Among the most severe attacks against the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó in 2014, the following are worthy of note:
Threats and acts of aggression
- 18 January: Members of neo-paramilitary groups warn they have a plan ready to execute and eliminate various members of the San José Apartadó Peace Community’s internal council.[1]
- 4 March: Telephone threat by an individual identifying himself as a member of the Gaitanista Self Defence Forces of Colombia against members of the San José de Apartado Peace Community, and in particular, Germán Graciano, legal representative of the community.[2]
- 31 May: Death threat against members of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, announcing the total annihilation of the community.[3]
- 23 August: Members of the police issue a death threat against Julio Guisao, a member of the council of the Peace Community.[4]
- 1 November: threat against the San José de Apartadó Peace Community by neo-paramilitary group the Gaitanista Self- Defence Forces of Colombia.The neo-paramilitaries affirmed that “this S.O.B. peace community is a pack of guerrillas” and they already had the “green light to attack and exterminate it.”[5]
Accusations and defamations
- 6 February: The commander of the XVII Brigade accuses the Peace Community of collaborating with the guerrilla in an attack carried out by the guerrilla in San José de Apartadó on the 5th of February.[6]
- 8 February: Accusation by William García, Apartadó city councillor, insinuating the existence of links between the Peace Community and the guerrilla.[7]
- 24 October: the commander of the Army’s 17th Brigade, Coronel Germán Rojas Díaz accuses the Peace Community recruiting children for the FARC.[8]
- 27 October: defamatory statements against the Peace Community in TV programme Testigo Directo, called “Zafarrancho en el Urabá Antioqueño” (“Chaos in the Uraba region of Antioquia”), and broadcast by Caracol Internacional media company. During the program, the commander of the 17th Brigade, Colonel Germán Rojas Díaz, alleges that the Peace Community has a relationship with the FARC.[9]
- 31 October: a pamphlet is distributed in Antioquia, signed by the local businessmen and the ‘Uraba community’, accusing the Peace Community and international NGOs that work in Uraba of being in the service of the FARC.[10]
- 25 November: a member of the Peace Community’s Internal Council is retained by police in Olaya Herrera airport in Medellin. After taking down his information, the policeman said that he and the Peace Community were “a pack of conflict generators.[11]
- 31 November: a member of the Peace Community’s Internal Council reports receiving a call from someone identifying himself as a sub-lieutenant in the 11th Mobile Brigade of the National Army, inviting the Community leader and all members of the Internal Council to “demobilise” and “join the national government’s reinsertion programme.”[12]
Tracking and surveillance
- 10 October: a member of the Peace Community’s Internal Council approached by members of the police, after they had been watching and following him during a trip to downtown Apartadó.[13]
- 31 October: in downtown Apartadó, two men armed with handguns followed a member of the Peace Community’s Internal Council.[14]
- 6 November: various civilians in the Nueva Antioquia hamlet (Antioquia) were allegedly approached by paramilitaries who showed them photographs of members of the Peace Community’s Internal Council who had taken part in the 14 October pilgrimage for the release Yhon Eider Florez, a young man detained by the Army Yhon Eider Florez in October.[15]
Footnotes:
[1] Peace Community of San José de Apartadó: El ejército nos prohíbe cultivar la tierra, 24 January 2014
[2] Peace Community of San José de Apartadó: La perspectiva parece ser que la barbarie continua, 12 March 2014
[3] Peace Community of San José de Apartadó: Nuevos avisos de aniquilamiento, 5 Jun 2014
[4] Peace Community of San José de Apartadó: Población civil blanco de la Fuerza Pública, 25 August 2014
[5] Peace Community of San José de Apartadó: Esa h. p. comunidad de paz era una manada de guerrilleros. Tenemos la luz verde para arreciar los ataques contra ella y exterminarla; Peace Community of San José de Apartadó: Paramilitares deciden plan de ordenamiento territorial de Apartadó y Turbo, 11 December 2014
[6] Peace Community of San José de Apartadó: El Uribe Calumniador se reencarna en otros agentes del Estado, 7 February 2014
[7] Peace Community of San José de Apartadó: La Chiva de Urabá, Edición 240, 8 March 2014
[8] Peace Community of San José de Apartadó: La bestia poco a poco saca las garras bélicas, 27 October 2014
[9] Testigo Directo: Zafarrancho en el Urabá Antioqueño, 18 October 2014
[10] Peace Community of San José de Apartadó: Un Coronel anula la retractación a medias del Presidente, 3 November 2014
[11] Peace Community of San José de Apartadó: Paramilitares deciden plan de ordenamiento territorial de Apartadó y Turbo, 11 December 2014
[12] Peace Community of San José de Apartadó: Cuando no hay legitimidad, buena es la propaganda comprada, 10 November 2014
[13] Peace Community of San José de Apartadó: Bombardeos, espionajes, control y creciente poderío paramilitar: así protege el Estado a sus ciudadanos, 13 October 2014
[14] Peace Community of San José de Apartadó: Cuando no hay legitimidad, buena es la propaganda comprada, 10 November 2014
[15] Equipo Nizkor: Cuando no hay legitimidad, buena es la propaganda comprada, 10 November 2014