Message from the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca

Libertad de Expresión en Colombia from Adam Isacson on Vimeo.
More Attacks and Defamation Against ACIN's Communication Network
Dear Friends,
The following is a communique I just received from our friends in Cauca, from the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, ACIN, and specifically, their communication team, which has been at the forefront of getting the word out about the struggles of Colombia's indigenous and popular movement.

Please circulate it widely as we try to build and strengthen the solidarity with ACIN and the dozens of communities they represent. -- Mario Murillo

"We want to help build a new country by sharing the truth and showing realities";
Emilio Basto, Indigenous Communicator at Police Headquarters in Santander de Quilichao, April 4th 2008.
Accused of a Crime: Showing documentaries to a community.
This is the framework within which our Tejido de Comunicacion is under attack:
Alvaro Uribe and Freedom of Expression from Adam Isacson on Vimeo

Yesterday, Emilio Basto, a Nasa native who usually runs el rebusque, a morning show in Nasa and Spanish on Radio Payumat, where he listens and exchanges with indigenous peoples from the fields, explains the process and the contexts, opens a debate on critical issues, does interviews so that everyone in their homes understands the project of aggression and continues to think and resist, was arrested by the police in Santander de Quilichao.

Emilio was coming back from Tacueyo, in the mountains of Cauca, where he was showing documentaries at one of the video fora, which are part of an agenda planned to "sweep" the entire territory to engage people in debating diverse issues. He carried with him a number of videos, including "The revolution will not be televised," "Water, our life, our hope," and "Spakapa is not for sale". He also had two documentaries done in Colombia, "The cost of Land" from the Paciufic Coast focusing on displacement for Palm Oil industries, and ACIN's own "Country of the people without owners," the latest documentary produced by our team that tells the story of last year's Minga, the National mobilization against the FTA and the economic model being imposed.

Emilio was accused of carrying subversive material and inciting to violence. He was interrogated for 2 hours without access to lawyers, phone calls or protection. His finger prints were registered as well as all information regarding his activities. There was talk about weapons, which he could not understand. He explained what he does and what we do. He demanded respect for his obligations as a journalist, for the freedom of expression, for the indigenous process and rights. Finally, they let him go, but we do not know whether there are charges against him or whether they will use this event in a judicial process against the communication network or in a physical attack against his life and the lives of all of the other members of our communication team in ACIN.

This is the rule, the pattern and what we must expect, as you will be able to see on the videos attached below on Mario Murillo's note on the presentation at the Interamerican Commission for Human Rights.

The attack against Emilio was the latest in a series of attacks against ACIN's communication Tejido:

1. October 2008, during our coverage of the indigenous mobilization and while the armed forces of Colombia were shooting against unarmed natives, our website and listserve was blocked.

2. December 14th, 2008, an act of sabotage against the transmission equipment of Radio Pa'Yumat, leading to the silencing of this radio station until now. Two days later, Edwin Legarda, the husband of indigenous leader Aida Quilcue, was murdered by the Colombian Army in an attempted magnicide against her.

3. December 16th, 2008. Live radio interview on La W, a National radio station with a massive audience. We had called in to break the news in Colombia and the world of the assasination of Edwin Legarda, with direct information from the ground. The anchor, Fernando Sanchez Cristo, called us back for the interview an hour after we gave him the facts and put us on during a section of recognition to the armed forces of Colombia in their war on terror. The Commander of the Third Brigade gave his version of the facts first: The vehicle refused to stop at a police post and was suspected to be FARC. Manuel Rozental, on the line from Cauca, explained that the car had received 16 shots from automatic weapons, 14 of these in the front, a fact that contradicted the army commanders version. They shot him intentionally from the front. There was no police post. The general went off the air and Rozental was engaged in a live exchange with Sanchez Cristo on these lines:

JSC: You are the same Dr Rozental, a surgeon that works in Canada?
MR: Yes that's me
JSC: You are a close friend of the sons of the international representative of FARC there and you write for the Journal resistencia
MR: I know them well, as any Colombian engaged in solidarity efforts does. I have never written for Resistencia and what you are attempting to discredit a witness in the air in order to cover up a crime. I am not FARC, have never been and my life has been committed to a peaceful effort for social justice. I am part of an indigenous process committed to social justice, freedom and change through peaceful means. I hope we have not reached a stage where every journalist in commercial media serves a regime to silence the voices and rights of people
JSC: So do I Dr Rozental. You are right
MR: Who provided you with this false information against me?
JSC: A listener sent it on email, but don't worry about it.
Strangely, this interview was never posted on their webpage (all others are) and our request to obtain the copy of the interview and of the listener's message was never answered. All this points at Military Intelligence providing distorted information to discredit and threaten the witness on air.

4. February 7th, 09. Gustavo Ulcue. Nasa, member of the ACIN Communication network and webmaster, had just left his home in Santander de Quilichao, when two armed men arrived in a motorcycle, forced his brother to let them into their house at gun point and looked for Gustavo inside. They took away his laptop and told his brother Gustavo was lucky not to have been found as they came to kill him. Gustavo had to go into hiding. The armed men have been seen near his house since then. No police action was taken.

5. March 4th, 2009. Cambio (the equivalent of Time or Newsweek in Colombia) publishes a report against Hollman Morris, where it states falsely that Rozental and Morris are helping ELN (National Liberation Army) in their territorial struggle against FARC for the indigenous territory of Northern Cauca; These lies have been followed in the past by the assassination of those named. Rozental had to flee Cauca.

6. March 14th, 2009. For the second successive night, Hugo Dagua, arrives late at his modest ranch in Santander de Quilichao on his motorcycle. He had been conducting a video forum at an indigenous peoples encounter with participants from Ecuador and Colombia, where the video "Country of the People without owners" was launched. He noticed a motorcycle with two people following him and managed to escape. He is the main technician of the radio station and runs his own radio program. Hugo is under community protection measures and his wife and his year old son had to be moved out of town into their community in the mountains for safety.

Other threats and attacks against the communication process have been occurring. Now Emilio has been attacked. ACIN's communication network has been awarded the recognition as the best alternative media in Colombia in October 2007 and has become the strongest voice for a peaceful alternative in Colombia and an awareness raising and debate space for the base.

This is a crime in Colombia. As the policemen told Emilio yesterday: you are inciting violence with those documentaries. We will keep walking our word. Please see the following note and video.

April 5th 2009
Manuel Rozental
Santander de Quilichao Cauca
--
Mario A. Murillo
Host/Producer, Wake UP Call
WBAI Pacifica Radio
99.5FM in New York; www.wbai.org

Executive Producer/Faculty Coordinator
Hofstra's Morning Wake Up Call
WRHU Radio 88.7FM www.wrhu.org
(516) 463-6062

Help for Radio Payumat

From October 12 to November 24, 2008, Colombia's popular movement, led by the country's indigenous organizations, carried out an unprecedented six-week mobilization and march to protest against the government's economic development and military/security policies, as well as the ongoing violations of the rights of indigenous people. The Minga Popular was the beginning of a nation-wide, popular uprising designed to transform Colombian society through coordinated, non-violent mobilization.
One of the keys to the success of the 1-1/2 month mobilization was the indigenous community's strategic use of communication technology, which, combined with their traditional communication practices of grassroots assemblies and public consultations, was able to construct an alternative (people's) narrative about their broader struggle to the Colombian people.

The heart of this work was carried out on the community station Radio Payumat, the voice of the indigenous people of Northern Cauca. However, since December 13th, the station has been off the air after an act of ruthless sabotage severely damaged its transmitter, a deliberate attempt to silence the indigenous movement.

ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15th, 2009, the Long Island SOA WATCH, in conjunction with the Cinema Arts Centre of Huntington, Long Island, will hold a special benefit brunch and screening to raise funds for Radio Payumat to help get it back on the air!
The event will feature a screening of the Award-winning documentary "We Are Raised with the Staff of Authority in Hand," produced in 2006 by the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, and presented in major film festivals around the world since then.

After the screening, there will be an open dialogue with:
Mario A. Murillo, host of WBAI's Wake Up Call and Associate Professor of Communication at Hofstra University, and Tiokasin Ghosthorse, (Lakota), host of First Voices/Indigenous Radio on WBAI.

Together, with videos and images of the recent mobilization, they will examine the trajectory of the Indigenous and Popular Minga from start to finish, with a focus on the multi-tiered communication practices of the indigenous movement, particularly of the ACIN, one of the leading organizations of the broader national movement.

Sunday, February 15th, 2009
Brunch at 11:00am, Film and Discussion at 12:30pm
Cinema Arts Centre
423 Park Avenue in Huntington, New York
For more information, email: marioradio@gmail.com or call (631)423-7611

$25.00 all tickets
For tickets, call 1(800) 838-3006 and ask for event 54041 or go to http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/54041

The Indigenous Association Website is Shut Down in Colombia

The website of ACIN, the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, has been shut down, limiting their ability to communicate to the world about on-going clashes with special forces police in the area. There are reports of several wounded indigenous activists in La Maria, where the communities have been mobilized since Sunday, as well as reports of two deaths.
Activists are asking people to contact the Colombia government representatives to protest this censorship. For the present, information can be obtained at the CRIC web site: http://www.cric-colombia.org
Nos han bloqueado www.nasaacin.org . Por favor sigan insistiendo y exijan que el Estado colombiano respete el
derecho a la comunicación. Estamos subiendo la información que podemos a la página del CRIC www.cric-colombia.org.

Por favor publiquen y reenvíen todo lo que reciban de nosotros para que no nos silencien, mientras nos masacran.
Tejido de Comunicación y Relaciones Externas para la
Verdad y la Vida
Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del Norte del Cauca -
ACIN
Telefax: 0928 - 290958 - 293999
Email: acincauca@yahoo.es
Web: www.nasaacin.org
Santander de Quilichao Cauca -Colombia

From Mario Murillo:
As I write this, over 12,000 indigenous activists and representatives of other popular and social sectors of southern Colombia are urgently congregating in the “Territory of Peace and Coexistence” in La Maria Piendamó, in Cauca, confronting a massive presence of state security forces who have been ordered to dislodge them.

The popular mobilization began on October 12th, and was called to protest the militarization of their territories, the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, and the failure of the government of President Alvaro Uribe to fulfill various accords with the indigenous communities relating to land, education, and health.

On Monday, as expected, the communities participating in the indigenous protest blocked a portion of the Pan American Highway that connects the cities of Popayán and Santander de Quilichao, in the department of Cauca, in an act of civil disobedience meant to force the government to meet with them to discuss some of their demands.

Instead, what we’ve seen over the last two days are serious confrontations between special-forces police units and the communities assembled, with several indigenous activists severely wounded, one possibly fatally, in the ensuing clashes. These unfolding developments come just days after two other Nasa Indians – Nicolás Valencia Lemus and Celestino Rivera - were assassinated by unidentified gunmen late Saturday night and into Sunday morning, a few hours before the start of the mobilization, bringing the total number of indigenous activists killed in the last three weeks throughout Colombia to 11.

Indigenous Center Attacked in Colombia

Guardia Indigena
Informe desde la Emperatriz 09/19/2008

Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del Norte del Cauca]
Llamamos a quienes son solidarios con nuestro compromiso con la vida y la justicia a acompañarnos en esta situación y a ayudarnos a esclarecer la verdad y a que se haga justicia, sin permitir que nos involucren en un conflicto armado que es el mecanismo fundamental para atacar nuestro proceso.

En estos momentos, ha retornado la calma en el Municipio de Caloto y en el Resguardo de Huellas-Caloto, en particular en la hacienda La Emperatriz.

Hechos recientes
A lo informado en comunicados anteriores agregamos hasta el momento lo siguiente:
1. La vía de Santander de Quilichao a Caloto se encuentra cerrada en la vereda de San Nicolás, exactamente en la cima de la colina desde donde se desciende al casco urbano de Caloto. Esto se debe a que allí explotó una bomba a las 4:19 a.m., según informes preliminares de soldados presentes en el área. Allí murió un soldado y otro herido fue trasladado a un hospital.

2. No hay presencia evidente de fuerza pública en la vía Panamericana que comunica a Caloto con El Palo. Dentro de la hacienda La Emperatriz, hay presencia de soldados y arribó el CTI.

3. Según versiones de comuneras y comuneros presentes en la vía Panamericana frente a La Emperatriz, personal del ejército venía recogiendo vainillas y otra evidencia alrededor de las 6 a.m.

4. Una versión de comuneros locales se refiere a que una camioneta se detuvo en el área donde hubo combates unos 15 minutos antes de que comenzaran y se retiró del lugar de los hechos antes de que se iniciaran los disparos y explosiones.

5. Al parecer hubo un soldado muerto y otro herido en las piernas en la Emperatriz

6. Hasta el momento no ha sido posible documentar ni descartar la presencia de otras personas, ajenas a la Fuerza Pública en la Emperatriz. Esto es motivo de indagación e investigación por parte de las autoridades indígenas.

7. Caracol Televisión informó que alrededor de las 2 de la mañana, la Policía Militar adjunta al Batallón Pichincha fue atacada con explosivos y disparos en la hacienda La Emperatriz, donde murió un soldado y resultó gravemente herido otro. Hacia las 4 de la mañana cuando refuerzos del ejército se dirigían hacia el sitio de los hechos, fueron víctimas de un atentado con explosivos en el sitio de San Nicolás donde murió un soldado y otro quedó herido. Los dos heridos fueron transportados a la Clínica Valle del Lili en Cali. Las versiones que viene dando RCN son tendenciosas en la medida en que insinúan una agresión por parte de indígenas contra la Fuerza Pública sin que hasta el momento exista evidencia de que este sea el caso.

Las Autoridades de la ACIN, reafirmamos nuestro compromiso con la posición del proceso en el sentido de no involucrarnos ni tomar parte en el conflicto armado y en consecuencia exigimos respeto por nuestras comunidades y proceso. Esta agresión, venga de dónde venga, es un ataque contra nuestra dignidad, territorio y resistencia pacífica. Lamentamos la muerte y heridas de las víctimas. Extendemos nuestras condolencias a sus familias.

Llamamos a quienes son solidarios con nuestro compromiso con la vida y la justicia a acompañarnos en esta situación y a ayudarnos a esclarecer la verdad y a que se haga justicia, sin permitir que nos involucren en un conflicto armado que es el mecanismo fundamental para atacar nuestro proceso.

Resguardo de Huellas, Caloto, Cauca
Septiembre 19 de 2008.
Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del Norte del Cauca
ACIN-Cxab Wala Kiwe
From Democracy Now's Report:
The community is called Cauca and it represents one of the largest indigenous agrarian reform movements on the continent. Its leaders say their community serves as a powerful example of popular peaceful transformation in the midst of war. Last September, tens of thousands of people from the region marched on Cali in a mass protest against Uribe, sparking a broader national nonviolent opposition to his government. They are opposed to devastating free trade agreements with the US, as well as the massive military aid. They are also opposed to the FARC, who they call authoritarian.

The Cauca region is a key area near the Atlantic Ocean and has gold, oil and gas. This April, the FARC came into the Cauca community of Toribio and killed a child, injured 20 people and basically razed the community to the ground. That in turn provided cover for the government to send in its forces to “secure” the area; in other words occupy it. Now, the leaders of Toribio say they fear a dirty war is beginning that could produce further massacres. Some of the leaders of the community have traveled to the United States to try and avert what they fear could be a major outbreak of violence.URGENTE!!! Ataque en “ La Emperatriz ”-Caloto-Cauca
09/19/2008 Autor: Tejido de Comunicación y Relaciones para la Verdad y la Vida
A la 1:33 a.m. y hasta la 1:55 a.m., se escucharon disparos de fusil y armas cortas en ráfagas intensas, al igual que explosiones que parecían provenir de morteros y posiblemente un cilindro o granadas. En este momento, siendo las 2:25 a.m., no se escuchan más explosiones ni disparos. Parece ser que una ambulancia salió de La Emperatriz con destino al Hospital de Caloto.

La información proviene de autoridades, comuneras y comuneros que se encuentran en cercanías del lugar de los hechos. En la hacienda “ La Selva ”, se encuentran unas 30 mujeres con sus hijas e hijos en un encuentro que se viene desarrollando allí por parte del Programa Mujer de la ACIN. La Selva se encuentra frente a la hacienda La Emperatriz, separada de esta por la vía Panamericana que de Caloto conduce a El Palo en el municipio de Caloto. Estas mujeres y sus hijos se encuentran asustadas por la intensidad de las explosiones y disparos y no se han asomado.

Antecedentes
Durante todo el día 18 de Septiembre se observó un vehículo sospechoso, marca Mazda, con vidrios polarizados de modo que sus ocupantes no pudieron ser identificados, que pasó en repetidas ocasiones frente a las sedes de la ACIN y el Tejido de Comunicación en Santander de Quilichao. Generalmente un vehículo de la Policía Nacional seguía al Mazda cada vez que pasaba. Se ha notado la presencia de vehículos con vidrios polarizados, sin placas, parqueados frente a la URI de la Fiscalía en el centro de Santander de Quilichao. Simultáneamente, comuneros de Huellas-Caloto, observaron vehículos y motocicletas sospechosos pasando por la vía Caloto-El Palo durante todo el día. Se trata de vehículos costosos, nuevos, que circulan lentamente por esta vía.

Estos hechos se dan en el contexto de un ataque por parte de sicarios de la Policía, plenamente identificados por la comunidad y las autoridades indígenas en el día de ayer, en el que resultó herido un joven civil. Estos dispararon ráfagas contra civiles a plena luz del día, desde una motocicleta sin placas que ya había sido utilizada por un agente encubierto de la Policía la semana pasada. Ambos hechos fueron reportados oportunamente por nosotros. Los miembros de la fuerza pública (ESMAD y Policía) involucrados en estos hechos, manifestaron su ira y una actitud agresiva contra la comunidad en la tarde de ayer. Tememos que se trate de una retaliación o de un montaje como reacción de la fuerza pública frente a lo descubierto y denunciado.

Hasta este momento, nadie ha podido acercarse al lugar de los hechos para corroborar lo sucedido ya que se teme por la seguridad de civiles. Aclaramos que las autoridades no tienen información de que haya indígenas o comuneros dentro de la Hacienda La Emperatriz. En consecuencia, los hechos no involucrarían a comuneros indígenas. A esta hora, la gente del resguardo que habita en las inmediaciones, se encuentra aterrorizada, fuera de sus casas. Esperando la presencia de delegados de instituciones humanitarias y medios de comunicación.

Denunciamos este hecho de guerra en inmediaciones de la población civil rodeada por una fuerza pública que ha sido descubierta en acciones ilegales de terrorismo. No podemos descartar una confrontación entre grupos armados.

Llamamos con urgencia a quienes reciban esta nota a exigir por parte de los medios, los organismos de derechos humanos, la Defensoría del Pueblo y la Procuraduría , hacer presencia de inmediato en el lugar de los hechos, exigir un esclarecimiento de la verdad y movilizar todos los recursos y medios en respaldo de la comunidad y nuestro proceso.

Nos atacan de manera sistemática en todo el territorio en los últimos meses, en acciones que se intensifican y que combinan el terror, acciones de guerra de todos los grupos armados, agresiones legales, económicas, propaganda difamatoria contra el proceso e inclusive infiltraciones por parte de sectas religiosas que promueven la disolución del proceso, en el marco del Plan Colombia Fase II.

Revivimos lo que sentimos la noche del 16 de Diciembre de 1991, cuando se escucharon ráfagas y explosiones y quedaron masacrados 20 comuneras y comuneros en la Hacienda El Nilo, en masacre cometida por paramilitares, hacendados, la fuerza pública y narcotraficantes. Entonces, como ahora, habíamos sido víctimas de amenazas de terratenientes, falsamente encubiertos como campesinos (Campesinos Embejucados de Colombia). El 11 de Agosto recibimos una amenaza racista de exterminio contra el pueblo Páez. El lenguaje utilizado coincide con el que usaba el Gobernador Juan José Cháux en público y en privado para referirse a nosotros, fomentando odio y agresión. El mismo Cháux que ahora se encuentra implicado por su complicidad con paramilitares, quienes le ayudaron a llegar a la Gobernación y en cuya compañía llegó recientemente a la Casa de Nariño en hechos que conoce la opinión pública. Todo esto bajo el Gobierno de un Presidente de la República que ha ofrecido recompensa por nuestras cabezas y nos ha llamado criminales por denunciar agresiones y violaciones a nuestros derechos.

Vengan de donde vengan las bombas y las balas, la intención es destruir nuestro proceso. Convocamos una amplia denuncia Nacional e Internacional y les mantendremos informadas e informados.

Tejido de Comunicación y Relaciones para la Verdad y la Vida
ACIN Cxab Wala Kiwe Santander de Quilichao Septiembre 19 de septiembre de 2008, 2:58 a.m.

The Communication Collective in Cauca creates video analysis of Plan Colombia

A video by Tejido de Comunicacion of ACIN, the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, Colombia, July 2008
http://nasaacin.org