Colombia
Creating a Legacy of Peace
Disarm is determined to bring peace and social justice to the citizens of Colombia by sponsoring an active participant in a “peace community.” These progressive communities seek to create a network of social change and human rights throughout Colombia. We seek to document the remarkable efforts of these communities and develop strategies to assist them.
The Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado Uraba, Colombia
Colombia consists of departments which are similar to states in the U.S. San Jose de Apartado is a small hamlet of approximately 3,000 people tucked away in the mountainous jungle region of Uraba.
Colombia has one of the most horrific human rights violations records in the world.Uraba is a strategic location for the unfolding civil war between left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries because it is the doorway of the Abibe mountain range, creating a corridor through otherwise inhospitable terrain into the bigger surrounding departments of Choco and Cordoba.
Because of the absence of a Colombian government, the region has historically been controlled by guerrillas. In the mid-1990's paramilitaries unleashed a brutal wave of violence against the community members.
In September of 1996, the paramilitaries entered San Jose ordering everyone to abandon the community, shutting down the markets and accusing the villagers of aiding the guerrillas. They then dragged four community leaders out of their homes, killed them execution style, and left their bodies in a shallow grave.
Colombian citizens are refugees in their own country.Many community members fled the region while those who remained lived in fear, hiking up into the mountains to sleep at night. Those who remained lived this way until February of 1997, when a group of 40 hooded paramilitaries entered San Jose, ordered all community members into the central sports plaza, and murdered them. The paramilitaries took complete control of the region.
The community responded to the attacks on March 23, 1997, Palm Sunday, declaring the area a peace community. The entire civilian population of the 28 hamlets in the San Jose area has since taken an oath:
- Not to participate in the war in any direct or indirect manner
- Not to carry arms
- Not to manipulate or give any information to any of the armed insurgents
- Not to ask any of the parties to solve conflicts
- To commit him/herself to search for a peaceful solution and to a dialogue for solving the conflict in the country
World-wide a response like this has only occurred in a few areas of Africa. This is an extremely novel alternative to the war in Colombia because it redefines popular power and forces change from the bottom up. The community is a pacifist community but is in no way passive. This is a totally new social structure where the most marginalized, most victimized people have decided to take control of their situation and govern themselves.
Between 1997 and 2001 the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado lost over 80 members to massacres and assassinations.
Everyday there are approximately 13 political killings.Most were carried out by paramilitaries collaborating with the Colombian Army, but several were also performed by guerrillas who have become disgruntled with the community. Both sides of the conflict now blame the Peace Community for collaborating with the other side, as neither is allowed to enter the designated area.
In 2001, the community asked the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a U.S. non-profit organization to come to the region and maintain a permanent presence within the hamlet of La Union in San Jose.
Colombia has one of the most horrific human rights violations records in the world. Everyday there are approximately 13 political killings. Of all the kidnappings in the world, half of them occur in Colombia. Colombia also has one of the highest numbers of internally displaced people in the world, which means that its citizens are refugees in their own country. Several Peace Communities, refusing to abandon their land or pick up arms, stand firm in their quest for peace amidst all this violence and sorrow. Few Colombians know of these communities and even fewer internationals do.
