WASHINGTON,
DC — Four
religious leaders
told Congressional
staffers on Monday
that the administration
of Colombian President
Alvaro Uribe has
imposed measures
that deprive Colombian
citizens of their
civil rights.
In trying to strengthen
security, they
said, the Uribe
administration’s
policies have put
in jeopardy the
lives of human-rghts
activists, union
organizers, church
workers and journalists.
The religious
leaders want the
U.S. government
to cut off military
aid to Colombia
and pressure Uribe
to see that security
measures not undermine
basic democratic
rights. They also
urge the U.S. to
require investigation
of high-level military
officials in Colombia
who are alleged
to have colluded
with violent paramilitary
forces that harm
and terrorize civilians
as a condition
for further assistance
to the Colombian
government.
“We’re
joining our voices
with the international
community to seek
peace, to bring
light to what is
happening,” said
Ricardo Esquivia,
a Mennonite who
is vice president
of the Colombia
Council of Evangelical
Churches (CCEC). “If
we bring it to
light, impunity
cannot succeed.”
Esquivia is facing
threats of arrest
on fabricated charges
unless he stops
his peace work.
He’s scheduled
to begin work in
a highly-conflicted
area of the country
in April.
Esquivia, who
helps distribute
food for Church
World Service (CWS),
the relief arm
of the National
Council of Churches
of Christ in the
United States,
testified in a
crowded hearing
room alongside
Bishop Leonardo
Gomez Serna, the
Catholic bishop
of Magangue, who
represented the
church in peace
negotiations with
one of Colombia’s
armed groups, the
ELN, and promotes
parish-based municipal
peace zones throughout
the nation.
The executive
secretary of the
Presbyterian Church
of Colombia, the
Rev. Milton Mejia,
who has received
death threats for
his human-rights
work, also addressed
the gathering,
as did Amanda Romero,
a Quaker who is
a founding member
of the Colombian
human-rights movement.
Eric Olson of
Amnesty International
USA, the moderator
of the panel, said
violence against
religious workers
and churches is
worsening in Colombia,
the fourth-largest
recipient of U.S.
aid. “It
is a struggle for
churches to be
faithful to their
religious and moral
convictions to
build peace at
the local level,” he
said
Statistics distributed
to listeners appeared
to bear that out:
CCEC reports that
45 Protestant pastors
died last year
at the hands of
various armed groups,
and that 300 churches
have been shut
down.
The United States
Conference of Catholic
Bishops reported
that 57 Catholic
leaders, including
bishops, priests,
nuns and seminarians,
have died in Colombia
in the past decade.
Caritas, the Catholic
relief agency,
reported that 11
religious men,
including one archbishop,
were killed in
2002. In that same
year, it said,
seven priests and
one bishop were
abducted, 10 priests
and a bishop were
threatened, and
three priests were
assaulted.
During 2003, five
priests and one
seminarian were
murdered; two priests
were abducted,
one bishop was
threatened, and
two priests were
attacked. So far
in 2004, one priest
has been kidnapped.
“We experience
persecution,” said
Bishop Gomez, who
organizes communities
for peace and promotes
dialogue with armed
groups as a way
to peace. “(Some
authorities) think
that if we work
with insurgent
groups, we belong.”
Citing Uribe’s
policy of aggressively
confronting illegal
armed groups, the
bishop said that
the government
has created a massive
network of informants,
is detaining more
and more suspects,
and is using the
police and military
to harass church
workers. “They
take false testimonies
against priests,
bishops and religious
members,” he
said, adding that
the incentive of
money for testimony
is tempting for
many among Colombia’s
poor.
“We want
the government
to seek peace,
not a military
state,” said
Gomez, stressing
the need for dialogue
between the illegal
groups and the
government. “We
believe firmly
that peace must
be negotiated.
We need to continue
talking; but we
believe that peace
is possible.”
Mejia, too, spoke
of government efforts
to stifle dissent – and
general impunity
for those who threaten
and harass.
The man accused
of threatening
Mejia’s life
last year (see
related story:
In the valley of
the shadow) walked
out of prison less
than one month
after his arrest,
on a day pass that
he obtained illegally.
The man had claimed
to be a member
of a paramilitary
and threatened
Mejia and his family
with violence unless
Mejia paid $4,000.
He reportedly objected
to Mejia’s
work with Colombians
who have been displaced
by the violence.
The escapee is
still at large.
“People
have the right
to criticize,” Mejia
said. “The
government (must)
allow dissent.
We are not terrorists.”
Mejia said human-rights
groups respect
democratic processes. “We
are afraid of what
we imagine may
come in the future,
he added. “All
of this causes
us fear. You must
demand that the
Uribe government
respect democratic
process and human
rights. … We
need you to support
us so … that
we can carry out
our work. Not just
the church, but
civil society as
well, popular leaders.
Pray for us. Give
us strength. We
need your support.”
The U.S. government
has spent nearly
$3 billion in aid
to Colombia since
2000, with an emphasis
on military aid
that goes beyond
its original commitment
to anti-narcotics
work. It is estimated
that 80 percent
of the cocaine
in the United States
is produced in
Colombia, as well
as much of the
heroin that reaches
the East Coast.
International rights
groups claim the
military aid also
supports counter-insurgency
efforts, miring
the United States
in Colombia’s
internal war, and
the paramilitaries
linked with army
factions, which
wage war on civilians.
U.S. aid recently
approved for Colombia
for 2004 includes
$554 million in
additional military
aid and $150 million
for alternative
development and
social programs.
Similar levels
of funding are
included in President
Bush’s budget
request for 2005,
according to the
United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops.
On International
Women’s Day,
Romero said that
the suffering of
women is largely
ignored, although
they are often
the wives, sisters,
mothers and children
of the murdered
and kidnapped,
and are often themselves
victims of violence. “The
increasing militarization
... is not helping
us overcome … this
conflict,” she
said. “And
women do not want
to bear children
for war anymore.
Ask the U.S. Congress
to cut military
aid.”
Romero and the
others appealed
for more money
for development,
especially to help
poor farmers switch
from illicit to
legitimate crops.
She also appealed
for an end to aerial
spraying to destroy
the crops of drug
traffickers. The
said the sprays
affect small farm
families by poisoning
their legal crops
and killing their
animals. “These
families are losing
not only their
health, but their
food crops and
their domestic
animals,” she
said. “For
women, this a crime
against our children.”
After the hearing,
Esquivia said he
has testified at
similar briefings
before and seen
results.
“This work
has an impact.
It is verifiable,” he
said, noting that
votes in Congress
in approval of
military aid to
Colombia are growing
closer.
Esquivia said
his international
profile helped
protect him this
year, when rumors
of arrest were
circulating. Letters
poured into Colombia
in his support. “Putting
all this out in
the open helped
guarantee my freedom,” he
said.
The United Nations
says the humanitarian
crisis in Colombia
is the worst in
the Western Hemisphere
and one of the
worst in the world.
The conflict, rooted
in generations
of political exclusion
and massive poverty,
has intensified
in recent years
because of the
massive infusion
of drug money.
Armed groups involved
in the drug trade
also kidnap corporate
executives and
other affluent
people and hold
them for ransom. |
