[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
[OPIRG-EVENTS] URGENT: Afrocolombian communities under threat!
********************************************************************
COLOMBIA:
URGENT ACTION! URGENT ACTION! URGENT ACTION! URGENT ACTION!
********************************************************************
APRIL 7, 2001
AFROCOLOMBIAN COMMUNITIES THREATENED BY PARAMILITARIES
For centuries, Afrocolombian communities have lived in resource-rich areas
where they are currently asserting their right to autonomy and the
collective ownership of land. Many of these communities are original
settlements of escaped slaves or Maroons - free Black territories known as
PALENQUES. One such historic settlement is the Palenque of San Basilio
located on Colombia's Atlantic Coast. San Basilio is among the oldest of
the
Palenques in all of the Americas and where an African language of Bantu
origin is still spoken.
Benkos Bioho, a Maroon leader and slave liberator signed a pact with the
Spanish crown which granted the Palenque of San Basilio, originally a
territory much more vast than what remains today, the right to
self-government.
The communities that inhabit these wealthy and strategic territories are
being displaced by paramilitary violence. On April 7, 2001, a motorized
vehicle was used to spread letters in the community of Bonga. The letters
demanded thtat the inhabitants abandon their lands or suffer the
consequences. These threats are part of a paramilitary campaign whose
intent it is to displace the Palenque community from their lands.
We urge the Colombian government and international organizations to
intervene to protect the rights of the Palenqueros as well as establish
mechanisms to guarantee the security of all Afrocolombian communitites in
general.
Sincerely,
Organizational Committee,
Association of Displaced Afrocolombian Peoples - AFRODES
Please direct your letters to:
President of the Republic of Colombia,
Dr. Andrés Pastrana Arango, Palacio de Nariño,
Santafé de Bogotá, fax (571)-2842186 -2893377 2867473.
e-mail: www.presidencia.gob.co
e-mail: pastrana@presidencia.gov.com
Vicepresidency of the Repúblic of Colombia,
Dr. Gustavo Bell.
Fax (571) 4442120
e-mail: kchalita@presidencia.gov.co
Attorney General ,
Dr. Edgardo Maya,
Carrera 5 No. 15-80
Santafé de Bogotá,
Fax (571) 3429723 http: file://sinpro.gov.co/progenal.index.htm
Fiscal General de la Nación,
Doctor Alfonso Gómez Méndez,
Diagonal 22B No. 52-01 Bogotá.
Telefax (571) 5702000
National Ombudsman
Doctor Eduardo Cifuentes calle 55 No. 10-46,
fax (571) 2820977-(571) 3461225.
e-mail: jcastro@col1.telecom.com.co
Minister of the Interior
Dr. Armando Estrada Villa,
carrera 8 No. 8-09 Fax. (571) 5602604
Minister of Defense ,
Luis Fernando Ramírez Acuña,
Avenida el dorado con Carrera 52. CAN.
Fax (571) 2221874.
High Comissioner for Peace
Dr. Camilo Gómez. Fax. (571) 5609946
High Commisionof the United Nations in Colombia
Fax. (571) 3134050 3134051.
e-mail: oacnudh@hchr.org.com
-
This is the OPIRG-events@ox.org list. Announcement only please.
To unsubscribe, send email to opirg-events-request@ox.org, and put
"unsubscribe" in the body.
Archive at: http://www.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca/lists/html/opirg-events/