"Some four million people in Colombia have been displaced, the majority of them by paramilitary groups. These groups, acting alone or in conjunction with members of the armed forces, have disappeared at least 15,000 compatriots and have buried them in more than 3,000 mass graves; they have murdered more than 1,700 indigenous people, 2,550 trade unionists, and close to 5,000 members of the Patriotic Union. "
Medellin, Colombia – [On Thursday, March 6] I participated with hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people, across Colombia and throughout the world, in marches to demand an end to paramilitary and state terror. Below are some photos from the march in this city, Medellin. Following is my translation of the call put out by the convening organization, the "National Movement of Victims of State Crimes". Please read this (and as you do so, recall that the US government considers this murderous Colombian regime to be "democratic" and has made it the 4th largest recipient of US aid worldwide) and forward this message as widely as possible. The Colombian people need to know that they are not alone!!!
"Some four million people in Colombia have been displaced, the majority of them by paramilitary groups. These groups, acting alone or in conjunction with members of the armed forces, have disappeared at least 15,000 compatriots and have buried them in more than 3,000 mass graves; they have murdered more than 1,700 indigenous people, 2,550 trade unionists, and close to 5,000 members of the Patriotic Union. They routinely torture their victims before killing them. Between 1982 and 2005 the paramilitary groups perpetrated more than 3,500 massacres and appropriated more than six million hectares of land. Since 2002, after their supposed ‘demobilization’, they have killed 600 people each year and came to control 35 percent of the parliament. The national army has carried out more than 950 executions since 2002. In January 2008 alone, the paramilitary groups committed two massacres, disappeared nine people, and were identified in eight homicides, while the army has committed 16 extra-judicial executions….
The panorama for victims among the population in Medellin is extremely adverse since there are currently 5,000 paramilitaries here in the city. These paramilitary units control entire neighborhoods and regularly engage in every type of criminal behavior, while local authorities turn a blind eye. Recently the paramilitary units have stepped up their presence by distributing several public communiques in which they have threatened to execute people who they describe as ‘undesirable’….
No more mass graves! No more forced displacements! No more paramilitaries and their political supporters! No more state crimes!
National Movement of Victims of State Crime, Medellin chapter, 6 March 2008"
