Colombia: paramilitaries kill five in Zenú community

[Judi Lynn]

Colombia: paramilitaries kill five in Zenú community

Submitted by Weekly News Update on Mon, 07/04/2011 - 23:19. On June 30, Colombian Ombudsperson (Defensor del Pueblo) Volmar Pérez Ortiz condemned the killings of five Zenú indigenous people in the Lower Cauca region in the northeast of Antioquia department. According to information provided to the Ombudsperson's Office by the Indigenous Organization of Antioquia (OIA), the murders took place June 24-26 in the Zenú communities of La 18 and La Unión-Pato in Zaragoza municipality.

On June 24, presumed paramilitaries murdered 19-year-old Luis Hernández Torres (or Luis Eduardo Hernández Yanes, according to some sources) of the community of La 18. On June 25, presumed members of the same paramilitary group murdered Jorge Mejía Estrada, Zenú vice-governor of La 18, and his sons 17-year-old Steven Alberto Mejía Bedoya and 16-year-old Juan Camilo Mejía Bedoya. On June 26, the body of Lexter Enrique Graciano Pérez, a member of the La Unión-Pato community, was found in the Nechí river; he had disappeared five days earlier.

Ombudsperson Pérez Ortiz urged the relevant government authorities to "take effective measures to prevent the threats of illegal armed groups operating in the Lower Cauca subregion of Antioquia from leading to new violent acts and the forced displacement of the Zenú community."

Reports from the "Early Alert System (SAT)" coordinated by the Ombudsperson's Office indicate that illegal armed groups operating in the area of Zaragoza, El Bagre, Nechí and Tarazá municipalities in northeastern Antioquia include "Los Urabeños," "Los Paisas," "Los Rastrojos," "Las Águilas Negras" and "la banda de Sebastián." These paramilitary groups have been carrying out threats, selective and multiple murders, and forced displacement. According to local indigenous authorities they have also been forcibly recruiting children and adolescents from the indigenous community. (El Tiempo, Bogotá, July 1; Organización Indígena de Antioquia Consejo de Gobierno, June 28; Caracol, June 28; RCN Noticias Medellín, June 28) (Note: the Colombian government and media now commonly refer to paramilitary groups by the acronym "bacrim," short for "bandas criminales" (criminal gangs).)

More:
http://ww4report.com/node/10078

[Judi Lynn]

1. Indigenous leader killed in Antioquia

Indigenous leader killed in Antioquia
Monday, 04 July 2011 08:18
Matt Snyder

The governor of an indigenous community was shot to death in a town about 50 miles west of Medellin.

Fernando Tequia, the slain governor, was murdered by two unidentified gunmen who were waiting at the door of his house. Tequia had reportedly not received any recent death threats, however one of the indigenous communities in the area had reported having difficulties removing an illegal gold mine.

This killing is the sixth murder of an indigenous Colombian in the department of Antioquia since the last week of June. Fourteen indigenous people have been killed in the department so far this year.

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/17383-indigenous-leader-killed-in-antioquia.html