wfn.org | WCC FEATURE: Humanitarian zones resist violence in Colombia

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>For immediate release - 22/12/2008 14:03:16

HUMANITARIAN ZONES RESIST VIOLENCE IN COLOMBIA

>Free photo available, see below

They are called Pueblo Nuevo (new town), Bella Flor (beautiful
flower), Nueva Esperanza (new hope), El Tesoro (the treasure).
Names that clearly show what "humanitarian zones" mean to the
people who live there. Hundreds of families displaced by violence
in Colombia's rural areas are trying to rebuild their lives in
these zones while at the same time demanding the return of their
land. 

In October 1996, eight peasants were killed by paramilitaries in
the Brisas de la Virgen community, in Chocó Department, in
north-eastern Colombia. Some families in the community fled their
homes, but not all of them. The disappearances and massacres
began two months later. Dozens of bodies were seen floating down
the River Atrato. 

In February 1997, with the stated goal of annihilating the
left-wing rebels, the armed forces launched Operation Genesis.
The bombardment lasted for days in the municipality of Riosucio.
As the name of the operation suggests, it was an attempt to
create a new world: one in which there would be no place for
peasants of African descent, indigenous peoples and the people of
mixed race who had lived on the land for generations.

The families that remained began the long journey that comes
with forced displacement. According to Amnesty International,
around 6,500 people in 49 communities in the municipality of
Riosucio had to leave their homes. Most of them walked through
the jungle for weeks. Many died on the way. 

Enrique Petro and other community leaders were among the
survivors. At the beginning of December, they shared their
experiences with a Living Letters ecumenical delegation from the
World Council of Churches (WCC). The delegation visited them in
the Las Camelias humanitarian zone in the River Curvaradó
catchment area, where 18 families now live.

"Living Letters (

http://overcomingviolence.org/en/iepc/living-letters-visits.html
)" are small teams that work within the framework of the WCC's
Decade to Overcome Violence. They travel to different parts of
the world where Christians are striving to promote peace in
violent situations. Their goal is to express the solidarity of
the ecumenical community and learn how people are dealing with
the challenges that face them.

The Living Letters delegation that visited Colombia from 6 to 12
December listened to first-hand accounts by members of
communities that had suffered up to 15 forced displacements over
the years. They recalled how they were forced to abandon their
homes because of the violence – especially violence perpetrated
by the army and the paramilitary – and denounced how they were
evicted from their land.

>Business is business 

The Chocó region is of military importance for all parties to
the conflict that has involved the army, two groups of left-wing
rebels and right-wing paramilitaries since the 1960s. Close to
the border with Panama and covered by tropical forest, it is a
key area for arms trafficking.

The region is also of great economic interest. It is potentially
the site of a canal linking the Caribbean and Pacific Oceans and
of a highway linking Panama and Colombia. It is also rich in
minerals, cultivable land, timber and biodiversity.

The area's population, which individually and collectively has
legitimate property rights to land whose value has multiplied
tenfold since 1996, has become an obstacle in the way of military
actors and powerful economic interests.

Today, transnational companies use extensive areas of this
territory for African oil palm plantations and for cattle
rearing.

"We have seen how economic projects use the armed conflict as a
pretext to evict peasants and steal their land", said Rev.
Christopher Ferguson, the WCC representative to the United
Nations and member of the Living Letters team. "Transnational
companies are responsible for the suffering of these
communities", he added. 

In addition to the Curvaradó region and the cities of Bogotá and
Barranquilla, some members of the Living Letters delegation
visited the city of Trujillo, in the Valle del Cauca Department,
in the east of the country. Trujillo is infamous for the cycle of
violence that claimed over 340 victims between 1989 and 1994, but
the killings and disappearances continue today. 

"I was impressed by the way in which the families of the victims
have been able to transform their suffering into resistance
through the search for truth, justice and reparation", said
Bishop Aldo Etchegoyen, of the Evangelical Methodist Church of
Argentina and member of the Living Letters team. 

>Zones of refuge and resistance

Since 1999, some of the displaced people in Curvaradó and
neighbouring Jiguamiandó have tried to return to their homes with
the support of non-governmental organisations, including the
Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission. 

In 2001, a military and paramilitary attack caused new
displacements. This exodus coincided with the introduction of
African oil palm plantations on the evicted communities' land.
Less than a decade later, the tropical forest has become a "green
desert" of oil palm trees.

In 2002 and again in 2003, the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights (IACHR) called for the right to life of the members
of the Curvaradó and Jiguamiandó communities to be protected. 

Starting in 2003, the humanitarian zones of Pueblo Nuevo (90
families), Nueva Esperanza (47 families) and Bella Flor (30
families) were created in Jiguamiandó. Three other zones,
including El Tesoro and Las Camelias were created in Curvaradó as
of 2006. 

The humanitarian zones are clearly demarcated areas inhabited by
the civilian population where armed forces of any kind are not
supposed to enter. In the zones, groups of families help each
other to protect themselves against militarization while at the
same time defending their rights. Since March 2005, these zones
have the backing of the IACHR, which has required the Colombian
government to grant them special protection.

In the light of the continued presence in the region of what the
Organization of American States calls "illegal armed structures,
linked to illicit economies", one of the responses of churches
and ecumenical agencies is to provide the communities with a
permanent protective presence.

This is done through volunteers – normally two – who live with
the families in the humanitarian zones, Fr Alberto Franco, of the
Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission, explained to the
Living Letters delegation. 

"Now that we are leaving, we want to tell the whole world about
what has happened to these children, elderly people and widows
who have told us about their pain and loss", said the Rev Jorge
Ziljstra, secretary for the Caribbean and Great Colombia region
of the Latin American Council of Churches. "In the midst of
uncertainty, fear and threats against their lives, they continue
to resist and to fight for justice and dignity." 

>[1,078 words]

A free high resolution photo 

of people living in a Colombian humanitarian zone is available
at:
http://oikoumene.org/fileadmin/images/wcc-main/news/2008/december/081208-006x.jpg
Please credit: © William Delgado/WCC

Additional information on the Living Letters visit to Colombia:
http://overcomingviolence.org/en/peace-convocation/living-letters-visits/colombia.html

>WCC member churches in Colombia:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=473 (
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=4736 )6

Opinions expressed in WCC Features do not necessarily reflect
WCC policy. This material may be reprinted freely, providing
credit is given to the author. 

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507
6363 media@wcc-coe.org

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