Indians drag Colombian soldiers off hilltop

[Judi Lynn]

Jul 17, 7:55 PM EDT
Indians drag Colombian soldiers off hilltop



TORIBIO, Colombia (AP) -- Indigenous Colombians who say they are fed up being in the crossfire of the country's long-running conflict have forcibly removed soldiers from a strategic hilltop, at least temporarily.

Several hundred Nasa Indians massed Tuesday against the six soldiers guarding the hilltop. Then a few dozen Indians attacked the soldiers with sticks and rocks. When the soldiers refused to budge, the Indians dragged them off.

One soldier fired about 10 shots into the air in frustration. But no one was seriously hurt.

The 115,000-strong Nasa have stepped up their campaign in the past week in the southwestern state of Cauca to try to force government troops and leftist rebels to leave them alone.

More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_COLOMBIA_MILITARY_INDIANS?SECTION=HOME&SITE=AP&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[denverbill]

1. I would have to say 'good on the soldiers' in this instance.

In a lot of places, this would have ended up much differently. While I stand with the locals and not the soldiers, I tip my hat to the soldiers for not turning this into a massacre.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Colombia: indigenous protester killed as army retakes base

Colombia: indigenous protester killed as army retakes base



Submitted by WW4 Report on Wed, 07/18/2012 - 17:36.

One person was killed and 23 wounded as Colombia's army retook a base that had hours earlier been occupied by protesters in Cauca department July 17, local indigenous authorities said. Special forces troops were sent in to clear the 1,000 protesters armed with sticks who briefly took control of the "Berlin" army base, located in war-torn Toribio municipality. Photos showed Nasa indigenous protesters armed with sticks physically ejecting soldiers from the base. National Police backed up the army troops to evict the protesters, firing tear gas. Nasa indigenous authorities said army troops also opened fire. Defense Minister Carlos Pinzón, while not confirming the death, said the troops had "the right to defend themselves…if the indigenous initiate an aggression." President Juan Manuel Santos denounced the takeover of the base via Twitter, saying, "I do not want to see a single indigenous in the military bases." And: "Make no mistake. We will not allow attacks on those who defend us. Everything has a limit."

Toribio's indigenous authorities say the army presence in the area threatened the lives of the community members, after violent clashes between the military and FARC guerillas had forced nearly 600 residents from their homes in recent weeks. The Association of Indigenous Cabildos of North Cauca (ACIN) had set a deadline of midnight July 16 for all "armed actors" to vacate the 14 indigenous reserves in Cauca department. (Colombia Reports, July 18; BBC News, EFE, July 17)

http://ww4report.com/node/11282

[Judi Lynn]

3. Is Colombia's military presence in Cauca violating UN law? .

Is Colombia's military presence in Cauca violating UN law? .
Thursday, 19 July 2012 15:08 Brandon Barrett, Sarah Kinosian, Miriam Wells

~snip~

The Nasa have been protesting the military's presence in their communities for weeks, arguing that the army continues to put residents' lives at risk. The tribe is tired of getting caught in the crossfire of Colombia's longstanding armed conflict between the FARC and state security forces. A surge in combat in the southwestern department of Cauca, a historical bastion of guerilla activity, forced hundreds to leave their homes in recent weeks.

"We're not in agreement with the military and we're not in agreement with the guerrillas because none of them protect us," said Isadora Cruz, from the Association of Indigenous Councils in Northern Cauca (ACIN).

If a peace agreement has not yet been reached the state's ongoing military presence could violate international law. According to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted in 2007, no military activity can occur on indigenous territory without the affected communities' full agreement.

Sarah Cueller, also from ACIN, claimed that local media were skewing the public's perception of violence in the embattled department. "The media's reporting things the opposite way around, only showing news that supports the state," she added. "The ideas being broadcast don't correspond with the reality," she said.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/25166-is-colombias-military-presence-in-cauca-violating-un-law.html

[Judi Lynn]

4. Indian upheaval bares Colombia's nagging conflict

Indian upheaval bares Colombia's nagging conflict
Published: July 21, 2012
By VIVIAN SEQUERA — Associated Press

TORIBIO, Colombia — One of the stiffest blows in years to the prestige of Colombia's military wasn't inflicted by its leftist rebel foes and didn't claim a single soldier's life.

It was dealt by a relatively diminutive people called the Nasa who marched furiously up to the top of a 7,500-foot (2,300-meter) peak last week and forcibly dislodged a clutch of soldiers from a strategic outpost.

These verdant, craggy mountains are the Nasa's ancestral lands, and the Nasa say they are fed up with violent usurpers. They're demanding that the country's military and its rebel foes leave their enclave in the southwestern state of Cauca.

Yet neither side in Colombia's half-century old conflict is heeding the Nasas' wishes to leave them in peace. Their homeland lies on a key corridor that rebels and their chief funding source, cocaine, regularly transit on their way to the Pacific coast.

More:
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2012/07/21/2127996/indian-upheaval-bares-colombias.html#storylink=cpy