| PUBLIC AI Index: AMR 23/036/2001 26 March 2001 UA 70/01 Fear for safety COLOMBIA Civilian population of the municipality of San Carlos, Antioquia Department Paramilitaries have attacked the town of San Carlos, killing at least 13 people, only days after the Colombian army withdrew from the town. Amnesty International is concerned for the safety of the civilian population in the municipality. About 100 army-backed paramilitaries reportedly entered the town of San Carlos in the department of Antioquia on 17 March. They massacred at least thirteen people, including Roger Abad Gil Naranjo, Lino de Jesús Quintana Guzmán, Jesús María Quiceno López, Javier de Jesús López Giraldo, Sandra Patricia Giraldo Cardona, Nancy Margarita Giraldo Tobón, Alberto Ramírez, Alduber de Jesús Arias Montoya, Orlando de Jesús Quintero Quintero, Jaime Alberto Guarín, Luis Alberto Agudelo y sus hijos, Berto Alberto Agudelo Usuga and José Ermilson Agudelo Usuga. They are maintaining their presence in the town, and the killings are reportedly continuing. The paramilitaries reportedly came from a base in the nearby community of El Jordán. To get to San Carlos, they reportedly passed a military post in the community of Playas, and through a military checkpoint in an area called Puente Arkanzas. The security forces took no action to prevent the paramilitaries from attacking San Carlos. On the contrary, on 14 March, only a few days before the attack, a battalion with the IV Brigade of the Colombian army, the Batallón Juan del Corral, withdrew from the town. At the same time, the local police moved from the centre of the town to its outskirts. Since early March there has been a heavy military presence in the area. Approximately 5000 troops with the IV Brigade have been engaged in an operation codenamed "Resplandor" targeting armed opposition groups operating in the municipalities of San Carlos, San Luis, Granada and Cocorná. But even though national non-governmental human rights organizations have repeatedly denounced the presence of the paramilitary base in El Jordán, the security forces have taken no action to confront the paramilitaries, who were able to carry out the massacre in San Carlos unchallenged. BACKGROUND INFORMATION In the first few weeks of 2001, the United Nations Human Rights Office in Colombia received information about 26 massacres committed in 11 departments, in which more than 170 people were killed, most of them by paramilitary groups. Members of the Colombian army and security forces and their paramilitary allies commit serious human rights violations with virtual impunity. In the last five years, several thousand civilians have been killed by paramilitary groups. To facilitate paramilitary operations, the security forces have frequently withdrawn from targeted areas, or prevented humanitarian and other agencies gaining access to civilian communities at risk. In 1989 the Colombian government suspended the constitutional legal base for the formation of paramilitary organizations, and issued directives to the armed forces to combat and disband such groups. However, they continue to work with the support of the security forces in many areas of the country. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail letters in Spanish or your own language: - expressing concern for the safety of the civilian population of San Carlos, department of Antioquia, after paramilitaries entered the community and massacred at least 13 civilians; - urging the authorities to do everything necessary to guarantee the safety of the civilian population, pointing out that if they fail to do so, it will seem that the paramilitaries operate with the complicity of the security forces; - calling for a full and impartial investigation into links between the security forces and paramilitary groups operating in the area, urging that the results are made public and those found responsible for supporting and participating in such groups are brought to justice; - urging the authorities to take immediate action to dismantle paramilitary groups, in line with stated government commitments and United Nations recommendations. APPEALS TO: President of the Republic Señor Presidente Andrés Pastrana Arango Presidente de la República Palacio de Nariño Carrera 8 No.7-26 Santafé de Bogotá COLOMBIA Faxes: + 57 1 336 2109 / 337 1351/286 74 34/ 286 68 42/284 21 86 Salutation: Dear President / Excmo. Sr. Presidente Attorney General Dr. Alfonso Gómez Méndez, Fiscal General de la Nación, Fiscalía General de la Nación, Diagonal 22B 5201,Apartado Aéreo 29855, Santafé de Bogotá COLOMBIA Telegrams: Fiscal General, Bogotá, Colombia Faxes: + 57 1 570 2022 (If the call is answered, say "Fax, por favor" and wait for the signal.) Salutation: Estimado Dr. / Dear Dr. Gómez Méndez Commander-in-Chief of the Colombian Armed Forces Comandante General de las Fuerzas Militares General Fernando Tapias Stahelin Avenida El Dorado - Carrera 52 Santafé de Bogotá, COLOMBIA Fax: + 57 1 222 2096 / 221 3653/222 2935 Salutation: Dear General/Sr General COPIES TO: National Advocate for the People Sr. Defensor del Pueblo Eduardo Cifuentes Muñoz Defensoría del Pueblo Calle 55, Nº10-32/46 Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia National Human Rights Organization SEMBRAR, Apartado Aéreo 34692, Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia and to diplomatic representatives of COLOMBIA accredited to your country. COLOMBIAS AMBASSAD BOX 5627 114 86 STOCKHOLM FAX 08-21 84 90 E-post: emsuecia@ebox.tninet.se PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 7 May 2001.
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