Bad-faith occupier in Curvaradó tries to rape two little girls
Friday, July 1 2011
Our Historical Documentation and Ethics Censure of the diverse sexual acts of a bad-faith occupier within the Curvaradó collective territory, towards two little girls, one four year old and the other a ten year old, a member of the Andalucía Caño Claro lower council.
Bogotá, D.C. July 1 2011
JUAN MANUEL SANTOS
President of the Republic of Colombia
GERMÁN VARGAS LLERAS
Interior Minister
MARÍA ANGELA HOLGUÍN
Minister of Foreign Affairs
JUAN CAMILO RESTREPO
Agriculture Minister
VIVIANE MORALES
National Prosecutor General
ALEJANDRO ORDOÑEZ
National Inspector General
VOLMAR PÉREZ
National Ombudsman
JUAN MANUEL OSPINA
Manager of INCODER
“It’s my body to love, its my innocence to give, its not my body to use, its not my innocence to defile.” IDA
The bad-faith occupation in itself generates various effects on the traditional inhabitants of the Forest Reserve Zones. The government’s inaction, the tolerance and complicity with the illegal operations, along with the arbitrary nature of the operations, generates fear, lack of trust in the authorities and an understanding of an authority as someone who protects abuse, destruction and values that undermine the possibility of social harmony.
As of now, there are three occasions where women have been objects of unequivocal expressions of sexual abuse. The first two occasions took place in the Caracolí Humanitarian Zone, and the latest delicate and repudiated situation in the Andalucía community council. The protagonists of the events were bad-faith occupiers.
The lack of effective, institutional interventions against the bad-faith occupiers, who have been located a few meters from the Andalucía Caño Claro Humanitarian Zone for more than four years, has led to such abuses. These abuses are a manifestation of the grave consequences and impacts of the para-business strategy that has sought to maintain its presence and inhabit the territory by fraudulent means and the destruction of basic life principles.
We present our Historical Documentation of the following foundational facts:
*Friday July 1 at 9am our Justice and Peace Commission was informed that on June 27th a bad-faith occupier, nicknamed “Purinba”, was caught trying to have sexual acts with a four year old girl, a member of a family of the Andalucía lower council in the Curvaradó collective territory.
According to information we received from the community council, who based its information in two witnesses to the event, the individual known as “Purinba” had the little girl nude on a wood bed, pressing on her body with his pants down and open, exposing his penis.
The two witnesses, among them the girl’s grandmother, caught and surprised him, causing him to flee.
According to the information, this same man has had abusive sexual acts with another minor, a ten year old, from the same community.
The two girls are still living in the jurisdiction of the community council without having received medical attention nor the ability to establish any kind of direct complaint through their family members.
The families fear for their safety if they were to enter complaints to the respective authorities, especially since there exists the perception and experience of the authorities not acting with diligence in favor of the authentic inhabitants of the territory. Additionally, the family does not have the economic means to travel to the county seat.
The so-called “Purinba” lives in the settlement that is just three hundred meters from the Andalucía Caño Claro Humanitarian Zone. This location was promoted as an area to settle by the palm companies seeking to repopulate the land. Among others, a series of small-scale farmers live there, without rights to the community land nor the individual land plots. These repopulators work with the companies that benefit from paramilitarism.
Since the establishment of this settlement more than four years ago, in which in addition to bad-faith occupiers, paramilitaries and ex-paramilitaries have been present, effective measures have not been adopted to prevent the consummation of the de facto occupation.
Our Historical Documentation of the new intimidation of international observers and humanitarian agents.
Today, in the Chigorodó transportation terminal, human rights workers shared amongst each other written information from the Andalucía community council and a letter from the family members who requested action on the situation of the girls from Andalucía, Curvaradó. Afterwards, at 2:20pm, Elisa Norio, an international accompanier, was approached by an apparent beggar. The beggar demanded money. Seconds later, when she refused to give him anything, he threatened to report her to the powers that be in the region: “I’m going to tell them to wait for you in Belén de Bajirá, there they will take everything from you.”
Our Ethics Censure of the lack of effective, institutional operations to establish a State of Law in Curvaradó. The operation logic based in the use of force, the lawless acts, and fear, all reflect the grave effects of the impunity and the entrenchment of fear constructed by the para-business project.
Today at 12:19pm the Ombudsman’s office in Bogotá was informed of the situation, in which the following was urgently requested:
1. To carry out all the necessary procedures so that the girls and their families receive the necessary medical and psychological attention as soon as possible.
2. That all pertinent measures be adopted pertaining to the individual called “Purinba” and an investigation be initiated with due process.
3. That all the procedures be advanced to protect the life and integrity of the inhabitants of the community council and their family members.
In conformity with your institutional responsibilities, we request that you take action in an urgent manner.
In all consideration,
Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz
Interchurch Justice and Peace Commission