DENOUNCE
Stigmatization,
persecution and threats
This time the threats have been directed directly to our movement and to
the people who are a part of it. We have completed 14 years of tireless work in
which our only weapon has been The Word we raise in defense of what we consider
just for the protection of Wounmainkat - Our Mother Earth, Our Rights, and the
right to live in peace.
We denounce and repudiate the new strategies of threats that have been
carried out this time by the "Águilas Negras - Bloque Capital DC"
through the creation of false profiles on social media networks, on April 29 at
3:50 PM, they published a pamphlet in which we are persecuted, stigmatized and
threatened.
We allow ourselves to mention the facts in detail that demonstrate a new
collective threat against our movement, Fuerza de
Mujeres Wayuu - Sütsüin Jiyeyuu Wayuu (Strength of Wayuu Women), which
specifically mentions the names of several people in our movement:
THE FACTS
1. Several of the people that make up our movement began to receive
messages through social media from people close to us alerting us to the news
that a pamphlet was circulating on social media in which we were threatened.
2. Approximately at 4 pm on April 29, 2019, through a profile of the
social network Facebook with the name of "Pedro Lastra", two images
were published and shared: one corresponded to threats of 2018 in which the
logos of our organization appeared next to logos that represent the Wayuu
Nation Movement, the Wayuu Araurayu Organization and the ONIC (National
Indigenous organization of Colombia); the second image, specifically contained
the logos of the Strength of Wayuu Women, as well as directly mentioning the
names and surnames of 6 of its members: Karmen Ramirez, Miguel Ramirez,
Jakeline Romero, Deris Paz, Luis Misael Socarras and Dulcy Cotes.
3. The publication of the profile "Pedro Lastra", is
accompanied by a comment in which he mentions and tags two more people: Carlos
Daniel Hernández and Rosa María Cano.
4. When looking over the social network site of Facebook to try to get more
information about "Pedro Lastra" - around 9 PM the profile had
already been deleted.
It is not the first time that misogynistic and hate-filled campaigns
have targeted the Strength of Wayuu Women; we have also have had to face death
threats and persecution which has even forced people of our movement to have to
flee the territory. Despite the denouncements and accusations we have raised to
the competent institutions, they have never given results that assure us that
our work for the defense of peace, our rights, the rights of Wounmainkat and
our own lives are not in danger.
In a determined way, we the people who make up el Movimiento de la
Fuerza de Mujeres Wayuu - Sütsüin Jiyeyuu Wayuu declare to us:
1. In permanent defense of the rights of Wounmainkat - Our Mother Earth.
2. In permanent defense of Peace that we have helped to build from our
struggles.
3. In defense and permanent struggle for water, territory and life
itself.
Desde las amenazas proferidas en nuestra contra el
10 de octubre de 2018, no ha habido resultado alguno a nuestras denuncias.
Responsabilizamos, una vez más, al Estado Colombiano, por cualquier hecho
que atente contra nuestro trabajo o nuestras vidas y hacemos una vez más, las
siguientes
Since the threats made against us on October 10, 2018, there have been
no results to our complaints. We once again hold the Colombian State, for any
fact that threatens our work or our lives and we do once again, the following
DEMANDS
1. We request the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to grant
precautionary measures to the Movement of the Strength of Wayuu Women- el
Movimiento Fuerza de Mujeres Wayuu - Sütsüin Jiyeyuu Wayuu, so that we can
continue our work for the defense of Wounmainkat
- Our Earth, Winkat - water, Kataa o'ui - life, and Anajirra A'in -Peace.
2. We ask the current government to initiate an immediate plan of action
to guarantee compliance with the jurisprudence issued by the Constitutional
Court in favor of indigenous peoples to prevent the extermination of our
peoples because of the war. In addition, we ask that we be given priority due
to our condition of serious risk in which we find ourselves in order to protect
our lives.
3. We summon a Diplomatic Mission and Corps with accreditation in
Colombia to monitor the delicate and vulnerable situation in which we find
ourselves as defenders of the human rights in the Wayuu People. We also request
that the current government be required to comply with the Peace Agreements, as
well as with the internationally acquired commitments regarding human rights,
especially those that have to do with the rights of indigenous peoples and
human rights defenders.
4. We urge the National Protection Unit (UNP) to reevaluate the measures
of the protection plan of the FMW-SJW as well as to reinforce protection
strategies from a holistic vision, which contemplates spiritual protection as
part of the program that allows us to guarantee not only work in our territory,
but also the protection of life.
Wajira -
Wounmaikat
April 30,
2019
