Colombian peasants break silence and denounce massacres http://thenakedfacts.blogspot.com/2010/07/colombian-peasants-break-silence-and.html

Colombian peasants from the northern area of San Onofre, Sucre department, broke the silence and decided to express their complaints to the media regarding the massacres committed by the paramilitaries since their incursion into this territory for over 10 years. The Movement of Victims in Colombia, recorded more than 75 massacres with more than 4000 victims since the rightwing paramilitaries arrived at the village where many of the dead are buried in mass graves , meanwhile people have been displaced unable to return home because State does not offer sufficient guarantees. Several people surrendered their testimonies about the murder and mutilation of some of his colleagues and burial in mass graves and the burning of farms at the hands of the paramilitaries to disappear any evidence of concentration camps and training they used in that area. 

"Here they were buried, made a small hole, pecked people inside them and buried them in pieces," he told exclusively to teleSUR, Jairo Aranda, a farmer in the area. "Here we took some and down in the camp  four bodies were removed, and we assume there must be more so it is best to seek the missing bodies , "said the villager. TeleSUR correspondent in Colombia, Angie Camacho, reported the testimony of the people in San Onofre, where several farmers urged others to express what they know about the murders of his colleagues even though they are threatened with death. 

Eder Torres, a worker in the area, said people  "remain silent if they're going to kill them  and they will take their lands," adding that "if this continues, we will tell the international community truly the humanitarian crisis that exists in this region. " Meanwhile, relatives of one of the leaders of the Movement of Victims in Colombia, who is presumed lost their lives because of the paramilitaries in the village reported that persistent presence of these illegal groups in the territory and assume the existence of complicity with part of the authorities. 

Different families of murdered leaders are demanding that the Colombian government to order a commission to investigate the facts for over a decade have occurred in that place and filled people with fear  who are silent because of the possibility of retaliation by paramiliares. On the other hand, human rights activists (HH.RR.) Colombians on Monday rejected allegations the government of President Alvaro Uribe, of being mouthpieces for terrorism and demanded that investigated the mass grave is largest in Latin America, found in the town of La Macarena (in the southern department of Meta). 

In this regard, Colombian Senator Gloria Inés Ramírez, the Polo Alternativo, said that "to qualify the victims as terrorists, human rights advocates and lawmakers convening of the hearing (the Government) would be telling them clearly and directly that the troops under his command and officers that these people  are military objectives. " He also recalled that the Head of State Administration has not expressed condolences to the families of those killed and said the urgency of initiating the necessary research to explain the remains found in La Macarena. 

"I can not hear in the presidential address a single line of condolence to the victims who reported crimes (...) we consider this of vital importance and a need for  an integration of an international forensic commission to monitor the procedures developed by the Colombian authorities." Ramíez Senator announced that the group of defenders sent a communication to the European Parliament to express complaints about the huge mass grave and require forensic investigations. 

A delegation from the United States and Europe, led by six MEPs, certified last Friday after a public hearing in the town of La Macarena (southeast) Colombia, the existence of a mass grave containing two thousand unidentified bodies.  The representative of the Center for Research and Popular Education for Peace Program (Cinep-PPP) Colombia, Javier Giraldo, said that 52 statements were delivered by relatives of the victims. The peasants of La Macarena have been victims of armed conflict since 2003 wich intensified with the advent of Plan Colombia led the U.S. to pursue an alleged fight against drug trafficking and organized crime.