Over the past several weeks, two Congressional letters have been sent to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe concerning recent robberies of human rights organizations in Bogota.

The first letter (pdf), signed by Congressman Eliot Engel, chair of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and six other members of Congress, was sent on June 22nd. It highlighted the robbery of the offices of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) in Bogota. The letter called for a prompt and thorough investigation of the break in.

Action Alert: International Human Rights Group Records Stolen in Colombia

Read a letter from several US Congress members to Uribe, denouncing the robbery.

The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) denounces what appears to be a politically motivated attack on its offices on June 2 in Bogotá, Colombia.

According to people who live in the same building as FOR, unknown persons forcibly entered the FOR house/office in Bogotá between 6 pm and 7 pm on June 2, breaking the lock and part of the door. The individuals stole the FOR’s two central computers that contain the organization’s records, including information on the accompaniment of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. This community has been the target of attacks by the all the armed groups and is covered by protective measures from the Inter-American Court for Human Rights.

The massacre sparked international outrage and could jeopardize U.S. aid. Will security forces finally be brought to justice?
April 1, 2007, Chicago Tribune

Click here for a slideshow featuring CPP member Amanda Jack!

By Gary Marx

LA UNION, Colombia — Two years ago, 17-year-old Bellanira Areiza and seven other peasants were hacked to death with machetes in the lush hills outside this picturesque hamlet in northwest Colombia.

Community leaders say five residents saw men in Colombian army uniforms take away the victims, and nine others later heard soldiers bragging about the killings. But, until now, the Colombian government's investigation into the massacre went nowhere.

The FOR Colombia program has recently signed a partnership agreement with the Spanish organization Acompaz. As result of this partnership, the Colombia Peace Presence Team in in San José de Apartadó will be expanded to accommodate an additional Colombia Peace Presence member, bringing the team to three. The expansion of the team, to begin in February 2007, will provide invaluable help in strengthening international support for the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, specifically supporting the Peace Community’s return to lands from which they had been forcibly displaced and establishing Humanitarian Zones there. Additionally, the Peace Community will benefit from increased outreach and advocacy in the European Union.

In requesting international accompaniment, the Community made the decision to raise its profile in order to protect itself. The founding of a peace community is a proactive strategy and the international presence is an additional ingredient. In addition, the request shows the desire of the Community that its history be documented not only for its own memory, but also for the outside world. Each time that we celebrate three months of resistance we do so in remembrance [of the victims], because they have offered their lives and did so choosing peaceful alternatives.

The theory of accompaniment

In 1998 FOR-USA awarded the annual Pfeffer Peace Prize to the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, nominated by the Colombia Support Network, and a representative of the Peace Community traveled to the U.S. to receive the prize. The following year TFLAC was invited to the 3rd anniversary of the Peace Community, and in March of 2000 the coordinator of TFLAC visited the Peace Community for the first time.

The year 2000 was a tragic one for the community, as it suffered two massacres at the hands of the paramilitaries: one in the town center of San José de Apartadó in which five people were killed, and the other in June when paramilitaries assassinated six leaders of the Peace Community in the village of La Unión.

Village's Unarmed Rebellion
On strategic land in Colombia's civil war, a group of peasants stands up against violence. But a refusal to take sides offers little protection.
By Chris Kraul
Times Staff Writer
Read article from LA Times site

September 18, 2006

ARENAS ALTAS, Colombia - Ana Hilda Vargas was living in a place called Hope when the gunmen came to her farm and gave her an ultimatum: Leave your house in 48 hours or be killed.

"Everything I built in my youth and all that I had - pigs, hens, mango and avocado trees, yucca, corn and bean fields - I lost that day," Vargas said, recalling the terrible morning in 1997 when she was thrown off her land in the village of Esperanza by paramilitary members.