Wikileaks Note: The full text of this cable is notavailable.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BOGOTA 003361SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL DELEGATION VISITS SAN JOSEDE APARTADO
REF: A. BOGOTA 3224B. BOGOTA 2674C. BOGOTA 2619D. BOGOTA 2348E. BOGOTA 2156F. BOGOTA 1999G. BOGOTA 1918Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood Reasons1.4 (b) & (d)
--------Summary--------
¶1.(C) On April 6, representatives of the Embassiesof the United States, United Kingdom, Canada,France, Holland, Spain, Switzerland, and Swedenalong with a representative of the EuropeanCommission, and the Deputy Directors of the Bogotaoffices of the United Nations High Commissioner forHuman Rights (UNHCHR) and the United Nations HighCommissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) traveled toApartado for meetings with the peace community,
local police officials and the 17th Brigade. Peacecommunity leaders reiterated to internationalrepresentatives that they would not speak to GOCcivilian investigators about the February 21massacre until previous cases of human rightsviolations against the peace community had beensolved. Local police officials and the 17thBrigade told representatives that they wanted towork with the peace community and hoped a dialoguecould begin. End summary.
--------------"La Holandita"--------------
¶2. (U) On April 6, representatives of theEmbassies of the United States (DCM and PolOff),United Kingdom, Canada, France, Holland, Spain,Switzerland, and Sweden along with a representativeof the European Commission, and the DeputyDirectors of the Bogota offices of the UnitedNations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR)and the United Nations High Commissioner forRefugees (UNHCR) traveled to Apartado for meetingswith peace community members, local policeofficials and the 17th Brigade. The trip wasorganized by a group of international NGOs thatincluded Peace Brigades International (PBI), theFellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) and the ProjectCounseling Service (PCS).¶3. (SBU) Upon arrival in Apartado, the delegation,with considerable security support from both the17th Brigade and the local police, drove first to
"La Holandita" or "San Josecito", the area peacecommunity families displaced to when the policeentered San Jose de Apartado on April 2. "LaHolandita" is located 10 minutes south (walkingdistance) of the peace community of San Jose deApartado and just a few feet from the main road.The peace community representatives claimed 80families were living there. The members of thepeace community are in the process of buildingrudimentary shelters, five completed so far, withmaterials they were given by a Dutch NGO (mostlikely Pax Christi) approximately 16 years ago.The two communal shelters, which house the kitchensand a meeting room, consist only of a tin roof heldup by wooden beams. They have kitchen appliances,such as liquid propane gas (LPG) stoves. There areno bathrooms built, so residents use a nearbyriver. Peace community members told us the watersource is an underground spring. The community usesa hose to retrieve the water from this spring. Theremaining three shelters, assumed to be thesleeping quarters, have walls which rise threequarters of the way up to the roof. The communityhas one cell phone, which is wired to an antennafor reception. Livestock and dogs wanderthroughout the settlement.¶4. (C) Upon arrival to "La Holandita", delegateswere led to one of the communal areas, where theywere joined by about 50 members of the peacecommunity, representatives of FOR and PBI, and theregional Human Rights Ombudsman ("Defensor delPueblo") for a nearly three hour meeting. Fourmembers of the "Internal Council", the governingbody of the community, addressed the internationalrepresentatives. The Internal Council members
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
Cable 945: Multinational Delegation Investigates Uraba Massacre in Colombia
This is a 2005 US embassy report outlining the findings of an international delegation that visited Colombia to seek further information about the massacre of 8 members of the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado near the town of Uraba in northwestern Colombia.
156
Reads
2
Readcasts
51
Embed Views
Recommended
More From This User
Notes
Load more
