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Colombian Indians march on town under rebel attack
18 Apr 2005 22:19:23 GMT
Source: Reuters
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BOGOTA, Colombia, April 18 (Reuters) - Thousands of Colombian Indians, carrying sticks and white flags, marched from mountain villages on Monday towards a town under siege by Marxist rebels to demand their people be left in peace. The Colombian National Indigenous Organization organized the civil resistance march from scattered communities to the southern Colombian highland town of Toribio, which has been attacked by Marxist rebels in recent days. The Indians said they wanted rebels and illegal far-right paramilitaries fighting a 40-year war to leave their ancestral lands and said they would oppose the armed fighters with passive resistance. "We have decided that we won't be driven from our lands by war. We will gather there and demand the participants in the conflict leave our territory," said Indian leader Feliciano Valencia. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by the Spanish initials FARC, have attacked Toribio twice in the past few days, firing assault rifles and destroying part of a hospital with mortar shells. The rebels killed three police officers and a boy and wounded 30 people in the predominantly Indian town of 3,000 people. The United Nations and Washington-based Human Rights Watch condemned the attack. Toribio became a symbol of passive resistance to Colombia's warring bands in July, 2002, when unarmed townsfolk drove away hundreds of FARC guerrillas who tried to capture 13 police officers. Colombia's native peoples have suffered during Colombia's war. Illegal armed groups have killed their leaders and forced young people to join their ranks. Thousands of people are killed every year in the country's conflict. Defense Minister Jorge Alberto Uribe said troops, backed by helicopters, had retaken the area around Toribio. However, a group of Colombian journalists ran into FARC rebels on a road near the town on Monday. A rebel commander told the reporters he wanted to attack the security forces and not the people of Toribio.
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