Translated from La Jornada
Pedro Lugo used to walk in the mornings; wife and children found his corpse shot.
The PRD condemns the crime; requires the state and federal governments to take measures against violence and impunity
Javier Valdez Cardenas, Correspondent
Culiacán, Sinaloa, 16 of May. Unknown gunmen shot to death the rural leader Pedro Lugo Rivera when he was near his house, in the community of Ocoroni, municipality of Sinaloa, reported the ministerial police of the state.
The leader used to go for walking in the mornings but this Saturday he got unusually late. His children and wife they went to seek for him and they found him a few kilometers from the house, with bullet wounds in thorax and abdomen.
Lugo Rivera was a leader of the Peasant National Confederation of the PRI. Then he entered at the front of Defense of the Agricultural Producers, next to various leaders perredistas, and recently he worked in the region along with Juan Figueroa Sources, local representative of the PRD.
Ramón Lucas Lizárraga, perredista state leader, condemned the murder and he demand the state and federal governments to adopt measures to fight the violence and to put an end to the impunity. "Every act of this nature is reprehensible", maintained.
Also he deplored that the violence reign in Sinaloa and recalled that besides Lugo Rivera, they were murdered Rogelio Zamora and another militant in the municipality of Narrowness on November 14, 2008. "The government should apply the necessary measures so that these cowardly murders don't remain unpunished", demanded.
The rural leader of Ocorini also collaborated with the National Union of Autonomous Rural Organizations in the movement against the farm chapter of the NAFTA, and he fought for changes in the social politics of the government.
In October of 2004, along with other leaders and rural organizations of Sonora, Michoacán, Puebla, Guerrero and Sinaloa, he participated in a protest in front of the Office of the secretary of Agriculture, Stockbreeding, Rural Development, Fishing and Alimentation (Sagarpa) in the Federal District, to demand endorsement to their farm projects.
On that occasion, Lugo Rivera said that the coop members of Ocorini continued expecting the lands of irrigation that they were promised 26 years ago in exchange for donating 5 thousand 400 hectares for a dam. "They despoiled us and 350 families lost their plots", denounced at that time.
He exposed that beside that the coop members carried a five-year period requesting to the federal government works of irrigation and a project of farm development for the region, but the Sagarpa asked them 50 million pesos –the half of the cost– to get to work. And he asked: "¿From where are we going to raise that money?"
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Venezuelan Rural Activists and National Land Institute Workers Arrested for Occupying Estate
Mérida, April 21st 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) - Police in Portuguesa state, Venezuela, forcibly evicted more than sixty landless farmers and three National Institute of Land (INTI) workers on Friday from a section of a privately owned estate that the INTI had marked for re-distribution.
The eviction is emblematic of the clash between powerful landed elites and the government of President Hugo Chávez, whose 2001 land reform law permits the state to forcibly purchase idle sections of large private estates for re-distribution as a means to spur agricultural production.
Last week, officials from the INTI and the Socialist Agrarian Fund (FONDAS) announced they would gradually parcel out 926 hectares (2,290 acres) of underused lands on the privately owned El Rodeo Estate to a group of 86 landless families in Portuguesa state.
While INTI personnel were assisting a group of sixty farmers to demarcate a section of the territory last Friday, state police known locally as the Jungle Police staged an "ambush" and ordered the entire group to lie face down on the ground, according to alternative media reporters who have accompanied the farmers in their struggle for land.
The police briefly detained and then released the INTI functionaries and most of the farmers, but arrested and transferred Carlos Ortega and six other farmer rights leaders to the state capital Guanare to be tried for trespassing. Police and National Guard (GN) forces now occupy the disputed lands.
GN Lieutenant Colonel Gustavo Saluzzo, who commands the Portuguesa State Police, told the local press, "Our idea is to respect the law... while the land reform law says landed estates are not permitted, the law also establishes sanctions for those who invade private property."
According to independent media reports, Saluzzo has repeatedly threatened to jail Ortega, and United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) Governor Wilmar Castro has publicly denounced the confrontational land "invasions" promoted by Ortega as a tactic to speed up the process of land re-distribution.
Also, former Portuguesa Governor Antonia Muñoz, who is currently the regional coordinator of the PSUV, created the Jungle Police to be a special force to fight ecological crimes, but the squad has fallen under control of elite regional estate owners and has mainly been used to repress rural activists, according to independent news reports.
On Saturday, a group of eighty allies of Ortega marched to the Portuguesa state police headquarters and demanded the release of the seven arrested organizers, who they alleged had been politically persecuted. The seven activists remain in police custody.
Since the 2001 land reform law was passed, 1,507 small or landless farmers in Venezuela have been arrested as a result of their struggle to gain legal title to lands, according to a growing network of farmers' rights groups nation-wide.
The rights groups, which advocate the reform of Articles 471 and 471 of Venezuela's Penal Code in order to de-criminalize small farmers who occupy private lands, also report that 214 rural activists have been murdered since 2001, most recently Nelson Lopez in Yaracuy state and Mauricio Sánchez in Zulia state in March.
Following the killings in March, several Venezuelan farmer rights groups held a joint conference in Caracas to form a united front against the politically motivated assassinations and arrests of rural activists, and to call for an end to impunity for "the landed oligarchy that is killing our brothers in the rural communities."
Agriculture and Lands Minister Elías Jaua attended the conference and promised to appeal to the Attorney General and president of the Supreme Court to accelerate the investigations of crimes against farmer rights organizers.
In an interview on the state television channel VTV Monday, Jaua said that 90% of the private lands re-distributed by the Ministry, which amounts to almost one million hectares (2.47 million acres), are now producing food, including meat, grains, fruits, and vegetables.
Recuperated lands are distributed either to state-owned Social Production Enterprises or to cooperatively run projects such as the Zamoran Farms, named after Venezuela's legendary farmer rights fighter Ezequiel Zamora, said Jaua. Zamoran Farms are now producing food on 155,000 hectares (383,000 acres) of formerly idle private land, the minister added.
After announcing the launch of the Ministry's "Operation Free Land and Men" aimed at recuperating more land in the states of Barinas, Amazonas, Miranda, and Aragua, Jaua said, "we are making a reality of the dream for which generations of humble farmers struggled: That the best lands of our country... be at the service of food production."
The eviction is emblematic of the clash between powerful landed elites and the government of President Hugo Chávez, whose 2001 land reform law permits the state to forcibly purchase idle sections of large private estates for re-distribution as a means to spur agricultural production.
Last week, officials from the INTI and the Socialist Agrarian Fund (FONDAS) announced they would gradually parcel out 926 hectares (2,290 acres) of underused lands on the privately owned El Rodeo Estate to a group of 86 landless families in Portuguesa state.
While INTI personnel were assisting a group of sixty farmers to demarcate a section of the territory last Friday, state police known locally as the Jungle Police staged an "ambush" and ordered the entire group to lie face down on the ground, according to alternative media reporters who have accompanied the farmers in their struggle for land.
The police briefly detained and then released the INTI functionaries and most of the farmers, but arrested and transferred Carlos Ortega and six other farmer rights leaders to the state capital Guanare to be tried for trespassing. Police and National Guard (GN) forces now occupy the disputed lands.
GN Lieutenant Colonel Gustavo Saluzzo, who commands the Portuguesa State Police, told the local press, "Our idea is to respect the law... while the land reform law says landed estates are not permitted, the law also establishes sanctions for those who invade private property."
According to independent media reports, Saluzzo has repeatedly threatened to jail Ortega, and United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) Governor Wilmar Castro has publicly denounced the confrontational land "invasions" promoted by Ortega as a tactic to speed up the process of land re-distribution.
Also, former Portuguesa Governor Antonia Muñoz, who is currently the regional coordinator of the PSUV, created the Jungle Police to be a special force to fight ecological crimes, but the squad has fallen under control of elite regional estate owners and has mainly been used to repress rural activists, according to independent news reports.
On Saturday, a group of eighty allies of Ortega marched to the Portuguesa state police headquarters and demanded the release of the seven arrested organizers, who they alleged had been politically persecuted. The seven activists remain in police custody.
Since the 2001 land reform law was passed, 1,507 small or landless farmers in Venezuela have been arrested as a result of their struggle to gain legal title to lands, according to a growing network of farmers' rights groups nation-wide.
The rights groups, which advocate the reform of Articles 471 and 471 of Venezuela's Penal Code in order to de-criminalize small farmers who occupy private lands, also report that 214 rural activists have been murdered since 2001, most recently Nelson Lopez in Yaracuy state and Mauricio Sánchez in Zulia state in March.
Following the killings in March, several Venezuelan farmer rights groups held a joint conference in Caracas to form a united front against the politically motivated assassinations and arrests of rural activists, and to call for an end to impunity for "the landed oligarchy that is killing our brothers in the rural communities."
Agriculture and Lands Minister Elías Jaua attended the conference and promised to appeal to the Attorney General and president of the Supreme Court to accelerate the investigations of crimes against farmer rights organizers.
In an interview on the state television channel VTV Monday, Jaua said that 90% of the private lands re-distributed by the Ministry, which amounts to almost one million hectares (2.47 million acres), are now producing food, including meat, grains, fruits, and vegetables.
Recuperated lands are distributed either to state-owned Social Production Enterprises or to cooperatively run projects such as the Zamoran Farms, named after Venezuela's legendary farmer rights fighter Ezequiel Zamora, said Jaua. Zamoran Farms are now producing food on 155,000 hectares (383,000 acres) of formerly idle private land, the minister added.
After announcing the launch of the Ministry's "Operation Free Land and Men" aimed at recuperating more land in the states of Barinas, Amazonas, Miranda, and Aragua, Jaua said, "we are making a reality of the dream for which generations of humble farmers struggled: That the best lands of our country... be at the service of food production."
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
One Papua farmer killed, 4 farmers injured among other civilians by Indonesian Police
posted on koteka.net
| Photos & News of Shot Papuans in Nabire |
| Written by Administrator | |
| Tuesday, 07 April 2009 | |
Komite Nasional Papua Barat (KNPB)/WPNC (West Papuan National Committe) Camp in Nabire Destroyed, 15 Papuans Arrested, 7 Civilans Shot, One Policeman Shot with ArrowIndonesian Police in Nabire destroyed and burnt peaceful camp belonging to the Nabire branch of Komite Nasional Papua Barat (KNPB) which had been set-up to celebrate the launching of ILWP (International Lawyers for West Papua). Indonesian Police arrested 15 Papuans who were preparing banners and posters in preparation for a peaceful demonstration scheduled for 6/4/2008, having duly informed the Indonesian Police previously in writing. "The Police came into where the masses where gathered and blindly opened fire into the crowd," stated a witness who for safety reasons prefered to remain anonymous. The following morning, the masses arrived at the camp to discover it had been destroyed and burnt by the Indonesian Police. The heavy-handed Indonesian Police then fired wildly into the crow, resulting in 7 Papuans currently receiving emergency treatment for bullet wounds in Nabire General Hospital. Three other Papuans have returned home, namely Yan Yeimo (24) bullet grazed head; Franky Boma (20), shot in right thigh; Hengky Tebay (20), head wound. *** Update: Yonandi Pigome died 9/4/2008 after 4 days in critical condition in hospital. Human Rights in West Papua deteriorates with shootings, arrests and orchestrated violence reported in NabireApril 9, 2009 by ipahrHuman Rights Report 8 April 2009 Human Rights in West Papua deteriorates with shootings, arrests and orchestrated violence reported in Nabire The human rights situation in West Papua continues to deteriorate before Indonesia? General Election tomorrow. Local people have been shot and critically injured in a operation reportedly organised by Indonesian security forces against West Papuan demonstrators in Nabire on the 6 April 2009. This report provides details of nine people who are confirmed shot by security forces. A policeman was also wounded by a traditional arrow in Nabire on the 6th April and many other protesters and police are reported to have also suffered injuries. Paula Makabory from Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights said today, ?Reports received from Nabire indicate that the violent confrontation that occurred on Monday the 6 April between the security forces and Pro-independence protesters was actually promoted by a Pro-Indonesian militia member and other Papuans working with the Indonesian security forces.? ?The fact that there are reports that the Indonesian security personnel were positioned in the buildings & armed clearly suggests that this confrontation and the subsequent shooting and wounding of civilians was planned & staged by the Indonesian security forces.? ?This incident occurred following two other Pro-Independence rallies by about 15,000 local people in the town of Nabire, and another of 10,000 people in the Wamena district on Friday-the 3 April which the police had attempted to prohibit. Rally organizers ignored the attempted ban claiming their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.? The protesters at both these rallies said they were supporting the launch of the group ?International Lawyers for West Papua? [ILWP] and said they would boycott Indonesia?s general elections this year. Protesters also called for a referendum on self-determination. A report containing information about the incidents in Nabire on 6 April 2009 is detailed below. For further information, including video footage of the protesters contact: Paula Makabory Institute for Papuan Advocacy & human Rights (+61) 402 547 517; or Matthew Jamieson (+61) 418291998; ? 1.0 Events in Nabire from 30 March to 6 April 2009 The KNPB (National Committee for West Papua) set up their tents on 30 March 2009 as a base camp for KNPB in Nabire, under the leadership of Zeth Giay. On Friday 3 April 2009, the KNPB held a large rally with more than 15,000 people involved. This peaceful rally was in support of the launch of International Lawyer for West Papua (ILWP). The rally also called for a referendum in West Papua and a boycott of the Indonesia Election and a demand for Independence for West Papua. One of the organisers of the rally and the chair of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) for Nabire, Zet Giay, said the rally had been the biggest ever in Nabire. ?We support the launch of ILWP in America and we know that we are not Indonesian, we are Papuan, Melanesian, so we will not vote in the Indonesian Public election 2009,? Mr Giay said. He added that the protesters would continue to rally against these attacks by the security forces and in support of the ILWP. The protesters were also calling for investigations into the widespread human rights violations that have occurred in West Papua, and for a review of the 1969 so-called ?Act of Free Choice?, which saw West Papua?s formal incorporation into Indonesia. On Saturday the 4 April 2009, KNPB sent an information letter to the police precinct to let them know about the second rally that was to be held on Monday 6 April. There was no response from the police. 2.0 Raid on KNPB Protest camp On Monday the 6 April 2009, at around 3am (Papua local time) there was a raid on the KNPB camp in Taman Bunga Bangsa, Oyehe, Nabire. Two tents that had been set up since the 30 March 2009 were burned by the police . The police also searched for Morning Star flags and other political articles. The Nabire Police Precinct under the command of Police Chief AKBP. Rinto Jadmoko, SIK, then arrested 15 people from the KNPB group. One man Jerry Nawipa (Male/ 18 Years old) was shot with a bullet during this police raid on the KNPB camp. The Taman Bunga Bangsa grounds is the location that was used by the West Papua people to raise the Morning Star in a series of flag raising in 1999 and 2000. According to a local KNPB organizer, after the raid the KNPB and their supporters decided to continue the rally and focus their next rally at Taman Bunga Bangsa Oyehe. They decided that the people who were living in each of the regions of Oyehe, Siriwo and Karang Tumaritis would gather and travel together to meet at Taman Bunga Bangsa . The KNPB planned not do a long march to DPRD (Local Provincial Assembly) and to focus their next demonstration at Oyehe. There was some concern reported at that time that their protest was infiltrated by Papuans working as informers for an Indonesian security forces intelligence group (TBO). 3.0 Indonesian militia in Karang Tumartis protest Later in the morning of the 6 April at about 8am, one of KNPB organizers passed the Karang Tumaritis area and saw that people were blockading the road. A local man, Alipin Pigay, who is recognized as being from a militia group from the Nabire Military District Command (KODIM), was seen clearly encouraging the other demonstrators. Another 6 Papuans who work as TBO (Tenaga Bantuan Operational/ Operational Field Helper) for the Indonesian security forces intelligence organisation, were also seen among the people who were blocking the road. This KNPB organizer told the protesters that he wanted them to clear the road and wait beside the market or in the taxi terminal or by the road at Karang Tumaritis. He told the people that they had to choose to follow the instructions of KNBP or this other party. He asked them to wait for the other KNPB organizers to join the rally from Karang Tumaritis to Oyehe. A local community member who also recognized Alipin Pigay reported that it was Alipin Pigay who encouraged the protesters to block the road and to attack the traffic policemen and the police car. According to this source Alipin Pigay was the first to throw stones at the traffic police and their car. It was reported that Alipin Pigay and the others from TBO encouraged the other people to violently resist the Police and throw stones and then to fire arrows against the traffic policemen. Bribda Jejen (Male/ 24 Years old) a policeman, was shot with an arrow. He was shot during the incident when the police attacked the protesters at Karang Tumaritis. The traffic police had tried to clear the road to allow an army truck from TNI Battalion 753 to pass through. Some people were also arrested by the Nabire police precinct at that time in Karang Tumaritis. An eye witness said that there were casualties on both sides, the Indonesian police and the protesters who were fighting. The police troops were using machine guns and stones against the protesters and the protesters were using arrows and stones against the police. Metro TV has shown footage of this conflict between protestors and police. 4.0 Hidden Security forces and shooting around Karang Tumaritis According to another local witnesses Indonesian security force intelligence officers with long and short guns were seen hiding in a second floor house in front of the Effata church in Karang Tumaritis and other houses that belonging to non-Papuans around the Karang Tumaritis area before the incident/protest on the road occurred. Those security forces reportedly shot at civilians who were not involved in the conflict & demonstration on the road around Karang Tumaritis. These local people were passing the location of the protest to reach their houses and were shot at by the security forces. Local Human Rights sources reported that while the Police troops were attacking groups protesting on the road and the concealed security forces were shooting as people went past the protest to reach their homes. The shooting in Karang Tumaritis resulted in many civilians suffering server bullet wounds. Reports from Nabire said eight shot with seven of the injured being treated at Emergency Unit (UGD) in the Nabire public hospital. The News Service from Reuters confirms 11 hospitalised in Nabire with serious bullet wounds. It is not clear who the police shot amongst the protesters on the road. Reports provided to IPAHR suggest that 7 people who were shot and injured but were not part of the protest. These people were said to be shot in the vicinity of the protest, amongst this group was an orphaned 4 grade elementary student Albertus Tagi. The shooting of Fritz Singamui and Albertus Tagi had clearly no link to the protest. Details of victims shot at Karang Tumaritis District, Nabire 6 April 2009: 1. Fritz Samuel Singamui / Roy (Male 30 Years old) is dying in hospital in a very critical condition. He was shot with a real bullet in the left side of the chest, the bullet passed through to his left shoulder blade. He is in a coma in Nabire Public hospital. He was shot when he was trying to take a short cut with his motorcycle to his house. The Indonesian Police members attacked him and pushed him off his motorcycle into the gutter and shot him on the ground. He was not involved in the demonstration. Fritz has been working for an NGO called VCI, which focuses on community service providing clean water, natural disaster relief, promoting health for women and children, and raising awareness of HIV/AIDS. Fritz was reported to be evacuated to Makassar, Sulawesi, for further medical treatment. 2. Albertus Tagi (Male/10 Years old) is an orphan, a 4th grader student at the local elementary school. He is in a very critical condition in Nabire hospital. He was shot with a real bullet in his right ribs as he approached his house after school. He was not in the demonstration. He was sent home early in the morning before the visiting of the Papua Regional Police Chief to the hospital that was planned for the 7 April 2009. According to the medical workers who told activists that as an orphan, Albertus, has no one to look after him in the hospital was sent home. 3. Yunandi Pigome (Male/28 Years old), is a farmer. He is reported to be dying in Nabire hospital. He was shot with a real bullet, the bullet entered his left back skull bone, passed through the front skull and went out above his left eye brow. He was shot on his way to his house. He was not involved in the demonstration. 4. Ipo Boga (Male /28 Years old), a farmer, he was shot with a real bullet in the buttocks and the bullet passed through near his genitals. He went to the local market and bought some rice and was returning home when shot. He was not involved in the demonstration. 5. Hengky Boma (Male/ 25years old), a farmer, was shot in his right thigh. He is supposed to have an operation at Nabire hospital today (April 7, 2009). He was not involved in the demonstration. 6. Alfonse Yeimo (Male/ 22 Years old), a student was shot in the forehead, lost lots of blood. 7. Yafeth Keiya (Male/26 Years old) a farmer, he was shot in the right wrist, he was not involved at the demonstration, he was on his way to market. w 8. Hengky Tenouye (Male/ 20 Years old), a farmer, he was shot on the left side of his chest. He was not involved in the demonstrations. For further information, including video footage of the protest rally, contact: Paula Makabory (+61) 402 547 517; or Matthew Jamieson (+61) 418291998; Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights PO Box 1805 Byron Bay NSW 2481 Australia |
Friday, 13 March 2009
Venezuelan Farmer Rights Organizations Unite to Oppose Assassinations by Landed Elite
Mérida, March 13th 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) -- Several Venezuelan small farmer rights organizations united forces this week to prevent further assassinations of rural community organizers. The groups also marched to demand that the national government end impunity for those responsible for these crimes, and to support the government’s land reform and food security measures.
“This popular front must struggle against impunity, against hired killings, and against paramilitarism,” declared coalition leader Inder Herrera during the founding congress in Caracas on Tuesday.
The new front plans to team up with student activists, community councils, artisanal fisher organizations, and some state security forces to prevent any further assaults on rural community organizers.
Since Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez passed a land reform law in 2001, 214 rural activists have been murdered during their campaigns to carry out the law, according to the Ezequiel Zamora National Farmers Front.
Braulio Álvarez, a National Assembly legislator and the coordinator of the Simón Bolívar Farmers Front, said further investigations could reveal that that the actual number of politically motivated murders of rural organizers is more than 400.
The formation of the new front follows the assassination last Monday of Mauricio Sánchez, who had been leading the struggle for land reform in southern Zulia state, and farmer rights organizer Nelson López, who was shot 15 times in the back two weeks ago in Yaracuy state.
The government has arrested those suspected of having carried out the murders, but the farmers are calling for a national investigation of what they say is a network of large estate owners and private cattle ranchers associations who gave the orders for the crimes.
“We consider it important and transcendental that we investigate to the fullest and without hesitation the landed oligarchy that is killing our brothers in the rural communities,” said Herrera Tuesday.
Venezuelan Agriculture and Land Minister Elías Jaua attended Tuesday’s conference and promised to solicit a national investigation.
“We have come to listen to the proposals of this popular farmers’ movement and to express the government’s commitment not to allow this situation to continue,” said Jaua.
“One of the most atrocious crimes is that somebody dies while struggling for a piece of land, that’s why we are going to ask for an appointment with the Attorney General and the president of the Supreme Court to speed up these investigations,” said the minister.
Over the past two weeks, the Agriculture and Land Ministry and other government entities have taken under public ownership two privately owned rice processing plants that were caught hoarding food and evading price controls, and thousands of hectares of underused or idle land, in accordance with the 2001 Land Law and 2008 Law on Food Security and Sovereignty.
The measures come shortly after a national referendum in which Venezuelan voters approved a constitutional amendment to abolish term limits on elected offices. Following the referendum, President Chávez said his administration will correct its past mistakes by deepening its policies aimed toward the construction of “21st Century Socialism.”
The farmer rights organizations marched through Caracas Monday to support the government’s expropriation of socially irresponsible businesses and private estates, and to demand an end to impunity for those who ordered the murder of farmers.
“We completely support the measures that our Commander Hugo Chávez has taken to occupy rice plants,” said Herrera to the press. “We must deepen the revolution,” he said as the marchers gathered in front of Venezuela’s most powerful private business association and symbol of anti-government activity, FEDECAMARAS.
Minister Jaua recognized the need for the government to work with social movement organizations such as the farmer rights fronts in order for the hired assassinations to cease and the national food security policies to be effective.
“We receive this support from the farmers and we are filled with strength to continue the battle we are waging to guarantee the right to food security to the Venezuelan people,” said the minister.
“This popular front must struggle against impunity, against hired killings, and against paramilitarism,” declared coalition leader Inder Herrera during the founding congress in Caracas on Tuesday.
The new front plans to team up with student activists, community councils, artisanal fisher organizations, and some state security forces to prevent any further assaults on rural community organizers.
Since Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez passed a land reform law in 2001, 214 rural activists have been murdered during their campaigns to carry out the law, according to the Ezequiel Zamora National Farmers Front.
Braulio Álvarez, a National Assembly legislator and the coordinator of the Simón Bolívar Farmers Front, said further investigations could reveal that that the actual number of politically motivated murders of rural organizers is more than 400.
The formation of the new front follows the assassination last Monday of Mauricio Sánchez, who had been leading the struggle for land reform in southern Zulia state, and farmer rights organizer Nelson López, who was shot 15 times in the back two weeks ago in Yaracuy state.
The government has arrested those suspected of having carried out the murders, but the farmers are calling for a national investigation of what they say is a network of large estate owners and private cattle ranchers associations who gave the orders for the crimes.
“We consider it important and transcendental that we investigate to the fullest and without hesitation the landed oligarchy that is killing our brothers in the rural communities,” said Herrera Tuesday.
Venezuelan Agriculture and Land Minister Elías Jaua attended Tuesday’s conference and promised to solicit a national investigation.
“We have come to listen to the proposals of this popular farmers’ movement and to express the government’s commitment not to allow this situation to continue,” said Jaua.
“One of the most atrocious crimes is that somebody dies while struggling for a piece of land, that’s why we are going to ask for an appointment with the Attorney General and the president of the Supreme Court to speed up these investigations,” said the minister.
Over the past two weeks, the Agriculture and Land Ministry and other government entities have taken under public ownership two privately owned rice processing plants that were caught hoarding food and evading price controls, and thousands of hectares of underused or idle land, in accordance with the 2001 Land Law and 2008 Law on Food Security and Sovereignty.
The measures come shortly after a national referendum in which Venezuelan voters approved a constitutional amendment to abolish term limits on elected offices. Following the referendum, President Chávez said his administration will correct its past mistakes by deepening its policies aimed toward the construction of “21st Century Socialism.”
The farmer rights organizations marched through Caracas Monday to support the government’s expropriation of socially irresponsible businesses and private estates, and to demand an end to impunity for those who ordered the murder of farmers.
“We completely support the measures that our Commander Hugo Chávez has taken to occupy rice plants,” said Herrera to the press. “We must deepen the revolution,” he said as the marchers gathered in front of Venezuela’s most powerful private business association and symbol of anti-government activity, FEDECAMARAS.
Minister Jaua recognized the need for the government to work with social movement organizations such as the farmer rights fronts in order for the hired assassinations to cease and the national food security policies to be effective.
“We receive this support from the farmers and we are filled with strength to continue the battle we are waging to guarantee the right to food security to the Venezuelan people,” said the minister.
Friday, 20 February 2009
Murder of Small Farmer Rights Organizer Sparks Protests in Yaracuy, Venezuela
Mérida, February 20th 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) -- Small farmer rights groups plan to march across the city of San Felipe in Venezuela’s Yaracuy state this Saturday to demand that the hired assassins of Nelson López, a small farmer rights organizer, be brought to justice.
López, who was shot fifteen times in the back last Thursday, is the 213th small farmer (campesino) to be murdered since 2001, the year the government of President Hugo Chávez passed a sweeping land reform law which set the conditions for re-distribution of idle sections of large estates to small farmers, according to the Ezequiel Zamora National Farmers’ Front (FNCEZ), one of the groups convoking Saturday’s marches.
According to Braulio Álvarez, a National Assembly deputy and farmer rights organizer from Yaracuy state, the directors of the National Cattle Ranchers Association and the National Federation of Cattle Ranchers (FEDENAGAS), along with two powerful landowners, were responsible for planning López’s murder.
“How much longer will the murder of small farmers at the hands of Colombian paramilitaries and hired assassins, financed by large estate owners and FEDENAGAS, remain in impunity?” Álvarez asked during a town hall meeting organized by the Unified Regional Agrarian Command (CRAU) in Yaracuy on Thursday.
FEDENAGAS and the other implicated cattle ranchers associations have not issued a response to the accusations.
The FNCEZ, Venezuela’s Culture Ministry, the regional director of the Agriculture and Lands Ministry, three leaders of the small farmer rights movement, and several members of the National Association of Free, Alternative, Community Media (ANMCLA) were also present at the town hall meeting.
These organizations demanded that the Venezuelan Attorney General dismiss Yaracuy District Attorney Alejandro Márquez for having accused Nelson López of being an “invader” of private property, and District Judge Linda Lugo for having served the interests of large estate owners and FEDENAGAS against small farmers in Yaracuy.
The organizations also spoke of the “historical debt” owed to small farmers, based on the oppression experienced by small farmers at the hands of the Spanish oligarchy for several centuries.
López, who was shot fifteen times in the back last Thursday, is the 213th small farmer (campesino) to be murdered since 2001, the year the government of President Hugo Chávez passed a sweeping land reform law which set the conditions for re-distribution of idle sections of large estates to small farmers, according to the Ezequiel Zamora National Farmers’ Front (FNCEZ), one of the groups convoking Saturday’s marches.
According to Braulio Álvarez, a National Assembly deputy and farmer rights organizer from Yaracuy state, the directors of the National Cattle Ranchers Association and the National Federation of Cattle Ranchers (FEDENAGAS), along with two powerful landowners, were responsible for planning López’s murder.
“How much longer will the murder of small farmers at the hands of Colombian paramilitaries and hired assassins, financed by large estate owners and FEDENAGAS, remain in impunity?” Álvarez asked during a town hall meeting organized by the Unified Regional Agrarian Command (CRAU) in Yaracuy on Thursday.
FEDENAGAS and the other implicated cattle ranchers associations have not issued a response to the accusations.
The FNCEZ, Venezuela’s Culture Ministry, the regional director of the Agriculture and Lands Ministry, three leaders of the small farmer rights movement, and several members of the National Association of Free, Alternative, Community Media (ANMCLA) were also present at the town hall meeting.
These organizations demanded that the Venezuelan Attorney General dismiss Yaracuy District Attorney Alejandro Márquez for having accused Nelson López of being an “invader” of private property, and District Judge Linda Lugo for having served the interests of large estate owners and FEDENAGAS against small farmers in Yaracuy.
The organizations also spoke of the “historical debt” owed to small farmers, based on the oppression experienced by small farmers at the hands of the Spanish oligarchy for several centuries.
Till when the assassination of Venezuelan peasants at the hands of Colombian paramilitaries?
Office of Culture paraYaracuy Friday, Feb. 20, 2009 at 1:57 PM
Demanding the cessation of killing of peasants in the hands of paid assassins, Fedenaga and landowners.
Until when will be continued the impunity and the killing of peasants in Venezuela, in the hands of paid assassins and paramilitaries in Colombia, funded by landowners and Fedenagas? Aren't enough the deaths of 213 agricultural leaders since 2001, after it was enacted the Land and development Act , and Nelson Lopez being the last victim of this permanent terrorism, when he was shot fourteen times in the back on February 12 in the Bartola in Bruzual Municipality Yaracuy state?
That is what he said the peasant leader and member of the National Assembly at the state of Yaracuy, Braulio Alvarez referring to the deaths on demand, of farmers in this region and across Venezuela during an act of repudiation against impunity and killing on demand, indicating as intellectual responsible the president of the National Association of Cattlemen, Genaro Mendez, Fhandor Quiroga, president of Fedenagas Yaracuy, the landowner Luis Gallo and members of the family of Lecuna Di Battista for the death of the yaracuyano farmer Nelson Lopez.
Death to impunity
During this event organized by the Regional Agrarian Unified Command, this Thursday at the Cinemateca in San Felipe, attended as support for this voice of protest the Legislative Council deputy in the state of Yaracuy, Ivan Aparicio, the leader of the Peasant Movement Jirajara, Joel Pineda, Kamal Hassan representing the Ministry Cabinet of Culture, the regional director of the Ministry of Agriculture and lands, Gabriel Gil, the peasant leader Laura Lawrence and Henry Fernandez of the National Association of Free and alternative Community Media (ANMCLA).
On April 10 -assured Congressman Alvarez - Genaro Mendez was in Yaracuy to meet with local leaders of Fedenagas and proselytizing in favor of NO, and he took the opportunity to launch the following warning "Mr President Chavez, if you do not take measures against criminals and land invaders, then we will take the law into our hands and we will do justice", then two days later they killed Nelson Lopez when he was entering his home.
Historical Debt
Similarly we demand the inhibition of the prosecutor II of the Public Ministry, Alejandro Marquez responsible for the investigation of this crime, for having managed earlier a record against Lopez which still remains open, as of the judge for the National Agricultural Circuit Yaracuy, mrs Linda Lugo, for having promoted on countless opportunities with her flawed decisions the interests of yaracuyanos landowners.
These 213 farmers killed in collusion with Colombian paramilitary forces and Fedenagas only were asking to be the producers in land which in the past was snatched from their indigenous ancestors, for our African ancestors later to be slaves and afterwards to become pawns of the same land, assured at the end of the meeting Braulio Alvarez that also has been once victim of an attack against him.
www.aporrea.org
Demanding the cessation of killing of peasants in the hands of paid assassins, Fedenaga and landowners.
Until when will be continued the impunity and the killing of peasants in Venezuela, in the hands of paid assassins and paramilitaries in Colombia, funded by landowners and Fedenagas? Aren't enough the deaths of 213 agricultural leaders since 2001, after it was enacted the Land and development Act , and Nelson Lopez being the last victim of this permanent terrorism, when he was shot fourteen times in the back on February 12 in the Bartola in Bruzual Municipality Yaracuy state?
That is what he said the peasant leader and member of the National Assembly at the state of Yaracuy, Braulio Alvarez referring to the deaths on demand, of farmers in this region and across Venezuela during an act of repudiation against impunity and killing on demand, indicating as intellectual responsible the president of the National Association of Cattlemen, Genaro Mendez, Fhandor Quiroga, president of Fedenagas Yaracuy, the landowner Luis Gallo and members of the family of Lecuna Di Battista for the death of the yaracuyano farmer Nelson Lopez.
Death to impunity
During this event organized by the Regional Agrarian Unified Command, this Thursday at the Cinemateca in San Felipe, attended as support for this voice of protest the Legislative Council deputy in the state of Yaracuy, Ivan Aparicio, the leader of the Peasant Movement Jirajara, Joel Pineda, Kamal Hassan representing the Ministry Cabinet of Culture, the regional director of the Ministry of Agriculture and lands, Gabriel Gil, the peasant leader Laura Lawrence and Henry Fernandez of the National Association of Free and alternative Community Media (ANMCLA).
On April 10 -assured Congressman Alvarez - Genaro Mendez was in Yaracuy to meet with local leaders of Fedenagas and proselytizing in favor of NO, and he took the opportunity to launch the following warning "Mr President Chavez, if you do not take measures against criminals and land invaders, then we will take the law into our hands and we will do justice", then two days later they killed Nelson Lopez when he was entering his home.
Historical Debt
Similarly we demand the inhibition of the prosecutor II of the Public Ministry, Alejandro Marquez responsible for the investigation of this crime, for having managed earlier a record against Lopez which still remains open, as of the judge for the National Agricultural Circuit Yaracuy, mrs Linda Lugo, for having promoted on countless opportunities with her flawed decisions the interests of yaracuyanos landowners.
These 213 farmers killed in collusion with Colombian paramilitary forces and Fedenagas only were asking to be the producers in land which in the past was snatched from their indigenous ancestors, for our African ancestors later to be slaves and afterwards to become pawns of the same land, assured at the end of the meeting Braulio Alvarez that also has been once victim of an attack against him.
www.aporrea.org
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Bangladesh: Farmer shot by BSF in Chuadanga
Financial Express
CHUADANGA, Feb 17 (UNB): A Bangladeshi farmer received bullet wound as Indian Border Security Force (BSF) opened fire on him along the Jagannathpur border in Damurhuda Upazila Monday.
The injured was identified as Engrej Ali, son of Bokhs Ali of Jaypur village of Mujibnagar Upazila of neighbouring Meherpur district.
Friday, 23 January 2009
Police abuses in two regions
Translated from La Jornada
Carlos Garcia and Javier Valdez, correspondents
Lion, Guanajuato., 22 of January. The attorney general's office of Justice of Guanajuato reported that Vicente Palomo Rodriguez, of 54 years, accused of cattle robbery, died suffocated, presumedly by hand of two ministerial police officers that arrested and interrogated him in the installations of the Public Department of the municipality of San Felipe.
According to the department, Palomo Rodriguez was arrested on Tuesday and arrived at 15 o'clock to the Center of Social Retraining of San Felipe, where three hours later died hung.
The Attorney's office of state Justice dismissed and imprisoned the two presumed murderers, initiated a prior inquiry and offered to pay the funeral expenses.
The subcoordinador of the Ministerial Police of the state, José Muñoz; the deputy commander of the corporation, Javier Sandoval, and the delegate of zone, José Rock, they refused to reveal the names of the defendants.
In the meantime, in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Felizardo Flores, father of 23-year-old José Manuel Flores, assured that federal police officers struck the youth to death on Wednesday night, as soon as they detained him for driving in excessive velocity along a road close to the community Costa Rica.
Carlos Garcia and Javier Valdez, correspondents
Lion, Guanajuato., 22 of January. The attorney general's office of Justice of Guanajuato reported that Vicente Palomo Rodriguez, of 54 years, accused of cattle robbery, died suffocated, presumedly by hand of two ministerial police officers that arrested and interrogated him in the installations of the Public Department of the municipality of San Felipe.
According to the department, Palomo Rodriguez was arrested on Tuesday and arrived at 15 o'clock to the Center of Social Retraining of San Felipe, where three hours later died hung.
The Attorney's office of state Justice dismissed and imprisoned the two presumed murderers, initiated a prior inquiry and offered to pay the funeral expenses.
The subcoordinador of the Ministerial Police of the state, José Muñoz; the deputy commander of the corporation, Javier Sandoval, and the delegate of zone, José Rock, they refused to reveal the names of the defendants.
In the meantime, in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Felizardo Flores, father of 23-year-old José Manuel Flores, assured that federal police officers struck the youth to death on Wednesday night, as soon as they detained him for driving in excessive velocity along a road close to the community Costa Rica.
Thursday, 22 January 2009
STOP THE STATE CRIMES AGAINST FARMERS MEMBERS OF FENSUAGRO-CUT
THE FEDERATION OF THE UNITED NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL AND
AQUACULTURAL UNION (FEDERACIÓN NACIONAL SINDICAL
UNITARIA AGROPECUARIA) FENSUAGRO-CUT (COLOMBIA)
denounces the vile assassinations that have victimized various
campesino compañeros who are members of organizations affiliated
with FENSUAGRO-CUT, from the departments of Cauca, Tolima, and
Santander, committed by paramilitary groups and the military.
WHAT HAS OCCURRED
1. THE FIRST OF JANUARY, 2009, at four in the morning, while he was
talking with friends and family, the Communist leader of the district of
Montoso, Municipality of Prado, Tolima, ADOLFO TIQUE, 55 years of age,
father of six children, member of the union of farm workers in Tolima,
SINTRAGRITOL, and of the Polo Democrático Alternativa, PDA (Translators
Note: the PDA is a broad Center-Left coalition political party), was attacked
with a short, sharp weapon. With three stab wounds located in the upper
area of the chest, he was taken to the local Prado hospital, ceasing to live at
six in the morning. The hired assassin, José Vicente Acosta, alias
“Pacheco”, was detained by military units assigned to the mobile brigade
number 2 and immediately put free. The campesino was being constantly
accused by the militaries of being a supporter of the insurgency, including
being held prisoner by these slanderers in the year 2004.
2. THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, JANUARY, 2009, around 8:30 in the evening, in
the moments that they were moving from the urban center of the district of
El Palo to the village of El Alto de El Palo, JULIAN SANCHEZ, the
President of the Pro Constitution Association of the Reserva Campesina
Zone of the Municipality of Caloto, GERARDO BARON AVIRAMA Human
Rights Director for the Pro Constitution Association and member of the
South East Colombian Human Rights Network “Francisco Isaías Cifuentes”,
and JAMES BARON AVIRAMA, member of the Pro Constitution
Association, member of FENSUAGRO-CUT, were arbitrarily detained by a
military group of the Colombian state belonging to the Infantry Battalion
Number 8 “Pichincha Battalion” (under the command of Lieutenant Moreno)
who were in a high grade of drunkenness. In the place where this was
happening, a soldier addressed himself to compañero JULIAN SANCHEZ,
and demanded that he direct himself to a dark place remote from the main
road, to which JULIAN refused to walk. Subsequently, the soldier physically
and verbally attacked him, while the rest of the Colombian State military
unlatched and loaded the arms they were commissioned. Seeing the
situation of brutal aggression on the part of these soldiers, GERARDO
BARON AVIRAMA identified himself as a human rights defender and made
known that, as members of the state forces, they must have the training and
knowledge of the Human Rights material, as much the Military Forces as the
Police. He asked them where they were taking him [JULIAN] and he
demanded that they cease attacking him physically. The soldiers
proceeded to hit him repeatedly in the arms and chests and verbally
attacked GERARDO BARONA AVIRAMA and to say that they were taking
JAMES BARONA AVIRAMA. But finally, after so much verbal and physical
aggression, they let the three arbitrarily detained persons go.
3. SUNDAY, JANUARY 4, 2009, compañero DIEGO RICARDO RASEDO
GUEVARA, member of the Agrarian Association of Santander—ASOGRAS,
was disappeared from the urban center of Sabana de Torres and found
murdered the 7
day of January, 2009, in a farm near the Municipality of
Sabana de Torres with a death shot to the head.
4. THE DAY OF JANUARY 8TH, 2009, the woman, GLORIA RASEDO
GUEVARA, mother of DIEGO RICARDO RASEDO GUEVARA, was the
object of various verbal threats from unknown persons, where they made it
know that she must abandon her town unless she wanted to run into the
same luck as her son.
5. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2009, La Cominera village, La Dominga
farm, Municipality of Palmira, Department of Cauca, around 5:30 in the
afternoon, FRANCISCO JAVIER CAPERA REMISO, with the identity
number of 5.972.550 from Ortega Tolima, member of the Pro Constitution
Association of Reserva Campesina Zone of the Municipality of Corinto,
member of FENSUAGRO-CUT, found himself in the company of his son,
ANDRES CAPERA PRADA, a minor of 10 years of age, undertaking
outdoor work clearing and sowing blackberries. He [FRANCISCO] was hit
by shards from an explosive artifact. Subsequently he was carried to the
municipal hospital and there was remitted to the Valle de Lili Foundation
Clinic, in the city of Cali. He was diagnosed with multiple traumas from the
explosives, with fractures, hematomas, and damage to the facial skin tissue.
He was incapacitated for 30 days. It is fitting to note that in the zone where
these incidents occurred, there is the permanent presence of the National
Army belonging to the Engineers Battalion No. 3 “Augustín Codazzi” and of
a provisional military detachment of the Infantry Battalion No. 8, “Pichincha
Battalion”. The Military groups carry out constant operations.
6. Friday, January 16, 2008, Barrio el Mirador, around 5:30 in the afternoon,
in the moments that the Compañero ARLED SAMBONI GUACA,
identification number 16.932.895 from Popayán, member of the Campesino
Workers Association de Argelia, ASCAMTA, affiliate of FENSUAGRO-CUT,
in the moment that he was receiving a visit from his father, JOSE RODRIGO
SAMBONI, ARLED SAMBONI GUACE went out of his house in the
company of his six year old son to go to a commercial establishment to
make a phone call. ARLED noticed two individuals were following him. He
accelerated his pace and tried to return to his residence, but was
intercepted by the two subjects who were following him, and they shot him
repeatedly with a firearm, hitting him with seven bullets in various parts of
his body. Three shots were to the side of his head, killing him instantly. The
cruelest of all is the drama and the psychological trauma caused to his six
year old son who saw his father brutally murdered. It should be noted that
ARLED, in the month of September, 2008, had been threatened and forcibly
displaced with his immediate family by the Narco-paramilitaries calling
themselves the “Rastrojos” (Translators Note: Weeds). The father of
ARLED, JOSE RODRIGO SAMBONI, who is presently the Financial Officer
of the Campesino Workers Association of the Municipality of Argelia,
ACAMTA, also in the month of September, 2008, was threatened and
forcibly displaced with his immediate family by the Rastrojos. The same day
that ARLED was murdered, in the evening hours, his wife, SANDRA
JIMENA BASTIDAS, received a telephone call in which unknown persons
told her, “It is better that you keep quiet, if you do not want the same thing to
happen to you.”
7. SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2008, Barrio el Mirador, in the morning hours,
the citizen SANDRA JIMENA BASTIDAS, identification number
34.315.769, from Popayán, received anew a telephone call in which
unknown persons said to her, “It is better that you keep quiet, if you do not
want the same thing to happen to you.” In the month of September, 2008,
she had been forcibly displaced by Narco-paramilitaries calling themselves
the Rastrojos, along with her husband ARLED SAMBONI GUACA and their
two young sons of six and eight years respectively. Now she must confront
this situation alone and see the absurd psychological trauma that they made
for her son to see how he was ripped out of the hands of his father,
murdered in cold blood by criminals who openly parade about in the
presence of the military in this zone.
WE DEMAND THAT THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
1. Immediately initiate the process of investigation of the assassinations of the
compañeros ADOLFO TIQUE, DIEGO RICARDO RASEDO GUEVARA,
ARLED SAMBONI GUACA, who were murdered by unknown persons.
2. Investigate concerning the threats to the victims’ families.
3. Investigate concerning the deeds that have generated displacement,
persecution, threats, and murders of our affiliates, leaders, and directors of
FENSUAGRO.
WE ASK OF THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
1. Call on the national government to guarantee the life, physical and
psychological integrity, and the right to stay in their territory for our leaders and
affiliates, and to freely exercise union and organizational activity.
2. Reject these types of actions that cause the mourning of the social, labor, and
popular organizations, since their goal is to sow terror in the campesino
communities, that are victims of the development and implementation of
“Democratic Security” (“Segurdiad Democratica”)*.
3. Continue following and monitoring the grave situation of human rights violations
that cross through the Departments of Cauca, Tolima, and Santander.
AIDEE MORENO IBAGUE
SERCRETARIA NACIONAL DE DERECHOS HUMANOS
FENSUAGRO – CUT
COLOMBIA
*: “Seguridad Democrática” or “Democratic Security” is the policy being pursued by the
administration of Colombian Pres. Alvaro Uribe to achieve “security” in Colombia through
aggressive military action and repression rather than through good faith negotiations to end the civil
war. The process has led to widespread abuses, including the displacement of millions of farming,
indigenous, and Afro-Colombian communities, an increase in the murders of these populations and
of union members (the hardest hit being the FENSUAGRO union of farmers and farm workers), and
the widespread scandal of “false positives”, wherein Colombian military personnel frequently
commit arbitrary arrests (there are over 7,200 political prisoners in Colombian jails) and murders of
innocent persons, and then dress the cadavers in guerrilla uniforms or otherwise “identify” them as
insurgents, seeking to fill quotas demanded by the government to give the impression of progress in
the war. Especially during the past year, such scandals have resulted in the excavation of a mass
grave of “false positives” in Soaca, Colombia as well as several other cases of extra-judicial killings
that have led to the firing and the arrests of some military personnel. Unaffected, however, are
those highest up on the chain of command, including Pres. Uribe, who is known to have extensive
ties to paramilitaries and narco-traffickers. During these years of the Uribe Administration and the
policy of “Democratic Security”, murders of unionists have increased by 70% and forced
displacements by 40%. For those of us in the US, it is important to note that our government
maintains a close alliance with Pres. Uribe and gives over $600 million a year to the Colombian
military. Pres. Obama has spoken out publicly against the abuses committed against unionists in
Colombia. However, he has also said that the close relationship of the US and Colombia, including
its military support, will continue along the same path as before under his administration.
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Tamil farmer shot dead in Trincomalee
[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 January 2009, 16:55 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Tamil young farmer at Thangkanakar in Seruvila division in Trincomalee district on Monday early morning in his house. The assassins came in a motorbike and killed the farmer in point blank range.
The victim has been identified as Anandarajah Suthanthirarajah, 26, a father of one child, police sources said.
Seruvila police are conducting inquiry
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Tamil young farmer at Thangkanakar in Seruvila division in Trincomalee district on Monday early morning in his house. The assassins came in a motorbike and killed the farmer in point blank range.
The victim has been identified as Anandarajah Suthanthirarajah, 26, a father of one child, police sources said.
Seruvila police are conducting inquiry
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