He is covered by Inter-American Court Measures and had been invited to conference in Chicago.
SUMMARY At 12:45 pm today (Saturday, October 15), Orlando Valencia, a resident of the Community Council of Curvaradó, was arbitrarily detained and disappeared after the vehicle in which he was traveling together with national and international accompaniers and other members of the communities was intercepted by police from Belén de Bajirá. Orlando Valencia is covered by provisional measures of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. After leaving Belén de Bajirá in the direction of Brisas where they would be picked up by a boat that would take them to the community of Despensa Media in Curvaradó, where since yesterday an assembly of the Curvaradó Community Council has been meeting since Friday. At the point known as „Y‰, just a few minutes from Brisas, the vehicle in which Orland and nine other peasants from the Curvaradó River area were traveling, together with national and international accompaniers, was intercepted by a four-door truck of the Bajirá police. The police located themselves on each side of the road, pointing their rifles, checked identity documents (of passengers), and ordered Orlando, an accompanier from Justicia y Paz and one from PASC of Canada to get into the police vehicle. Captain Cabrera of the police ordered the other peasants to get back into the vehicle and to follow them back to the Bajirá police station. Close to the site another vehicle (white truck) was visible with three known paramilitaries, among them an Afro-Colombian known as Dimas. Upon arriving at the station they were separated and interrogated. The national and international accaompniers were freed at about 11:30 [sic] and observed that Captain Cabrera gave the orders accusing Orlando as a deserter [reinsertado] of the guerrillas, FARC. After being freed, the accompaniers were followed by known paramilitaries to a telephone company office and asked the operator to give them the number that they had called. At 12:30, all the peasants, including Orlando, had been freed and at about 12:40 all were going to the home of Enrique Petro, who was part of the group. Before entering the house, Orlando was approached by two paramilitaries who had followed the group by motorcycle, pointed a weapon a member of Justicia y Paz when he went to protect Orlando and told the Afro-Colombian, „we‚re going or if not we will fight here‰. They put him on the motorcycle and left on the route toward the town of Chigorodó. After the disappearance, the accompaniers and other community members had to take refuge in the church parish, where they remained under constant surveillance of the paramilitaries under they were surrounded by police, after alerts were activated. At the time of this report, no information was available about where Orlando Valencia was taken. All the facts allow for corroboration of the State‚s responsibility by action and omission in this arbitrary detention and forced disappearance. REQUESTS Write for urgent action and expedited communication with the OAS Mission for the return still alive of Orlando Valencia. Request of the Colombian government all actions necessary for the return alive of Orlando Valencia. Call the Colombian Vice-Presidency, at 011-57-315-210-1467 or 011-57-310-238-9076. Ask Colombian Foreign Minister Carolina Barco for compliance with the recommendations of the Inter-American Human Rights Court systematically neglected since March 15 of this year. Tel: 011-571-341-6777.
FOR, Movimiento de Reconciliación Presencia para la Paz en Colombia Bogotá, Colombia (57) 1 244 1950