 2,000 people) were forcibly evicted by 40 heavily armed paramilitary group members from the lands they have been occupying for 10 years on the Bellacruz Hacienda, located between the municipalities of Tamalameque, Pelaya and La Gloria, in the Colombian northeastern department of Cesar. Reportedly, when some of the peasant farmer families refused to abandon their lands the paramilitary group, known as Los Paracos, beat and whipped them, and burned their houses: "At 8 pm on 14 February, a heavily armed paramilitary group came to each farmstead, kicked the doors down and proceeded to violently force us out of our houses; they stole our money, electrical goods and household items, and set fire to our houses. They beat adults and children with sticks, rifles and rejos (knotted whips). They used machetes to cut short the hair of those who wore it long. They set fire to and destroyed the schools and their furniture and teaching materials. They insulted us and forced us to point out to them the people whose names were included on a list in their possession and who are our leaders and representatives. They gave us five days to abandon the land, and told us to keep a distance of at least 100 kilometres, or otherwise they would not answer for our lives." The attacks continued until 6 am the next day, and despite the presence in the area of police and military forces, there was no action on their part to prevent or stop the paramilitary actions, or to detain those responsible in and around the ranch. According to the testimony of some of the peasant farmers, members of the Colombian Army actually witnessed the events, and some soldiers were later identified as having been part of the paramilitary group. Forced to abandon their land and homes, the families fled to neighbouring towns in the municipalities of Pelaya, La Gloria and Tamalameque. Between 13 and 14 March, members of the same paramilitary group entered an area of the Hacienda Bellacruz known as San Carlos, which had been purchased by the Instituto Colombiano de Reforma Agraria (INCORA), Colombian Agrarian Reform Institute, from the original owners and allocated to about one hundred peasant farmer families. The paramilitary forcibly displaced approximately ten families in this raid, burning their homes and threatening them that they "should not return to the ranch nor come within a 100 km radius, otherwise [their] lives would be in danger". In all, a total of 287 families were forcibly displaced at different stages of the paramilitary action. The Hacienda Bellacruz has become a well known paramilitary base in the area and, according to reports, the Colombian security forces were fully aware of the paramilitary attacks. The attacks took place in close proximity to a military camp three kilometres from the San Carlos area of the ranch; a military base (the Base Militar del Batallón Héroes de Corea, Heroes of Korea Battalion Military Base) is situated just six kilometres away, next to the ranch homestead, and there is also a police post at 2 kilometres distance. According to the peasant farmer's testimony: "Whilst this group was carrying out the eviction, an army patrol was 100 metres behind them. When the families cried out for protection, the soldiers answered that they were at a disadvantage compared to the members of the paramilitary group, since the paramilitary had four-wheel-drive vehicles while they were only on foot. Later on, the members of the paramilitary group took up position, setting up check points on the access roads to the ranch, preventing us from returning to our plots to collect our possessions, food and animals (...)." Some reports go further and allege that the military actively participated with paramilitary forces in the expulsion of the peasant families. According to the testimony of some of the affected individuals, during a meeting that took place in Pelaya to discuss the situation, members of the army "arrived with cameras and started to take our photos and asked to be given our ID numbers. We could then recognize many of the soldiers from the day our houses were burnt down. That's why we have been so clearly singled out." Immediately after the events, the peasant farmers denounced the forcible expulsion and attacks to the Personería Municipal de Pelaya, Pelaya's Office of the Ombudsman, and to the Oficina del Defensor del Pueblo en Valledupar, Valledupar's Office of the People's Defender. From February to April, several meetings took place between government representatives, military authorities and the affected families, as a result of which agreements were reached which resulted in the Fiscalía General de la Nación, Office of the Attorney-General, opening judicial investigations at national level, within the context of the ongoing investigations into paramilitary activities in Cesar. However, the commitments made by the authorities have not translated into effective action. Since the forced evictions, the paramilitary group has continued to threaten those displaced as well other local inhabitants, and has been responsible for the deaths or "disappearances" of at least 30 people connected with the Bellacruz case, including several community leaders. On 15 November 1996, a paramilitary meeting reportedly took place in the main house of the Hacienda Bellacruz. Those present at the meeting are said to have agreed that the peasant farmers would be pursued and killed by members of the paramilitary group, wherever they be, as a lesson for the denunciations brought by them at a national and international level. Posters reportedly displayed during the meeting showed the names of six Bellacruz peasant farmer leaders, announcing that they had been sentenced to death. The Human Rights Context in the Department of Cesar The Hacienda Bellacruz is located in the south of the department of Cesar, a region with much fertile land, suitable for export crops, cattle-ranching and the cultivation of illicit crops such as coca and marihuana. Land in the ranch is dedicated both to cattle-ranching and to the production of a rich variety of crops. Cesar is also an area of strategic, economic and military importance. Oil pipelines cut through the department northwards, whilst national road routes running east-west and northsouth cross through it. The department's good transport and communications contribute to making land in the region highly desirable. The region is undergoing a process of land concentration as large landowners, cattle-ranchers and drug-traffickers seek to gain and secure possession of large areas of land. This, combined with a high degree of guerrilla presence and activity, has resulted in an increased militarization of the area. Lack of state investment and land concentration have aggravated the regions socio-economic problems. They have also contributed to the development of a strong network of legal civic and popular organizations, and have fuelled the strength of guerrilla groups in the region Armed Opposition Groups Guerrilla presence in the department of Cesar has been strong over the years as a result of the regions economic and strategic importance as well as the department's geographical location which makes it an ideal point for guerrilla fronts retreating from military operations in the eastern departments of Colombia, and a crossing point for the deployment of guerrilla forces to other parts of country. Both the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and the Ejército Nacional de Liberación (ELN), National Liberation Army, have several units operating in the department. Guerrilla forces have been responsible for numerous abuses of international humanitarian law, including the taking of hostages and deliberate and arbitrary killings of civilians, including politicians and public officials. Armed opposition groups frequently take and hold hostages for ransom money - one of the principal sources of income for some guerrilla groups - or to pressure the authorities to accede to guerrilla proposals or to demand publicity for their policies. Local officials and their relatives in guerrilla strongholds are frequently kidnapped and held until they agree to carry out public works programs or change their administrationss policies. A number of local officials accused of corruption or unjust social policies have been kidnapped and subjected to "popular trials", to force them to resign or to "return" pilfered public funds. Some have been summarily executed. Civilians suspected of collaborating with the security forces or of being army informants have frequently been killed by guerrilla forces. On 8 April 1996, for instance, Enrique Santiago Caballero, a passenger travelling on a bus on the road to Agustín Codazzi, was allegedly killed by UC-ELN guerrillas who stopped the vehicle in the vicinity of Boca de Mina, fired several shots at it and injured Caballero, who later died. On 21 April, Ramón Humberto Torres Florez, a 36 year old agronomist, was reportedly kidnapped by guerrillas on his way from Pailitas to Pelaya. His body was found several hours after. He had been shot four times. On 2 May, Raúl Rojas Jaimes, a 25-year-old taxi driver, and Manuel Rodríguez Santacruz, a 35-year-old man travelling as his passenger, were killed by alleged members of the ELN who stopped the taxi near Vijagual, forced the men to get out, and shot them dead. On 6 June, 40 armed men said to be members of the FARC entered La Ucrania, a farm in the municipality of Pailitas, and accused Helmer Herrera Galeano, a 26-year-old peasant farmer, of cooperating with the security forces and the paramilitary operating in the area. They killed him and dynamited the ranch homestead, injuring several peasant farmers. On retreat, the men kidnapped Nubia Pérez Quintero and Luz Mery Cardona, two domestic employees working in the farm. For many years, Amnesty International has condemned violations of international humanitarian law such as deliberate and arbitrary killings by guerrilla forces in Colombia, and has called for all armed opposition groups in the country to commit themselves to respect international humanitarian standards. Statistics compiled by national human rights agencies and non-governmental bodies indicate that the number of political killings by armed opposition groups has been rising in recent years. Although some 70% of political killings are carried out by the armed forces and their paramilitary allies, around 30% are now believed to be committed by guerrilla forces. The strong guerrilla presence in Cesar has contributed to the economic decline of large land holdings in the region. The threat of guerrilla kidnapping and extortion has acted as a disincentive to large-scale land investment, and many powerful sectors withdrew from the region in recent years. More recently, however, the development of paramilitary forces has enabled powerful landowners to expand and consolidate land holdings, and has helped reduce the risk of guerrilla kidnappings or extortion. Paramilitary activity has thus given a considerable boost to land prices, attracting increased investment in land in the region. Paramilitary Groups Amnesty International has been increasingly concerned by the escalation in human rights violations carried out in the department of Cesar by members of the security forces and paramilitary groups allied to them. "Disappearances", extrajudicial executions and other human rights violations continue to be reported as the security forces have increased their presence and paramilitary organizations have been set up and consolidated in the region, sometimes with the support of powerful economic interests. Many people have been forced to flee with their families to other parts of the country after being victim of repeated death threats and harassment. Although the armed and security forces have repeatedly denied any links between themselves and paramilitary forces, there is strong evidence that paramilitary groups operate with their complicity and support. Human rights violations are frequently committed within the context of operations which have been jointly planned and executed. Paramilitary groups have assumed a key role in the armed forces' counter-insurgency strategy, in which peasant farmers, whether politically active or not, together with popular or civic activists, are often the target of death threats, torture, extrajudicial executions and forced "disappearances". The systematic violation of human rights against members of popular organizations and peasant farmer leaders in the department of Cesar corresponds to a national strategy of undermining organizations which the security forces deem to be subversive. However, the targeting of these sectors does not only correspond to the counter-insurgency strategy. Many violations of human rights in the region are committed in order to advance and protect the interests of economically powerful sectors. Labelling anyone who dares to challenge the interests of powerful economic sectors as subversive (activists, peasant farmers in conflict zones or those disputing land rights) and then targeting them for human rights violations provides a means for those sectors to protect their interests. Those who are thus labelled often face human rights violations or are forced to leave the area. It is in this context that the forced displacement of the 287 Bellacruz families - one of many recent cases of large scale forced displacement in Colombia - has taken place. Internal displacement as a result of political violence State and guerrilla violence in the rural areas of Colombia has forced tens of thousands of adults and children to flee their homes to take refuge in the shanty town areas surrounding the larger towns and cities, and even across the national border. Fear of reprisals by paramilitary squads and guerrilla groups prevents many of them from reporting the threats and attacks that have caused their displacement. According to a report published in 1994 by the Conferencia Episcopal de Colombia, Episcopal Conference of the Colombian Catholic Church, an estimated 600,000 civilians had been displaced by the civil conflict since 1985. Figures released in November 1996 by the Grupo de Apoyo a Organizaciones de Desplazados (GAD), Support Group for Organizations Working with the Displaced, indicate that a further 150,000 Colombians were displaced by political violence in 1996, increasing the total estimate to 750,000. South of Cesar and the neighbouring Norte de Santander department are among the areas registering the largest numbers of internally displaced people in recent years. In 1994, during the first nine months of the Samper administration, nearly 12,000 people abandoned the region. The municipalities of Aguachica, San Alberto and San Martín, in South of Cesar, and Ocaña, in Norte de Santander, are amongst the worst affected communities. As a direct result, the city of Cúcuta and the province of Ocaña have been affected by a huge growth in shanty town areas. In the past two years, Ocaña has seen the birth of urban settlements which are the product of the rural exodus that has been taking place. After visiting Colombia in 1994, Francis Deng, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on internally displaced persons, saw the issue of land distribution as being one of the principal causes of the social conflicts in the country. He also placed "great importance on linking the humanitarian and human rights issues involved with the challenge of peace as the most effective means of removing the underlying causes of displacement." His report adds, "In this climate of perpetual violations of international human rights standards which, inter alia, targets those considered 'useless' to society, the internally displaced are particularly vulnerable to human rights abuses. Often, fleeing does not result in an end to persecution. The Representative has been told of a number of incidents where displaced persons have been tracked down in their host area and killed. Displacement also causes the curtailment of access to judicial and other authorities and political participation, since it usually requires interaction with the public authorities in the reception area." With regard to measures destined to reinforce the protection of human rights within the context of displacement, the Special Representative underlined in his report the importance of strengthening in Colombia the protection of "(i) land and property rights, (ii) humanitarian law norms that prohibit displacement and (iii) the right to life and physical integrity, especially during and immediately following displacement." Again, as mentioned in the UN report, "Fleeing from counter-insurgency and other violent activities means that peasants have to abandon everything. Displacement leaves them in a worse economic and social situation: as one church official said, 'the peasant on his land remains free; in the city he becomes a beggar, his daughter becomes a prostitute; he becomes a parasite, and thus a disposable'." In the words of one of the Bellacruz peasant farmers, "Where are we to go? People are afraid to talk to us. With all the propaganda they have done against us, saying we are guerrilla fighters, no one wants to risk their lives talking to 'guerrilla fighters' or being of some assistance to a 'guerrilla fighter'. We have lost so much... Who is going to give us back our lost stability... our lost health .... all the lives lost? Many can start from scratch, but Im old now. I have started from scratch many times; now I'm beginning to lose my strength (...). All I had left was burnt down in Bellacruz." The Land Conflict in the Hacienda Bellacruz The 12,000 hectares that form the Hacienda Bellacruz encompass 70% of all agricultural land in three municipalities of the region: La Gloria, Pelaya and Tamalameque. The ranch is owned by Inversiones Marulanda Ramírez Ltda. Carlos Arturo Marulanda Ramírez, until recently the Colombian ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union, is a major shareholder. The issue of land ownership at the ranch has been a controversial one for many years, and it is at the heart of a conflict that goes back at least half a century. According to the Asociación Nacional de Usuarios Campesinos - Unidad y Reconstrucción (ANUC-UR), National Peasant Farm Workers Association - Unity and Reconstruction, some of the land in question was violently sized during the 1940s by Alberto Marulanda Grillo, father of Carlos Arturo Marulanda Ramírez. At the time, the land was communally owned by local peasant farmers, and some of the forcibly evicted families still hold the original deeds. In June 1986, about 450 families occupied some 2,000 hectares of land within the ranch. The Marulanda Ramírez family, claiming to be the legitimate owners of the land, made an agreement with the Colombian military authorities to place a permanent military base in the ranch. In 1989, when Carlos Arturo Marulanda Ramírez was Minister for Development, Inversiones Marulanda Ramírez Ltda. tried to sell to the INCORA some 2,000 hectares occupied by the farmers since 1986. Since the title was not clear and the price demanded considered excessive, INCORA decided to begin a process of clarification of ownership. In April 1994, the institute published its decision, defining some areas of the ranch as private property belonging to Inversiones Marulanda Ramírez Ltda. and some others as unused land or baldíos, which the INCORA had the right to distribute among landless peasants. The INCORA additionally purchased 2,069 hectares from Inversiones Marulanda Ramírez Ltda. The final, official distribution, however, was never made, and the company lodged an appeal against INCORA's decision. The decision was ratified on 13 March 1996; however, by that time, the affected families had already been forcibly evicted. The Colombian Army has made consistent efforts to blame the ELN and non-governmental organizations for the events that took place in the Hacienda Bellacruz, and to portray the displaced peasant farmer families either as subversives or as victims of manipulation by guerrilla organizations. In a dossier prepared by General Harold Bedoya, Commander of the Colombian Army, and handed directly to Amnesty Internationals Secretary General during a visit to the country in May 1996, the Bellacruz case is described as "a manoeuvre," part of the wider political strategy of the armed opposition forces operating in the south of Cesar, aimed at increasing their control of the area. The document also claims that the support the displaced families have received from ANUC-UR, together with that of the non-governmental human rights organizations Asociación para la Promoción Social Alternativa - Minga, Association for the Promotion of Alternative Social Models - Minga, Comité de Solidaridad con los Presos Políticos, Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP), and Grupo de Apoyo a Organizaciones de Desplazados (GAD), Support Group for Organizations Working with the Displaced, is guided by their alleged links with guerrilla groups. On 8 August 1996, the Defensoría del Pueblo received a faxed letter entitled La verdad sobre la Hacienda Bellacruz, The Truth about the Hacienda Bellacruz, signed by a group of people claiming to be the real peasant farmers from the area who, according to the letter, were forced by the ELN to abandon their land. The letter accused the displaced peasant farmers of being guerrilla members in disguise, stating also that those occupying the offices of INCORA and the Defensoría in Santafé de Bogotá were doing so at the invitation of people working for those institutions. The persistent attempts to portray the displaced families and members of organizations working with them as subversives has heightened concerns for their safety, particularly in light of reports circulating widely in the area which indicate that the owners of the ranch intend to sell it, and that the forced evictions are just part of a "clean-up process" to increase the level of paramilitary control of the area, and, as a direct result, the price of the land. Colombian human rights organizations have repeatedly denounced the existence of an alliance between cattle ranchers, landowners and the military aimed at developing paramilitary control of the region. Recent testimony by the Chief of Police of Aguachica supports this view. On February 1995, in a report about a massacre in Puerto Patiño in 1995, the Chief of Police accused the Commander of Aguachicas Military Base, Jorge Alberto Lázaro Vergel, of being directly responsible for developing paramilitary groups in joint coordination with cattle ranchers from the region. In his statement, the Chief of Police also mentions rumours of a possible negotiation between a member of the Marulanda Ramírez family and alleged paramilitary leader Víctor Carranza: "According to information concerning private justice groups in the region, which to date remains unconfirmed, Víctor Carranza, the well known drug dealer, would be in the process of acquiring a ranch in the jurisdiction of La Gloria (Cesar) known as Beracruz (sic), which would be used as a base for their activities and to that end they would bring with them 200 paramilitary group members from the Department of Meta who would be in charge of cleaning-up the area, according to sources, the ranch will be purchased from a well known politician from Cesar bearing the surnames Marulanda Ramírez." [Directorate of the Judicial Police and of Investigations, Unit on Crimes against Life and Personal Safety. Report on the Investigation into the Puerto Patiño Massacre. Sent to the Director of the Judicial Police. Santafé de Bogotá, 1 February 1995.] The Response of the Colombian Authorities Since the evictions, the Colombian authorities and the evicted families have signed three agreements dated 21 March, 12 April and 7 June 1996. Among other things, the authorities guaranteed in the agreements the safe return or relocation of the families, the dismantling of paramilitary groups operating in the area, and the prosecution of anyone involved in the human rights violations committed in the Hacienda Bellacruz. The authorities also agreed that the Ministry of Interior would form a Comisión de Verificación Institucional, Institutional Commission of Verification, whose task would be to visit the area, investigate the Bellacruz situation and ensure that the relevant authorities proceed with all the necessary investigations. On 8 April, the Commission, which included representatives of the government, the military and security forces, NGOs and some of the affected peasant farmers, visited Valledupar, departmental capital, where it held meetings with the affected families, local civil and police authorities, and military representatives in the area, but was unable to reach the Hacienda Bellacruz because travel to the area was considered too dangerous. The Office of the Attorney-General opened an investigation but, to date, no effective measures have been taken by the authorities to carry out all the recommendations made by the Commission, and little has been done to fulfil all the commitments signed with the peasant farmers. The agreement signed on 7 June states: "The National Government in line with its constitutional and legal duties reiterates its decision to offer within its capacity, the safety required by the displaced peasant farmers from the Hacienda Bellacruz, in the South of Cesar, through the Ministries of Defence and Interior, for which, it will take all necessary steps aimed to protect their lives, honour and possessions, within the utmost respect for human rights and in accordance with all the judicial norms that regulate the performance of the Security Forces. To that aim, it will maintain a strict control of the situation to avoid the presence of illegally armed groups in the area, counting on the decisive cooperation of the civilian population with the security forces." On 4 July, a month after government representatives placed their signatures under that statement, the paramilitary group was reportedly responsible for killing three people. On 3 August, six others "disappeared". On 28 September, another two were killed in circumstances suggesting they were extrajudicially executed. By mid-December 1996, more than 30 people had been killed or had "disappeared" as a result of the conflict. According to peasant farmers' testimony there have been "events of extreme cruelty, like the killing of farmers who, after having been tortured, were decapitated and their heads displayed on poles by the side of the road to generate terror among the population." Twenty-seven arrest warrants have been issued by the authorities against paramilitary members operating in the Hacienda Bellacruz and neighbouring areas. To date, however, there have only been two arrests. No families have been able to return to land on the Hacienda Bellacruz, and paramilitary groups continue to threaten the population in the area, and prevent the survey of the land necessary for the planned land allocation. Reportedly, when a commission made up of employees of INCORA, members of the National Police and two representatives of the peasants visited the zone, they were "unable to enter the hacienda when its members were greeted with a hail of bullets." [Peace Brigades International, Bella Cruz: Who Takes Whose Land?, May 1996.] According to recent reports, INCORA still intends to carry out the promised land allocation; nevertheless, any peasant farmers that might benefit from it will still be at risk. In a newspaper interview (El Espectador, 29 October 1996), INCORA's Subdirector for Legal Affairs, Nidia Restrepo de Acosta, indicated: "We hope to get a helicopter to go there with the topographers and do the land survey, as an act of sovereignty, but we cannot offer guarantees for the lives of the possible beneficiaries of plot allocations." Despite INCORA's intentions, however, efforts to carry out the land allocation have been thwarted. According to the affected families, "The process of establishing the boundaries of the land in Bellacruz that has been declared state property has been seriously threatened by those [paramilitary] groups which, in an act of terror, skinned the back of an INCORA employee who was part of the topographers' group." According to Nidia Restrepo de Acosta, the man, a driver working for the institute, was attacked by the paramilitary who "skinned his back, just as you would do to skin an animal, while the two topographers who arrived on 19 April to start working were threatened with death if they did not leave there and then." The government of President Ernesto Samper Pizano has made repeated promises to dismantle paramilitary groups and bring to an end the impunity enjoyed by members of the security forces responsible for human rights violations. Nevertheless, the Bellacruz case, where security forces failed to stop the forced and violent eviction of peasant farmers by paramilitary forces, and government officers are unable even to access the area to do land studies, is a clear demonstration of the lack of political will of the government. The latest killings linked to the case, which took place in December 1996 while a delegation representing the Bellacruz peasant farmers was visiting Europe, prompted Dick Spring, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, to write to the Colombian authorities on 11 December expressing his profound concern in relation to the case, and asking to be kept informed of the results of the Colombian Government's investigations into these and other acts of violence in the area. The European Parliament had expressed similar concerns in a resolution issued in October 1996, a few days before the resignation of Carlos Arturo Marulanda Ramírez as Colombia's ambassador to the European Union. More recently, on 17 December, 15 members of the European Parliament signed a letter to President Samper expressing concern at the fact that senior officials from the armed forces who have been denounced as promoters of paramilitarism have been promoted during his mandate. The letter called on President Samper to make effective the arrest warrants as soon as possible, and guarantee the immediate protection of the peasant farmer leaders threatened with death. It also reminded him of his governments commitment to relocate the families. Ongoing Cases of Human Rights Violations as Negotiations Continue While negotiations with the government were taking place, paramilitary attacks continued unabated. Three months after the forced evictions, fears for the safety of the displaced families were seriously heightened by the killings of two peasant farmers, Edison Donado and Jaime Laguna Collazo. Edison Donado was killed on 7 May in San Bernardo by a group of armed men. Reportedly, three men wearing army clothes forced their way into his house, between 8 and 9 pm, made him lie face down, and shot him dead in front of his wife, daughter and two-year-old son. The boy, Edison Donado Jr., was injured by gunshot during the attack. Jaime Laguna was killed by members of a paramilitary group on 8 May at 12:30 pm as he was travelling towards San Bernardo, in the municipality of Pelaya, department of Cesar. He was a school teacher and peasant farmer leader who owned land in the hamlet of Trocadero, on the Hacienda Bellacruz. On 4 July, paramilitary gunmen reportedly killed Luis José Lemus Sánchez, Segundo Vásquez and Otoniel Cañizares Jacome, all civil servants working for the municipality of Pelaya, in a place known as Puente de Simaña, seven kilometres from Pelaya itself. On 3 August, César Díaz, a tradesman who supplied the displaced families with meat, and peasant farmers Jesús Galván and Jorge Cáceres Villegas were forcibly abducted by heavily armed members of the paramilitary group operating in the region. On the same day, Elger Castillo, Daniel Hoyos and Alfonso Osquidia, peasant farmers and tradesmen, were also reportedly forced out of their homes and abducted. The whereabouts of Galván, Osquidia and Castillo remains unknown since their abduction. Díaz, Cáceres and Hoyos were subsequently found dead. Their bodies showed signs of torture; their eyes had been gouged out, they had been castrated, and raped with wooden sticks. Francisco Rodríguez, an INCORA employee and leader of the local office of SINTRADIN (INCORAs employees trade union) working in Pailitas, was tied to a tree, beaten and threatened with death while working in the area near the Hacienda Bellacruz. He had to be transferred to work in a different area of the country. According to media reports, a journalist and a cameraman working for the TV news programme QAP, went to Pelaya on 22 August to prepare a news piece about the Bellacruz peasant farmers. After interviewing the families, they approached the local authorities for their point of view. They were then stopped by a police patrol, forced to reveal the content of the material gathered and, reluctantly, let go. Ten minutes later, they were intercepted by armed civilians who, appearing to know exactly what they were looking for, took their equipment and other materials and threatened to kill them. It is suspected the men were members of the paramilitary group operating in the area. Ricardo Cagua, another peasant farmer, reportedly working as a building contractor, was detained and remains "disappeared" since 27 August. According to reports, paramilitary members have told his family that they killed him and threw his body into the Magdalena River. On 28 September, at about 10 pm, members of a paramilitary group forced their way into the house of Eliseo Narváez Corrales, a peasant farmer leader who had played a prominent role with the families forcibly displaced from the Hacienda Bellacruz. He was not in the house at the time and the paramilitary detained his nephew, Wilmer Amaris, forcing him to take them to Eliseo and his brother Eder Narváez Corrales. Wilmer Amaris took them to a farm called La Cabaña, where they forced him to call to Eliseo and Eder Narváez to come out of the farmstead. As the two brothers came out of the house, they were shot dead by the paramilitary group. Miriam Contreras, Eliseo Narváezs wife, was injured. Belén Torres, president of ANUC-UR, has been receiving death threats from the paramilita ry group responsibl e for expelling the peasant farmer families from Bellacruz. ANUC-UR has been supporting the families in their efforts to return to their lands. According to reports, her name appears on the death list displayed during the paramilitary meeting said to have taken place on 15 November 1996, together with those of peasant farmer leaders Adelmo Segundo Rodríguez, César Quintero, Brigadier Ropero and Isai Cañizares. On 30 November, Jesús Toscano, member of a peasant farmer family who went into hiding after paramilitary members went to their land looking for his brother Ariel Toscano, was killed by paramilitary members after returning to his house to collect some things he had left there. Those responsible for his death reportedly swore they would kill the whole Toscano family. On 5 December, members of a paramilitary group entered the house in Valledupar, where brothers Diosenel, Dinael and José del Carmen Toscano were hiding, and killed them in front of their young children. All three were peasant farmers; Diosenel was also a peasant farmer leader working with ANUC-UR. Paramilitary members are reportedly still looking for Ariel Toscano. Other people killed by paramilitary members in connection with the case Luis Segundo Torres: a youth taken from San Bernardo, municipality of Tamalameque, on 30 April, and found dead the day after. His body, found in La Marta, municipality of La Gloria, showed signs of torture. Belisario Sumalave: handicapped lottery street vendor, killed in the urban area of Pelaya, on 10 May, allegedly because he recognized some paramilitary members. Tulio Angarita: tradesman, killed in the urban area of Pelaya, on 20 May. Abdel Sumalave: president of the town council of La Gloria. Germán Umaña: contractor working for ECOPETROL. José Antonio Quintero: 64-year-old tradesman. José Guarín: peasant farmer from the hamlet of La Flecha, decapitated on 2 September. Rafael Baena: peasant farmer. Cediel Sánchez: peasant farmer. Manuel Tapias: driver. Hernán Contreras: peasant farmer from the hamlet of El Trapiche. Ciro Botello: tradesman, killed on 13 November. Juan Pacheco: peasant farmer leader working with ANUC-UR, killed on 23 December. Dioselino Quiñones: peasant farmer leader working with ANUC-UR, killed in Pelaya on 14 December. The Present Situation of the Families Since their forced evictions, the Bellacruz families and the inhabitants of communities neighbouring the Hacienda Bellacruz have faced constant fear. Paramilitary groups operating in the region have threatened the inhabitants of communities situated around the ranch, warning them not to provide the displaced families any support. The paramilitary groups have threatened shopkeepers in the municipality of Pelaya, ordering them not to trade with the evicted families who have taken refuge in the town. Attempts to relocate some of the families to Cundinamarca and Boyacá have faced firm opposition from residents and regional authorities, since people already living in those areas are fearful that the farmers might really be guerrilla sympathisers, as portrayed by the army, or that further reprisals by the paramilitary might follow wherever they go. Fifty families, approximately 140-150 people, are currently housed at the Casa Campesina de Pelaya, Pelaya Peasant Farmers' House. In agreements between the peasant farmers and the Colombian Government, the authorities had promised that a permanent police guard of the Casa Campesina would be maintained. On several occasions, however, the Casa Campesina has been left without police protection, and continued death threats by the paramilitary have meant that the farmers have been unable to move outside the building out of fear for their safety. On 5 August, some of the displaced families occupied the offices of INCORA and the Defensoría del Pueblo in Santafé de Bogotá in order to press the Colombian authorities to fulfil their commitments. The peasant farmers at INCORAs offices received wide support by INCORA's employees' trade union. Illnesses broke out among the many young children housed in both locations (eight babies were born in the offices during the occupation), and the families, living in less than ideal conditions, were afraid for their health and their future. The families who were occupying the offices of INCORA and the Defensoría - at least 95 according to the latest reports - were relocated to lands in the Department of Tolima on 29 December 1996 (the money assigned by the government for this land purchase had to be spent before 31 December, or it would have been transferred to the Ministry of Defences budget). Although the conditions are far from ideal, and the fact still remains that the families have not been allowed to return to the land from which they were violently expelled, this move by the Colombian authorities has been seen by those affected as a first step towards fulfilling the agreements made so far. Two ranches have been purchased for that first relocation, and the peasant farmers and those supporting them intend to continue pressuring INCORA to carry out the purchase of further land - said to be scheduled for January 1997 - to be distributed among 35 other families. They hope that 40 other families will be able to return to the Hacienda Bellacruz if the promised land distribution does indeed take place. As far as their safety is concerned, the families remain far from hopeful. The conflict has resulted in at least 30 deaths/"disappearances" at the hands of paramilitary forces, and all indications are that the paramilitary groups operating in the Hacienda Bellacruz and neighbouring areas intend to continue their violent attacks against the peasant farmers and those trying to assist them. The government, on the other hand, does not appear decided to ensure that the armed forces take effective action to dismantle paramilitary groups, and make effective outstanding arrest warrants against the paramilitary members responsible for the torture, "disappearance" and killing of the peasant farmers. Conclusions and Recommendations The Colombian authorities have so far failed to ensure that the armed and security forces act to protect the lives and well-being of the displaced peasant farmers from Bellacruz. In view of this, Amnesty International calls on the Colombian Government to: • implement immediate measures to guarantee the safety of the Bellacruz families and those who have been supporting them; • carry out a full and impartial investigation into the alleged lack of response on the part of the military and police authorities to prevent these violent attacks on the community; • suspend from any position of authority - pending results of investigations - any members of the security forces implicated in the human rights abuses perpetrated by the paramilitary groups; • carry out all the arrests warrants issued against paramilitary members responsible for human rights violations; • bring to justice all members of the armed and security forces involved in paramilitary activities as well as those responsible for the human rights violations perpetrated against the Bellacruz families and their supporters; • conduct full and impartial investigations into the torture, killings, "disappearances", continued threats and other human rights violations reported in relation to the Bellacruz case. The results of such investigations should be made public and those responsible should be brought to justice; • ensure that if the "disappeared" peasant farmers are in detention, they be treated humanely, granted access to lawyers and relatives, and charged immediately with a recognizable offence or released; • fulfil its commitment to disband paramilitary forces presently operating as auxiliaries or with the complicity of the armed and security forces. Amnesty International also calls on the Colombian Government to ensure that all human rights defenders, peasant farmer leaders and community activists involved in the Bellacruz case receive the full protection of the law to enable them to provide assistance to the families. This should include concrete steps to end harassment, threats and intimidation against them. With regards to the displaced families, Amnesty International calls on the Colombian Government to provide them with assistance, appropriate reparation and compensation. As a first step towards this, the Colombian authorities should honour all the agreements signed with the peasant farmers and, according to the wishes of the families, continue with their relocation or arrange for their safe return to Bellacruz. AI Index: AMR 23/006/1997 1 February 1997
