BOGOTA, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Marxist rebels have kidnapped three U.S. citizens who had been helping an Indian group in a land dispute with a U.S. oil company, police said on Sunday.

The trio, identified by police as Terence Freitas, Ingrid Inawatuk and Larry Gay, were seized near the village of Royota, in Arauca province in northeastern Colombia on Thursday morning. Their ages and hometowns were not immediately available. A police spokesman in Bogota said all three belonged to a group that defends the rights of the Uwa Indians. It was unclear how long the three had been in Colombia.

The spokesman said Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia FARC) rebels abducted the Americans at a roadblock along a route that cuts through an Uwa reserve spanning part of Arauca and central Boyaca provinces.

The U.S. oil company Occidental Petroleum Corp. had been carrying out seismic surveying and oil exploration in an area, known as the Samore block, close to Uwa territory. The Uwas say the work was being done on their ancestral homelands and threatened to commit mass suicide. Occidental has firmly denied violating indigenous land rights, but suspended its operations until the controversy is resolved.

Government officials have accused leftist guerrillas of manipulating Uwa Indian leaders and forcing them to make unjustified land claims in a bid to force the U.S. company to pull out of the area. Both the FARC and the smaller National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels oppose what they see as the excessive involvement of multinationals in Colombia's oil industry. In March last year, FARC fighters kidnapped four U.S. bird-watchers in the mountains east of Bogota. One of the FARC's most-feared regional commanders, known by his nom de guerre Romana, accused the three men and one woman of being U.S. spies and threatened to kill them. The four were released unharmed about a month later, and the rebel leader conceded he was satisfied that they did not have links to U.S. intelligence agencies.

News of the latest abduction came on the same day that FARC rebels in northwest Antioquia province freed Spanish waiter Santiago Cabanas, kidnapped a week ago. The government's top anti-kidnapping official, Jose Alfredo Escobar, said no ransom was paid for Cabanas, who came to the Andean nation looking to adopt a Colombian child. He was kidnapped with his wife, but she was released a day after being seized, for unspecified health reasons. Colombia has one of the world's highest kidnapping rates. Last year, more than 2,400 people, including about 40 foreigners, were reported abducted.

With the latest seizures, about 20 foreigners are being held by kidnappers in Colombia. More than half the incidents have been blamed on the country's three rebel groups, which use hefty ransom payments to finance their four-decade-long war against the government.

Copyright 1999 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved.

"Today we feel that we're fighting a large and strong spirit that wants to beat us or force us to submit to a law contrary to that which Sira (God) established and wrote in our hearts, even before there was the sun and the moon. When faced with such a thing, we are left with no alternative other than to continue fighting on the side of the sky and earth and spirits or else disappear when the irrationality of the invader violates the most sacred of our laws."
-- U'wa Statement, August 10, 1998

We are grieved and shocked by the tragic news of the murders in Colombia of our three colleagues and fellow activists Terence Freitas, Ingrid Washinawatok, and Lahe'ena'e Gay and offer our heartfelt condolences to their families and friends. Terence Freitas was a dear friend of all of ours and a dedicated activist who had devoted the last two years of his life to supporting the U'wa people of Colombia to defend their rights and traditional territory from oil exploration by Occidental Petroleum. Terry served as the coordinator of the U'wa Defense Working Group. No one outside of Colombia has done more to support this struggle than Terry.

We call for a full investigation by the US government and independent human rights observers into the deaths of our three colleagues. We call on the State Department to ensure that the possible role of paramilitary groups is fully investigated, and we call upon the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) to clarify their involvement, if any.

The U'wa people's rights and ancestral land remain under threat from the proposed oil project. The U'wa have expressed repeatedly and in adamant terms their opposition to this project. Occidental's application for a drilling license is currently pending with the Colombian Ministry, and a decision is expected at any time. The well sites in question fall within an area the U'wa consider their ancestral land.

On several occasions last year, Terry reported being followed and observed by individuals believed to be associated with paramilitary activity. On the same trip, Terry was forced to sign a statement by the Colombian military, which essentially absolved the Colombian military of any responsibility for his safety. He interpreted this as an intimidation tactic. The deaths of our friends underscore the need for immediate steps to peacefully end the escalating violence in oil regions and against human rights advocates in Colombia.

We reaffirm the U'wa's demand that Occidental immediately withdraw their application to drill on ancestral U'wa lands and call on Occidental to consider its role in the ongoing cycle of violence in Colombia.

Oil and violence are inextricably linked in Colombia. Thirteen of the fourteen Colombian military battalions implicated in human rights abuses by Amnesty International received U.S. weapons or training. Occidental's Cao Limn pipeline has been attacked by guerrillas more than 500 times in its 12 years of existence. In response to this guerrilla tactic, the government has militarized oil production and pipeline zones, in the process persecuting local populations whom the government assumes are helping the guerrillas. Arauca, the area where our friends were killed, has one of the highest rates of documented human rights abuses by paramilitary forces loyal to the governments.

We resolve to carry on the work of Terry, Ingrid and Lahe' in defense of the U'wa people. Their deaths will not be in vain.

For more background information on the U'wa struggle, please consult www.moles.org, www.ran.org, www.arcweb.org

Member of the U'wa Defense Working Group: Amazon Coalition o Amazon Watch o Action Resource Center o Earth Justice Legal Defense Fund o EarthWays Foundation o International Law Project for Human Environmental & Economic Defense o Project Underground o Rainforest Action Network o Sol Communications

GRUPO DE TRABAJO EN DEFENSA DE LOS U'WA

Acerca de los Asesinatos de Tres Activistas Americanos en Colombia

"Hoy sentimos que nuestra lucha es contra un espiritu muy grande y fuerte que nos quiere convencer u obligar a recibir una ley contraria a la que Sira (Dios) establecio y escribio en nuestros corazones, aun antes de haber sol y luna. Ante tal pretencion no nos queda otra alternative que seguir luchando al lado de los espiritus del cielo y de la tierra o desaparecer cuando la irracionalidad del invasor viole lo mas sagrado de nuestra ley."

Declaracion U'wa, Agosto 10,1998

Estamos afligidos y conmocionados por la noticia tragica del asesinatoen Colombia de nuestros tres colegas y activistas companeros Terence Freitas, Ingrid Washinawatok, y Lahe'ena'e Gay y queremos hacer llegar nuestras sinceras condolencias a sus familias y amigos. Terence Freitas era un amigo querido de todos y un activista dedicado quien entrego los ultimos dos anos de su vida al apoyo del pueblo de los U'wa de Colombia, en la defensa de sus derechos y territorios tradicionales, contra la exploracion petrolera por parte de Occidental Petroleum. Terry era el coordinador del Grupo de Trabajo en Defensa de los U'wa. Nadie fuera de Colombia ha hecho mas que Terry para apoyar esta lucha.

Pedimos una investigacion completa acerca de las muertes de nuestros tres colegas por el gobierno de Los Estados Unidos y unos observadores de los derechos humanos independientes. Le pedimos al Departamento de Estado que se asegure que cualquier posible participacion por parte de los grupos paramilitares sea completamente investigada, y le pedimos a las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) que clarifiquen cualquier involucramiento si lo hay.

Los derechos y la tierra ancestral del pueblo U'wa sigue bajo amenaza a causa del proyecto petrolero propuesto. Los U'wa han expresado repetidamente y con condiciones inquebrantables su oposicion a este proyecto. La solicitud de Occidental para una licencia de perforar actualmente esta pendiente con el Ministerio Colombiano, y se espera recibir una decision en cualquier momento. Los lugares de los pozos que estan en cuestion caen dentro de un area que los U'wa consideren su tierra ancestral.

En varias ocasiones el ano pasado, Terry reporto ser seguido y observado por individuos que se creyo estar asociados con actividad paramilitar. Durante el mismo viaje, Terry fue obligado a firmar una declaracion por parte de los militares Colombianos el cual esencialmente le absolvia a los militares Colombianos de cualquier responsabilidad por su seguridad. El lo interpreto como una tactica de intimidacion. Las muertes de nuestros amigos recalca la necesidad de tomar pasos inmediatos para terminar pacificamente con la creciente violencia en regiones petroleras y contra partidarios de los derechos humanos en Colombia.

Reafirmamos la exigencia de los U'wa de que Occidental retire inmediatamente su solicitud para perforar en sus tierras ancestrales , y le pedimos a Occidental que tome en cuenta su participacion en el ciclo de violencia progresivo en Colombia.

El petroleo y la violencia estan intrincadamente vinculados en Colombia. Trece de los catorce batallones militares Colombianos implicados en abusos de los derechos humanos por Amnistia Internacional recibieron armas o entrenamiento de los Estados Unidos. El Oleoducto Cano Limon de Occidental ha sido atacado por las guerrillas mas de 500 veces en sus 12 anos de exsistencia. En respuesta a esta tactica guerrillera, el gobierno a militarizado las zonas de produccion petrolera y de oleoductos, asi persiguiendo poblaciones locales quienes supone el gobierno estan ayudandoa las guerrillas. El Arauca, area donde fueron matados nuestros amigos, tiene uno de los indices mas altos registros de abuso de los derechos humanos por parte de las fuerzas paramilitares leales a los gobiernos.

Estamos determinados a seguir con el trabajo de Terry, Ingrid and Lahe' en efensa del pueblo U'wa. La muerte de ellos no sera en vano.

Para mas informacion acerca de la lucha U'wa, por favor consulte a www.moles.org, www.ran.org, www.arcweb.org

Miembros del Grupo de Trabajo en Defensa del Pueblo U'wa: Amazon Coalition o Amazon Watch o Action Resource Center o Earth Justice Legal Defense Fund o EarthWays Foundation o International Law Project for Human Environmental & Economic Defense o Project Underground o Rainforest Action Network o Sol Communications

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