[narconews] Feder: Peasant-Farmer Activists Imprisoned in Colombia
 
Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 17:28:33 -0500 (CDT)

October 2, 2007
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Dear Colleagues,

Editor Dan Feder reports in The Narco News Bulletin on a new wave of
repression from the Colombian government against the social movements
from below fighting for justice in that country. On Saturday night,
secret police and soldiers raided the offices of the powerful Peasant-
Farmer Association of the Cimitarra River Valley and imprisoned three
of its leaders.

Feder reports:

"The Colombian state's intimidation machine was in full effect for
this huge 'security' operation. The Administrative Security
Department (DAS, Colombia's equivalent to the FBI ...) carried out
the raid and arrests. According to a communiqui last night from the
ACVC, around 50 soldiers accompanied the DAS agents for their raid on
the 10-person, downtown office. Facing objections when they arrived
to arrest the three leaders in El Cag|m, 'the agents fired into the
air.'

"...Left-wing rural leaders in Colombia are frequently targeted for
arrest under charges of either terrorism or rebellion. The charges
rarely stick, but when such an arrest comes with an 'order of
capture' warrant signed by the country's justice department, it can
often lead to years in jail while the case makes its way through the
legal system and is resolved."

Feder's report can be read in full online at Narco News:

http://www.narconews.com

Also new at Narco News, Bill Conroy reports on the continuing
slaughter of Colombia's labor leaders, Brenda Norrell writes of
indigenous struggles against the destruction wrought by mining
companies from Guatemala to Peru, and the latest stories by Al
Giordano on the campaign trail North of the Border.

http://www.narconews.com

 From somewhere in a country called Amirica,

David B. Briones
Webmaster
The Narco News Bulletin
http://www.narconews.com
webmaster@narconews.com

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