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Coca Grower Killed in the Chapare-- Blockades Grow Stronger


COCA GROWER KILLED IN  THE CHAPARE BLOCKADES GROW STRONGER

January 30, 2002

Prepared by the Andean Information Network


EXPEDITIONARY TASK FORCE SHOOTS AND KILLS COCA GROWER

At approximately 5:15 p.m. yesterday, January 29, an Expeditionary Task 
Force patrol dispersed a group of coca growers attempting to block the 
Cochabamba-Santa Cruz highway in Shinahota.  According to eyewitness 
testimony, members of the forces shot directly at a group of farmers on a 
market road perpendicular to the highway.

  The forces shot Marcos Ortiz Llanos (34 years old) in the left side. The 
bullet exited his right side, apparently passing through his heart and 
remained lodged in his right arm.  He died soon afterwards in the Villa 
Tunari Hospital.  The forensic specialist of the Justice and Human rights 
Center is performing the autopsy at this time and will issue the 
corresponding medical certificate.

Multiple eyewitness testimonies state that Cnl. Aurelio Burgos Blacutt 
(School of the Americas Graduate, 1974) aimed and fired directly at Ortiz. 
Burgos is easily identifiable because he is missing his left forearm.

Several other people were wounded in the incident. Members of the 
Expeditionary Task Force continued to beat coca growers with nightsticks 
and kick them after the shootings.

On December 6, 2001 a member of the Expeditionary Task Force, Juan Eladio 
Bora, shot and killed Chimore Union Leader, Casimiro Huanca, during a 
peaceful protest. Another member of the Force shot Fructuoso Herbas, who 
had to have his leg amputated above the knee as a result.

This irregular mercenary force receives salaries from the Narcotic Affairs 
Section of the U.S. Embassy and has been credibly implicated in a 
significant portion of the human rights violations committed during the
last five months in the Chapare region. Off the record, security force 
commanders told AIN that clearly the Expeditionary Task Force let things 
"get out of hand" last year.

Human Rights monitors express their concern that the killing of Marcos 
Ortiz Llanos will also be investigated and tried through military tribunal 
rather than the civil justice systema pattern that has provided impunity 
for Expeditionary Task Force members and other security forces in cases of 
gross human rights violations.

OTHER DETENTIONS

Yesterday security forces detained four Chapare farmers in Chimore on 
formal charges related to the violence in Sacaba.  Detainees included 
Albino Paniagua, union leader and eyewitness in the Casimiro Huanca 
killing.  Paniagua denounced harassment and psychological pressure from 
arresting officers accusing him of implicating them in the Huanca killing.

Another individual, Gregorio Flor was detained and severely beaten by 
security forces yesterday near Shinahota. He was later released for lack of 
evidence.

Police detained 10 individuals in Cochabamba during continuing protests 
there; they were liberated last night.  Protests and police repression have 
become a daily event in Cochabamba.  This morning confrontations continued 
between police and protestors.

PERMANENT HUMAN RIGHTS ASSEMBLY AND HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN DENOUNCE ABUSES 
AGAINST DETAINEES

  In an effort to monitor the situation of over 60 coca grower detainees, 
the Permanent Human Rights Assembly issued a statement yesterday denouncing 
abuse and citing examples of physical aggression in four different 
detention centers.

Ana Maria Romero de Campero, Human Rights Ombudsperson, seconded the 
Permanent Human Rights Assembly's denunciations, adding that some prisoners 
were still in need of medical attention as a result of the brutal beatings
and torture during their detentions.  She is submitting a Habeas Corpus 
petition to protect the physical safety of detainees and investigate the 
incidents.

Detainees in the Abra men's prison also denounced physical abuse and 
extortion by other prisoners. They have since been separated from the other 
prisoners

Both organizations also expressed their alarm and the need for 
investigation into an incident in which a young female detainee passed out 
during detention. When she regained consciousness in the Technical Judicial 
Police cells, she had been stripped of her clothing below the waist and had 
suffered a series of abrasions. She received medical attention for several 
days in the Viedma Hospital.   The detainee was unsure of whether a rape or 
sexual assault had occurred.  Test results were inconclustive.  Rape is 
difficult prove as a result of poor testing methods. In this case, medical 
and laboratory exams were not carried out until four days after the young 
woman's arrest.


SPORADIC ROAD BLOCKADES YESTERDAY SHOULD GROW STRONGER TODAY

In addition to the attempt to block the highway in Shinahota, Chapare 
farmers sporadically blocked the highway throughout the region.  There have 
been heavy blockades in Colomi, an Andean town, approximately 1 hour away 
from Cochabamba on the road to the Chapare.   Military commanders in the 
town have been forcibly removing anyone that appears to be a coca grower 
from trucks and busses and sending them back to the Chapare.

At this time there are rocks and logs blocking the highway at strategic 
points in the region. Traffic is still able to circulate through the 
region, though.  Blockades are expected to increase during the day.

On January 27, a mudslide washed away 28 meters of the Cochabamba-Santa 
Cruz highway.  Vehicles were unable to pass for two days. One Chapare union 
leader remarked that Mother Nature is clearly on the coca growers' side


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