May 25, 2007 -- On May 13th, Francisco Puerta was gunned down by two paramilitary members in the city of Apartadó. Three weeks ago, two paramilitary members reportedly went to the residence of one of Mr Puerta’s close relatives in Apartadó asking of his whereabouts and making threatening remarks about him. Mr Puerta was in outlying Miramar district at the time. The two men loitered near the house for the rest of the day, leaving just before Puerta showed up that night.

Francisco Puerta was a former leader of the Miramar Humanitarian Zone, an initiative promoted by the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó to build clearly marked places of refuge where civilians can take refuge from combat.

Mr. Puerta is the third Peace Community leader involved in the Humanitarian Zones initiative to be killed in the last 18 months. On November 17th, 2005 Arlen Salas, the leader of the Arenas Altas Humanitarian Zone, was killed by a XVII Brigade hand grenade. On January 11th, 2006 Edilberto Vásquez Cardona, who was appointed to replace Mr. Salas, was also killed by XVII Brigade, which reported Cardona as a guerrilla killed in combat.

By providing noncombatant civilians with a clearly marked place of refuge during combat, humanitarian zones utilize the International Humanitarian Law principle of discrimination between combatants and noncombatants and of protecting innocent civilians, particularly children, from being military targets.

Mr. Puerta’s assassination follows recent intimidation by the Black Eagles (Aguilas Negras) paramilitaries against the Peace Community. For instance, on May 9th, three women traveling to the Peace Community were stopped at paramilitary checkpoint in El Mongolo, outside of the city Apartadó. The heavily armed paramilitary men, who identified themselves as Black Eagles, demanded that the women show their identification card. After radioing their commander to confirm that the women were not among those the paramilitaries sought, they were allowed to proceed; but not before having their pictures taken.

The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) is deeply concerned about the persistent presence and action of paramilitaries in the San José de Apartadó region, in collaboration with the XVII Brigade, despite the demobilization program undertaken by President Uribe’s administration. FOR is also troubled by the targeting of leaders of the Peace Community involved in protecting non-combatant civilians through the Humanitarian Zones initiative.

What should be done:

• Paramilitary groups, including the emergent Black Eagles need to be dismantled by the Colombian government and their crimes investigated and punished.

• Humanitarian Zones need to be supported as a strategy to protect the lives of civilians who are caught in the crossfire during combat
• Those responsible for the killings of Francisco Puerta, Arlen Salas and Edilberto Vásquez need to be punished to the maximum extent of the law.