Neither Peace nor Demobilization

The Colombian authorities say that
there is an accord between the government and the paramilitaries. They say that
the paramilitaries are now in the process of demobilization. But for Orlando
Valencia, an Afro-Colombian activist of the Community Council of Curvaradó,
there is no peace.

According to the International Commission
for Justice and Peace, Orlando Valencia was detained and disappeared on October
15.

"The vehicle in which he was
traveling, together with international and Colombian accompaniers and other
members of the community, was stopped by police from Belén, Bajirá.

"They [Valencia and his companions]
were returning from a meeting of the assembly of the Community council of Curvaradó.
Orlando Valencia was traveling together with nine farmers from the valley of
Curvadó and national and international accompaniers. ["Accompaniment"
means that human rights workers stay with people who have been threatened, in
order to provide whatever protection is afforded by having international witnesses
to whatever happens.]

"The police were located on
both sides of the highway, pointing their guns as they reviewed the identification
documents and ordered Orlando, an accompanier from Justice and Peace and a member
of the Canadian organization, PASC, to get in the police car.

"A police captain named Cabrera
ordered the rest of the people in the group to get back in their own vehicle
and to follow them to the police station in Bajirá. Near there, they
encountered a white truck of the type used by paramilitaries, and there were
three known paramilitaries in the truck"

Just as the police in Mississippi
did more than 40 years ago, in the case of Andrew Goodman, James Cheney and
Michael Schwerner, the Colombian police interrogated their captives and then
freed them after sundown.

"After being set free, the accompaniers
were followed by known paramilitaries to the telephone booth and the paramilitaries
then asked the operator to give them the numbers that had been called."

After being set free by the police
in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the three civil rights activists were followed
by a group of racist vigilantes. They were assassinated and buried on the side
of a dam. But the police and the state officials insisted that what happened
was not their responsibility.

"About 12:30 a.m., all of the
group, including Orlando, had recovered their freedom, and toward 12:40, all
went toward the house of Enrique Petro, who had been part of their group.

"Before he could enter the house,
Orlando was accosted by two paramilitaries who had followed the group on a motorcycle
and now pointed their guns at the member of Justice and Peace when he tried
to rescue Orlando and they said to Orlando "come with us or we will finish
you here." They put him on the motorcycle, which took the road toward Chigordó."
No one has seen him since that time.

"After his disappearance, the
accompaniers and other members of the community took refuge in the church, where
they stayed, under the constant watch of the paramilitaries, until they were
taken away by the police after the alarm was sounded."

Last August, President George W.
Bush said: "The whole world should hear clearly that Colombia is a nation
of laws, of human rights and of human dignity."