PBI-Colombia expresses concern about death threat received by CAHUCOPANA

On September 1, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project tweeted, “We express our concerns about the threats received by leaders of @CAHUCOPANA, who accompany communities in the Northeast of Antioquia, and report a situation of insecurity; their protection and investigation of the facts is necessary @ONUHumanRights.”

CAHUCOPANA (the Humanitarian Action Corporation for Coexistence and Peace of the Northeast Antioquia) was formed by a group of three hundred family farmers in 2004. You can read more about them in this PBI-Colombia overview.

The PBI-Colombia tweet and Facebook post follows after CAHUCOPANA tweeted, “Leaders and peasants are threatened with death in the Northeast of Antioquia. The list shows a peasant leader from CAHUCOPANA, members of Community Action Boards and a leader who works with children, among others.”

That list of seven names includes CAHUCOPANA human rights defender and peasant leader Ricaurte de Jesús García.

In this Facebook post, CAHUCOPANA further explains, “On August 30, several leaders, peasants and villagers of the municipality of Remedios, received a death threat through a message sent by WhatsApp, with a series of insults and the warning: ‘by lambs toads we’re going to kill them … we’re waiting for them.’”

CAHUCOPANA demands that:

1- the competent authorities investigate to find those responsible for this threat;

2- strong actions are taken to guarantee the life and integrity of the leaders and the peasant mining community that inhabits the area;

3- the National and Departmental Government provide security guarantees, activate collective and differentiated plans and programs for the inhabitants of the region.

PBI-Colombia was recently present for the inauguration by CAHUCOPANA of a House of Memory in Lejanías, accompanied CAHUCOPANA at a meeting with the Victims Unit on the first steps of implementing the Comprehensive Reparations Plan, accompanied CAHUCOPANA at a workshop in Puerto López at a workshop with social leaders in the area in order to determine protection and self-protection measures, and accompanied CAHUCOPANA to the IV Encuentro of rural women this past March.

PBI-Colombia has accompanied CAHUCOPANA since 2013.