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  In February, the San José de Apartadó peace community in Colombia experienced a terribleloss at the hands of the Colombian military. Rose Anderson reports.

We will not forget

  • Rose Anderson
    Decades of conflict between the Colombian National Army and various guerrilla groups, such as the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios Colombianos (FARC) and the Eje'rcito de Liberacio'n Nacional (ELN), have created an ongoing atmosphere of unrest and violence within Colombia.
    On 23 March it was the eighth anniversary of the Comunidad de la Paz de San Jose de Apartado'. (San Jose' of Apartado' Peace Community). The community encompasses 32 small villages within the Abibe Mountains, with a population of around 2000 members. Each member of the community is committed to pacifism and neutrality in the conflicts, agreeing to five basic guidelines: to participate in community efforts, to say "no" to injustice and impunity, to refuse direct or indirect participation with the surrounding conflicts, to not carry any weapon, and to not give any information or assist any armed actor.
        On 21 February the Colombian National Army murdered seven members of the San Jose' de Apartado' peace community in Antioquia, Colombia. Those murdered included Luis Eduardo Guerra, a prominent member of the San Jose' community; his partner Bellanira Areiza Guzman; Alfonso Bolivar Tuberquia Graciano, a leader in the neighbouring Mulatos peace community; his partner Sandra Milena Munoz Pozo; and three children aged two, six and 11. The group had set out on 19 February from San Jose' in order to collect cocoa in Mulatos, and was detained by the XI Brigade of the Colombian National Army on around 20 February at one of the various military checkpoints along the main road to Mulatos. One member of the group managed to escape, and when he returned with a group to look for the missing, their bodies were found alongside the road, the corpses mutilated and showing signs of torture.

    Protective accompaniment

    Protective accompaniment works as a tool for peace in that it creates witnesses on a international level, to observe and document injustice.
        Groups carrying out protective accompaniment within San José de Apartadó: For more information on San José de Apartadó, see:

    A Sombre Journey

    On 25 February, a group of around 200 community members, accompanied by members of Peace Brigades International and the Fellowship for Reconciliation, set out to collect and bring home the bodies of those murdered, hoping to bring a sense of closure to the pain caused by this tragedy. The group was to function as a sort of truth commission, documenting the facts surrounding the deaths in hopes that those responsible will eventually be brought to justice.
        "The one thing we know is that we will not forget. All of the murdered live on in us. Our companions and leaders died for a worthy cause: to dream of another life, one where we can live together without terror, for ourselves and our children."

    Increasing aggression

    Acts of aggression and violence against the San Jose' community and other surrounding communities on the part of the Colombian Army have been increasing in recent months.
        On 20 February a Colombian Army member entered the house of Gladys Guzma'n Palacios in Las Nieves (about four hours from San Jose') and began shooting. In the house was a four-year old girl, Diana Marcela, who was wounded and sent to hospital. Diana's father, a FARC member, died from gunshot wounds.
        On 22 February army helicopters bombarded the villages of Bellavista, Alto Bonito and Buenos Aires, an area in which around 200 farmers and peasants live.

    Presidential demands

    President Uribe has repeatedly tried to implement a military presence within the community, ignoring their demands that it be free of any armed actor, whether it be state, paramilitary, or guerrilla. Uribe has used the community's refusal to accuse them of being associated with the guerrillas, and thus refuses to launch any investigation of the assassination of community members, or of human rights violations. Uribe has also threatened international volunteers with arrest and deportation.

    Blockades as weapons

    The paramilitaries routinely block the transport of crops to and from San Jose', in their attempts to further undermine the peace community's efforts. In response to this, on 22 October 2004 the community created a "caravan" from San Jose' down to the town of Apartado', with groups of community members and witnesses from FOR, PBI, and other organisations (see box) in order to ensure that the people would be able to trade and transport their cocoa and bananas without being apprehended by the paramilitaries.
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