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HUMAN RIGHTS
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Subversives Slay Luis Alejandro Ospina The photograph of the slain solder who headed the military's Human Rights Division is that of First Corporal Luis Alejandro Ospina. He was killed on February 23, 1998 while en route, by bus, from Sardinata to the city of Cucutá. He was dressed as a civilian at the time. Corporal Ospina was ordered off the bus, tortured and assassinated. His killers, who are members of a subversive group that calls itself the National Liberation Army (ELN), shot him in the back twice. He is survived by his wife, Jenit Ester Rengifo, and their young son. This criminal act was reported to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland. Hopefully, the case will be examined according to the optional protocol of the International Agreement on Civilian and Political Rights. By Andrés López Correspondent for Colombia Objetiva
Colombians Denied The Fundamental Right To Elect Their Leaders The guerrillas stepped up their wave of terrorism just six days before general elections. Yesterday, they attacked a military convoy at La Alejandra, near El Zulia (Norte de Santander), killing eight soldiers and one civilian. They also detonated a land mine at Puerto Jordán (Arauca). The blast killed a sixteen-year-old girl and left a boy of six wounded. In a press release, the Army protested the action as a violation of International Humanitarian Law. In Antioquia, the guerrillas set fire to two vehicles and reiterated their threat to organize an armed boycott of Sunday's elections. They set up a roadblock at El Oasis, between Guatapé and San Rafael, in the eastern part of the province, and held 40 employees of Medellin Public Utilities (EPM) captive for three hours. The FARC harassed a police anti-narcotics base at Miraflores (Guaviare) for 15 minutes. They were repelled by more than 100 police who are stationed there. At San José del Guaviare, the FARC harassed another anti-narcotics base and fled when the security alarms went off, leaving behind a string of land mines to keep the police at bay. By Andrés López Correspondent for Colombia Objetiva
Latin America Condemns Attacks On The Environment The wave of subversive attacks on Colombia's oil installations during the past 12 years was condemned strongly by the twenty Latin American ministers who met yesterday in Lima, Peru for the XI Summit of Ministers of the Environment. In calling for an end to the destruction, they labeled this terrorism a violation of fundamental human rights and a serious infringement of International Humanitarian Law. This echoes what was said recently by Almudena Mazarrasa, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Colombia's Minister of the Environment, Eduardo Verano De La Rosa, presented film and photographic proof of the serious damage caused by terrorist attacks on the country's oil facilities. In particular, he denounced the latest bombing of the Caño Limón-Coveñas oil pipeline, which occurred on March 8 and spilled more than nine thousand barrels of crude oil. The blast ignited a serious forest fire in Arauca, which it still raging out of control because problems with law and order make access to the area impossible. The ministers, who ended their deliberations on Saturday in the Peruvian capital, also voiced their support for a campaign being carried out under the slogan "Leave Nature Out of the Conflict". Spearheaded by Colombia's Minister of the Environment, it was started several months ago and one million signatures are being collected to express national condemnation of these attacks. According to the Minister of the Environment, a document on this issue is being drawn up so that all sectors of government can work to end this terrorism. These attacks have produced more than six times the damage caused when the Exxon Valdez ran aground off the Alaskan and Canadian coasts on March 24 1978. That accident spilled more than 230 thousand barrels of crude oil and is considered the worst environmental disaster in history. By Andrés López Correspondent for Colombia Objetiva
Mayors Apprehended To Prevent Elections The mayor of El Calvario (Meta), Miguel Alirio Velázquez, the former mayor of the same town, Angel Rodrigo Romero, and the mayor of Quetame (Cundinamarca), Agustín Cruz, apparently are being held by guerrillas from the 53rd Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Velázquez was summoned by the FARC to a meeting somewhere in Colombia's western mountain range. Cruz was seized last Sunday, while traveling from Quetame to Villavicencio, where he planned to visit his father. Yesterday, the whereabouts of Alonso Avendaño, the mayor of Hacarí (Norte de Santander), were still unknown. He is thought to have been seized the Sunday before by ELN guerrillas, while visiting Las Juntas, a village located less than an hour from town. If this proves to be true, the number of mayors being held by the guerrillas was twelve at March 3. The Government Secretary in La Guajira, Heriberto Iriarte, was apparently kidnapped by members of the FARC who operate in the southern part of the province. By Andrés López Correspondent for Colombia Objetiva
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