The indigenous Embera Katio people that live in the southern part of the state of Cordoba, Colombia, and in Uraba, in the northwestern part of the state of Antioquia, Colombia, are a part of the larger population of approximately 80,000 Embera people that live in western Colombia, over a broad area covering the states of Choco, Risaralda, Caldas and the Pacific coasts of Valle, Cauca and Nariño. They have an itinerant life style in which they move across this area engaging in fishing, hunting, gathering, and horticulture.
There are approximately 3,000 Embera Katio people living in Tierralta County (Cordoba), in the upper basin of the Sinu River and its tributaries, Esmeralda River and Verde River. They are being directly and seriously affected by the construction of the Urra Hydroelectric Project. The construction project has led to the destruction of the fishing areas that have constituted the primary source of food for the Embera Katio and in addition has been the source of livelihood for 10,000 fishermen along the middle and lower Sinu River. (The Urra Company promised to build tanks for the production of different species of fish, but they have not followed through on this). In addition, the Embera Katio people have lost the river route connecting them to their markets, and part of their territory will be flooded.
The Urra Company (URRA. S. A.) - currently State-owned and soon to be privatized amid accusations of manipulation and corruption in the negotiation process - has contracted with SKANSKA, a Swedish company to build the dam, and with ENERGOMACHIEXPORT, a Russian company, to equip it. A Colombian company, GOMEZ CAJIAO, has been contracted for the civil engineering tasks. Financing is provided by NORDIK INVESTMENT BANK, NIB, of Sweden, and EXPORT DEVELOPMENT BANK, EDC, of Canada.
In November, 1996, at a meeting at the Swedish Embassy, URRA S.A., the Colombian government, and the indigenous people reached an agreement on compensation by the company (URRA. S. A.) to the indigenous people, including participation in the income generated by the sale of electricity. However, in December 1996 the board of directors of the company, at the request of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, refused to abide by the agreement and sought instead to foster divisions within the community.
In February 1998 the indigenous communities of the Sinu and Verde Rivers filed suit (tutela) to protect their rights, and as a result of that suit, the Constitutional Court ordered a temporary halt to the filling of the dam, with a definitive court decision expected in November of this year.
Beginning in 1997, ANA CECILIA BETANCUR, the attorney for the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia, (ORGANIZACION NACIONAL INDIGENA DE COLOMBIA-ONIC), began to receive threats and to be followed. After the indigenous communities filed suit in February, 1998, the offices of the ONIC came under harassment by autos and motorcycles without license plates, or using stolen plates, as confirmed by police authorities.
On the 25th of August of 1998 the most important Embera Katio leader, the elder ALONSO DOMICO JARUPIA, was assassinated by a paramilitary group known as the "Self-Defense Units of Cordoba and Uraba" (Autodefensas de Cordoba y Uraba). The paramilitaries had with them at the time a list of five other indigenous people they were going to kill. Subsequently, consultants to the ONIC, ANA CECILIA BETANCUR, HECTOR MONDRAGON, and EFRAIN JARAMILLO, received anonymous death threats against them, their families, and coworkers. On the 19th of September, 1998, the paramilitaries "officially" informed the ONIC that they had sentenced to death the anthropologist consultant of the Embera Katio, EFRAIN JARAMILLO, for allegedly being an "ideologue of the guerrilla". HECTOR MONDRAGON and his family were forced to leave the country.
During this same time period, the Human Rights Division of the Attorney General's Office (Fiscalia), which is responsible for criminal investigation for human rights violations in these cases, received a communication from paramilitary groups in which death threats were reiterated against the office staff, alleging that many of the attorneys in this Division favor leftist and "subversive" groups. Similar threats have been received in other cases involving investigations against paramilitary groups. Likewise, the investigative division of the Attorney General's office in Cordoba reported that they had discovered a plan against the lives of the Human Rights Division attorneys investigating crimes committed by paramilitaries. Discovery of this plan is particularly significant in the light of the fact that at that very time H-R Division attorneys were going to travel to Cordoba to investigate the assassination of ALONSO DOMICO JARUPIA, and the attorney handling the case was named in the list of those threatened by the paramilitary. In the light of these events, the H-R Division suspended the investigative trip to Cordoba for lack of security guarantees. The threats have impeded the investigation, and potential witnesses have expressed fear of collaborating with the investigation.
Write respectful letters requesting:
That the right to life of the Embera Katio people of Tierralta, Cordoba, be guaranteed and that all necessary measures be taken to protect the lives of the indigenous Embera Katio leaders, in particular of those on the paramilitary death list.
That all necessary measures be taken to protect the lives of the ONIC consultants ANA CECILIA BETANCUR, HECTOR MONDRAGON, and EFRAIN JARAMILLO.
That all necessary steps be taken to ensure the safety of the attorneys of the Human Rights Division of the Attorney General's office (Fiscalia) and the full implementation of the investigation.
That all necessary steps be taken to arrest and bring to trial the murderers of ALONSO DOMICO JARUPIA, and those who sponsored his murder.
That adequate compensation be made for the impacts of the Urra Dam on the indigenous, the peasants, and the environment, and that the agreements reached at the Swedish Embassy in November, 1996, be respected.
That the right of the indigenous people to pursue their claims through the courts be guaranteed, without being victims of reprisals by armed groups.
Direct your letters to:
President ANDRES PASTRANA ARANGO
Casa de Nariño
Carrera 8 No. 7-26
Santafe de Bogota, D.C.
COLOMBIA, South America
FAX: (57-1) 286-6842
Doctor JAIME BERNAL CUELLAR
Procurador General de la Nacion
Carrera 5 No. 15-80
Santafe de Bogota, D. C.
COLOMBIA, South America
FAX: (57-1) 336-0011 or 352-0066 ext. 12504
Doctor JOSE FERNANDO CASTRO CAICEDO
Defensor del Pueblo
Calle 55 No. 10-32
Santafe de Bogota, D. C.
COLOMBIA, South America
FAX: (57-1) 346-3262
Doctor ALFONSO GOMEZ MENDEZ
Fiscal General de la Nacion
Diagonal 22 No. 52-01
Santafe de Bogota, D. C.
COLOMBIA, South America
FAX: (57-1) 570-2000, ext. 2502
Ambassador LUIS ALBERTO MORENO
Embassy of Colombia
2118 Leroy Place, NW,
Washington, D.C. 20008
USA
Phone (202) 387 8338
Fax: (202) 232-8643 or (202) 387-0176
Ambassador JOSE MARIA DE GUZMAN
Embassy of Colombia
360 Albert Street, Suite 1002
Ottawa, ON. CANADA K1R 7X7
Tel: (613) 230-3761
Fax: (613) 230-4416
Also respectfully write to:
A. Ian Gillespie, President and Chief Executive Officer
Export Development Corporation (EDC)
151 O'Connor Street
Ottawa, CANADA
K1A 1K3
Fax: (613) 598-6697
Request that the Export Development Corporation (EDC) take all steps possible to ensure
That the right to life of the Embera Katio people of Tierralta, Cordoba, be guaranteed and all necessary measures be taken to protect the lives of the indigenous Embera Katio leaders, in particular of those on the paramilitary death list.
That adequate compensation be made for the impacts of the URRA Dam on the indigenous, the peasants, and the environment, and that the agreements reached at the Swedish Embassy in November, 1996, be respected.
That the right of the indigenous people to pursue their claims through the courts be guaranteed, without being victims of reprisals by armed groups.
