Military intimidations against Indigenous communities

Soldiers of the 17th Brigade in the territory of the Embera communities impeded the free movement of the Indigenous within their reserve. The soldiers accused the Indigenous inhabitants of being FARC guerrillas and impeded them from following the road to their community crops.

The incident occurred last Saturday in the morning on the Jiguamiandó River.

In the territory of the Indigenous reserve, there is gold, copper, and molybdenum, which the Muriel Mining Corporation wants to extract.

In January 2010, the army carried out an aerial bombing to attack the FARC guerrillas, but directly hit an Indigenous family. That indiscriminate action has brought consequences that include irreparable injury to three members of the community.

In 2009 the territory was militarized to protect the operations that the mining companies were carrying out without consulting the indigenous communities.

The reserve has been part of the Forest Reserve Zone since 1957.

The Indigenous families of Alto Guayabal are beneficiaries of the precautionary measures of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Bogotá. D.C. April 26, 2011
Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz

Interchurch Commission for Justice and Peace