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This was forwarded to IEN from the League of Indigenous Sovereign Nations of the Western Hemisphere (LISN). Sent by: Paul Swann pswann@easynet.co.uk

Published Article written by Terence Freitas.
Copied with permission from Yes! A Journal of Positive Futures, Spring 1999 issue: Economics as if Life Matters
Yes! PO Box 10878, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 (206/842-0216) http://www.futurenet.org

Berito Kuwar U'wa is a leader of the U'wa people, an indigenous group in Colombia that is struggling to regain control of their traditional land.

The U'wa people have a traditional constitution that was created many years ago. We look at the way that life works and the way life is interrelated.

The petroleum companies create their own constitutions and decrees with a computer. They plant the seeds of this constitution all over the entire world, and it's not for the benefit of the world. It's for the benefit of their country and themselves. The petroleum companies believe that they can be the landlords of the world, that they can control the whole world until it ends. Until it dies.

The money that the U'wa have is the Earth. Everything that we make, that we sow, that we grow, we also consume in our community. We don't have to sell it, and we don't have to buy things. The U'wa don't need money to build a house, for example. When we want to build a house, we plant a cassava plant. Then we take the cassava and make a drink called chicha, which is like our money. We pay people with chicha to come and help build the house.

As we say, "The sun is the money." The Earth is also money - it's our gold. The water is also our gold. That's what we value. The Earth is what gives us everything that we need to live, to eat, and to drink. The light that the sun gives, the moon, our relationship with the moon - these are things that we need to value so that life can continue. We need light, because right now we are hungry. If we are hungry and we need food, where does that food come from? It comes from light; it comes from the Earth.

You should think about water. What is water worth? How do you value it? Water should be free for everyone. But now we're supposed to pay the government for water, when the water is born from our territory. Water is a benefit for everyone. All the world has property rights over water. But the government makes this law so the campesinos - farmers - have to pay. And it's very sad. It shouldn't be this way.

The government wants to have $40 billion in its bank. U'wa, all of us equally, are very poor. The bank that we have is the Earth, so we respect many things. We don't kill each other. There's nobody who has more money than anybody else. There's not this sense of inequality. If somebody doesn't have food, for example, then a person with food needs to give it to the one without. The poor help those who are even poorer. That is the U'wa.

We have always said that we don't want to enter the culture of money. Our word for it is "the number of money." That's what we call their culture. Why? There's this mountain of money that only some people have. Tomorrow we will fight over that money, brother against brother.

No, that simply doesn't work.

It would be good if the people in America understood the organizational structures of the indigenous people of the world. The indigenous people have the most ancient structures of the world, and they have a kind of intelligence that is very concrete and complete. I've seen indigenous people from many parts of the world, and we are all almost exactly equal.

Our hearts give us the intelligence to know we shouldn't rule the world.

There are many laws in the world, but no one thinks to protect Mother Earth. But I think that if the petroleum companies continue to exploit the petroleum, they will take all of the strength and spirit out of Mother Earth. If they do this, if they take it all, then we're all going to die.

That's why I said to one of these petroleum men, "Take all of that money you make and stuff it into the Earth, and see if it sustains life. That money won't sustain anyone."

For more information on the U'wa, or to obtain their information booklet, "Blood of our Mother", contact Project Underground, 1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94703; email: project_underground@moles.org web site: http://uwa.moles.org

The U'wa: the "thinking people" of Colombia

The U'wa are known as "the thinking people" or "the people that speak well," because for thousands of years they maintained peaceful relationships with surrounding tribes without the use of weapons or war.

From 1940 to 1970, the Colombian governnment took away more than 85% of U'wa traditional territory. Since 1940, contact diseases, violence, and loss of land have killed more than 18,000 U'wa. Two U'wa clans were completely exterminated. The current territory of the U'wa is barely 386 square miles, far too small to produce enough food to sustain the tribe.

In 1992, Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum was granted exploration rights to much of the traditional U'wa territory in a combined venture with Shell Oil and the Colombian government.

U'wa tradition recounts that a portion of the U'wa tribe committed suicide 400 years ago rather than surrender to the Spanish Conquistadores. The U'wa have compared current developments on their land to that time in their history, and have not ruled out another mass suicide.

- Steve Kretzman & Terry Freitas

STATEMENT OF THE INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK

The Indigenous Environmental Network expresses its deep sense of loss over the death squad style execution of three activists on a cultural education outreach visit to the U'wa tribe within their ancestral territory in Colombia, South America. We are calling for a prompt international investigation into actions of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), which went on record on March 10, 1999 for taking responsibility for the March 4, 1999 murder of Ingrid Washinawatok, co-chair of the Indigenous Women's Network, Lahe'ena'e Gay, chair of the Pacific Cultural Conservancy International, and Terence Freitas, coordinator with the U'wa Defense Working Group. As part of this investigation, we are also requesting the investigation include the roles of the Colombian military and allied paramilitaries, Occidental Petroleum, and the U.S. State Department whose historical and current actions may have contributed to the violence in Colombia as well as specific actions that contributed to these deaths. We also demand an immediate end to all U.S. assistance to the Colombian military and security forces, including training and drug eradication efforts.

These three brave activists gave their lives defending the rights of the U'wa to live their lives as they have since time immemorial, free from the genocidal devastation of oil drilling on their lands and the intimidation and terror of Colombian military and paramilitary forces. We must insure that their lives were not given in vain, and therefore demand that Occidental Petroleum withdraw its application to drill on ancestral U'wa lands. We urge OXY officials to cooperate with any investigation towards resolving this issue. Even in light of FARC taking responsibility of the murders, many questions remain and this issue isn't yet resolved.

We wish to thank United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights Mary Robinson for her prompt efforts condemning the brutal murders of the three human rights activists and her urging authorities to fully investigate the murders and bring the perpetrators to justice. We call upon her office to either conduct or insure for the monitoring of an independent and thorough investigation into this matter.

There remains the strong possibility that these human rights activists were killed in retaliation for the overall policies and historical actions of a government which has been the enemy of indigenous peoples of Colombia. This underscores the need at the international level to allow indigenous peoples to define their status with regard to the nation states which have continually usurped them by adopting the UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in full and without modification. We call on the United States in particular to end its efforts at the international level to obstruct adoption of the Draft Declaration and acknowledge the inherent rights of all indigenous peoples to full self-determination.

Colombia has the worst human rights status of any nation in the Western Hemisphere today. Politically motivated killings in Colombia range from 3,000 to 4,000 a year. Environmental, indigenous and human rights activists know the growing oil infrastructure in Colombia has acted as a magnet for violence. The U'wa tribal peoples believe that oil is the blood of their mother and is viewed as sacred. Too much human blood has been spilled by those who see it as merely a source of profit. Perhaps this incident could bring light to the need for investigation and action to stop this violence against the indigenous peoples and all people and visitors of Colombia and the Americas.

The Midwest Treaty Network deplores the March 4 murders of Menominee Nation member Ingrid Washinawatok, Hawai'ian sovereignty activist Lahe'ena'e Gay, and California environmental organizer Terence Freitas. The three had been visiting U'wa communities in Colombia threatened by U.S. oil development, in order to help start an indigenous school system. They were kidnapped by Colombian gunmen on their way home, and on March 4 were slain along the Arauca River in Venezuela.

Our hearts go out to the families of these three activists, and for the great loss suffered by the Menominee Nation and the Hawai'ian Nation. We knew Ingrid as a strong woman with a special sense of humor and commitment. She and the two others had previously experienced conditions of repression and civil war, and fully understood the risks of travelling in Colombia. But they chose to do so because they did not want to see another indigenous community alone and isolated in the face of an environmental threat to its cultural survival.

Ingrid, La'he, and Terry also understood that indigenous and environmental concerns do not stop at the Rio Grande, but extend to all the peoples of the Americas. Our group, the Midwest Treaty Network, was founded a decade ago to conduct a Witness for Nonviolence in defense of Ojibwe treaty rights during the Wisconsin spearfishing conflict. The effort was modelled by one of our founders, Walter Bresette, on a similar witness defending indigenous refugees in Guatemala. He understood that we could learn from Central and South Americans how to create peace and justice in our own backyard. Losing Ingrid in the same month as Walter is a terrible blow to Wisconsin supporters of sovereignty and the environment, and stands as a challenge to continue their work.

In our current campaign, helping to stop the proposed Crandon mine along the Wolf River, we have worked with Colombian indigenous peoples. The first president of the mining company previously ran the El Cerrejon coal mine in Colombia, which violated the rights of the Wayuu Nation. Ingrid's assassination will increase our efforts to protect the Wolf River, which runs through her Menominee homeland.

*We support indigenous and family investigations into the killings, in particular by the families, by the Menominee Nation, by inernational human rights activists such as Rigoberta Menchu, and by Colombian human rights groups. We demand that any governmental investigations not be distorted into calls for greater U.S. military involvement, armed retaliation for the three deaths, or any violations of Colombian or U'wa sovereignty.

*We call on the perpetrators of the three murders to be brought to justice in an independent setting--free from political agendas, public relations spins, or the use of the death penalty. Any form of justice must be observed and verified by indigenous representatives and human rights organizations, or it will simply be interpreted as a cover-up of the truth. We call on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the Colombian, Venezuelan, or U.S. governments, to submit any apprehended suspects to independent interrogation by indigenous and human rights group representatives of the three families.

*We call on a withdraw of Occidental Petroleum from U'wa lands, and a suspension of U.S. arms sales and military training to Colombia. Whoever is ultimately found responsible for pulling the trigger, it is clear that oil exploration by the Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum, and U.S. military assistance to the Colombian military, created the situation that led to the deaths of the three activists. Oil, guns, and money have destabilized Arauca province, just as the cocaine trade has created violence elsewhere in Colombia.

*We call on the Colombian government and FARC to resume peace talks, and to recognize the U'wa interest in protecting their ancestral homeland. We call on the North American people and U.S. government to help end the war that has claimed so many Colombian lives. Our three friends would have wanted their deaths to further the peace process, rather than to deepen the civil war.

*We offer any support necessary to find the truth, and to assuage the loss to the families. We urge supporters of sovereignty and the environment to contribute to the Ingrid Washinawatok Trust Fund, PO Box 910, Keshena, WI 54135.

This is a article written by Mr. Atencio Lopez, he's a Kuna Indian lawyer from Panama and was a friend of Ingrid. Please forward this to her husband and family members.

Best regards,

Armstron Wiggins, Indian Law Resource Center

Unofficial English translation follows the version in Spanish.

El viernes 5 de marzo las agencias internacionales de noticias traian una tragica nota desde Colombia, habian sido asesinados dos mujeres indígenas y uno no indígena, todos estadounidenses en la frontera colombo-venezolano. Cuando dijeron los nombres, senti que la vista se me nublaba y corri a buscar mis notas de viaje y album fotografico para enseñarle a mis hijos quien habia sido Ingrid Washinawatok en vida. Todavia incredulo mire por varias horas casi todos los canales noticiosos en español e ingles que se transmiten por cable y todos traian la misma informacion.

Cuando se muere una persona cercana que lo hayas conocido en plena lucha por la misma causa en que uno esta metido, lo primero que hace es mirar a su alrededor y buscar a los seres mas queridos y pensar en ellos si algo igual ocurriese con uno mismo, y desde hace 15 años que tengo de vida internacional, recorriendo el mundo, visitando hermanos indigenas de todos continentes, no es la primera vez que perdemos a una lider como Ingrid y sus acompañantes, muchas lagrimas y sangre hemos derramado en esta larga lucha por la supervivencia de las culturas indigenas en este planeta frente a toda clase de adversidades que se nos ha puesto en el camino. Son 300 millones de personas en el mundo que son indigenas y son muy pocos sus voceros y ademas la mayoria perseguidos o tratados como delincuentes en sus paises, si no son encarcelados o asesinados.

Fue en 1984, que Ingrid Washinawatok, del pueblo Menominee de Norteamerica, vino a Panama por primera vez a una conferencia mundial indigena y desde ese entonces en varias oportunidades nos ha visitado ya sea para solidarizarse con la causa de los Kunas o Ngobes o simplemente apoyando la lucha por la recuperación del Canal interoceanico, formo parte de los grupos de solidaridad con nuestro pais en Nueva York. En el campo internacional indigena, se enrolo desde muy joven en ese movimiento, cuando por primera vez las Naciones Unidas abrio sus puertas en Ginebra para los indígenas, Ingrid fue de las primeras mujeres indigenas en entrar en ese recinto en 1977 (en verano de 1997 escribio un articulo extenso sobre esa conferencia a raiz del 20 aniversario de ese hecho -Revista Native Americas, Vol. XlV, #2, "International Emergence. 20 years at the United Nations"-).

Conociendo la lucha de U´wa en Colombia, los asesinos bien puede venir de cualquier bando, tanto la guerrilla como de las transnacionales de petroleo o de paramilitares, todos son demagogos con la causa indigena, al momento de llegar al poder no se soluciona los problemas indigenas y lo primero que hacen es restarle mas tierra, eso que Colombia fue el pais pionero en esta ultima decada del siglo XX en hacer leyes muy avanzados en favor de esos pueblos, pero las mismas poca implementacion y cumplimiento han tenido. La guerra sucia ha empantanado todo. Desde la Fundacion para las Cuatro Direcciones ( The Fund for Four Directions), con sede en Nueva York, los asesinados han presionado a la multinacional petrolera Oxy a abandonar los territorios U´wa y dejar los planes de exploracion petrolera en el bloque Samoré, ya que son tierras sagradas y si se asentaban ahi ese pueblo haria un suicidio colectivo de cerca de 5,000 personas. Lalucha de los U´wa ha tenido mucha resonancia internacional sobre todo en Europa y Estados Unidos (los U´wa recibieron dos premios importantes, la del Bartolome de las Casas entregado por el Principe de Asturias en España y el Premio Goldman sobre Medio Ambiente en San Francisco, EUA). Por eso unos dias antes de encontrarse los cadaveres, Evaristo Tegria, vocero de los U´wa hizo un llamado desesperado, "las Farc los arrebataron de nuestras manos y ahora los deben devolver sanos y salvos. Ellos son nuestros embajadores a nivel internacional".

En la segunda semana del mes pasado de febrero, en Ginebra hubo un Seminario-Taller sobre la Creación de un Foro Permanente de los Pueblos Indigenas dentros del Sistema de la ONU" , esta vez notamos la ausencia de nuestra hermana, y no sabiamos que para esa fecha preparaba maletas para hacer su viaje sin retorno a Colombia. Viajera incansable por el mundo, su sonrisa siempre perenne ya no nos acompañara en Africa, Pacifico, Asia, Europa o Latinoamerica, pero su espiritu y su legado ha de forjar los animos de los guerreros indigenas a nivel mundial, por nuestra parte en este ultimo año del siglo que finaliza nos dedicaremos a exaltar su figura y lucha, despues de colocar unas flores en su tumba y besar a sus seres queridos tomaremos la mochila y partir hacia el proximo milenio con mas brio para luchar por la causa indigena, y en nuestras oraciones haremos nuestra la palabra de la Organizacion Nacional Indigena de Colombia (ONIC), "..que los cuerpos de nuestros hermanos se coloquen como piedras para que la tierra se mantenga en equilibrio; pero su sangre reemplace la sangre que otros le quitan a Kerachikará; que sus espiritus se unan al vuelo de las tijeretas y cuiden el espacio de los U´wa y de los pueblos indigenas de America; que su palabra y su entrega solidaria se mantenga en nuestra memoria y en la de Sira".

Panama 8 de marzo 1999

Last Friday, March 5, international press agencies brought us tragic news from Colombia regarding the assassination of two indigenous women and one non-indigenous man, all from the United States, on the border of Colombia and Venezuela. When the names were spoken, I felt my eyes cloud and I ran for my photo albums and trip notes so that I could tell my children who Ingrid Washinawatok was in real life. Still not believing the news, I spent several hours watching the news on every Spanish and English television channel that I could get on cable. Each source brought the same news.

When a person who is close to you, a person you have come to know as part of the same struggle in which you are in, the first thing you do is look around you and look for your loved ones and think what if it was you who had died? This is no the first time that a leader like Ingrid and her companions have died in the fifteen years that I spent traveling the world to visit indigenous brothers on every continent. Many tears and much blood has been spilled in this long struggle for the survival of indigenous peoples on this planet against adversaries of all types that have stood in our way. There are 300 million indigneous peoples in the world and their advocates are very few. Many of them are persecuted or treated as criminals in their countries, if they are not imprisoned or killed.

Ingrid Washinawatok from the Menominee Nation in the United States first came to Panama in 1984 to attend an international indigenous conference, and since then she has returned on several occasions to show her solidarity with the Kuna or Ngobe indians, or just to support the struggle to recover the inter-oceanic canal. She was a member of the various Panama solidarity groups in New York. Ingrid was involved in the international indigenous arena from a very young age, being one of the first indigenous women to participate in the first indigenous meeting at the United Nations in Geneva in 1977. (In the summer of 1997 she wrote an extensive article commemorating the twentieth anniversary of this conference for Native Americas magazine, Vol. XlV, #2, "International Emergence. 20 years at the United Nations")

Knowing what I do about the struggles of the U’wa in Colombia, the assassins could well have come from any side. They could have been guerillas as much as they could have been from the transnational oil companies or the paramilitaries, all of whom are demagogues with the indigenous cause. Once they come to power though they never solve the problems that indigenous peoples face, but rather take more indigenous land as has been the case in Colombia. Colombia has been one of the countries to pioneer very advanced legislation in favor of indigenous peoples in this last decade of the twentieth century, but the implementation and compliance with these laws has been very poor. Working with the New York City-based Fund for the Four Directions, the victims had pressured the petroleum multinational Occidental to abandon their efforts to conduct exploration in the Samore block, on lands that the U’wa consider sacred. In response, the U’wa, who number close to 5000, threatened to commit mass suicide if the exploration went forward. The struggle of the U’wa attracted a great deal of attention internationally, especially in the United States and Europe. (The U’wa received two important prizes: the Bartolomé de las Casas prize awarded by the Prince of Asturias in Spain and the Goldman Prize for the Environment in San Francisco.) Several days before the bodies were found, Evaristo Tegria, a U’wa spokesman, made a desperate plea that “the FARC has snatched them from our hands and now they should return them safe and sound. They are our international ambassadors.”

In the second week of this past February, indigenous leaders gathered in Geneva to attend a workshop on the creation of a permanent forum for indigenous peoples within the UN system. We noted the absence of our sister Ingrid, not knowing that in those very days she was packing her bags for trip to Colombia from which she would not return. She was a tireless world traveler, and her perennial smile will no longer accompany us to Africa, the Pacific, Asia, Europe or Latin America, but her spirit and her legacy will forge the spirits of indigenous warriors throughout the world. For our part, we will dedicate our selves in this last year of this closing century to honoring her life and her struggles. After placing some flowers on her grave and kissing her loved ones we will take our backpacks and head for the next millennium with more energy to fight for the indigenous cause, and in our prayers we will repeat the words of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), “...let the bodies of our slain friends rest as stones that keep the Earth in its equilbrium; let their blood be replaced by the blood of others who take from Kerachikará; let their souls join with the flight of the scissor-tailed kites (Tijeretas) as they guard the territory of the U’wa and the all indigenous peoples in the Americas; let their words and their gift of solidarity stay in our memory and in the Sira.

Panama, March 8, 1999

Unofficial translation by Joe Bryan, Indian Law Resource Center.

The Indian Law Resource Center, provided this translation concerning a ONIC press release. Thanks to the Indian Law Resource Center for their assistance.

Condemnation of the deaths of the North American activists who were defenders of the U’wa People

Communique to the Public

According to news reports released today, the bodies of our indigenous [sisters] Ingrid [Inawatuk] and Larry Gay [Laheenge] and biologist and U’wa defender Terrence Freitas. The three were apparently by the 45th front of the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) kidnaped February 25th on the road between Cubará, Boyacá and Saravena, Arauca,.

The North American indigenous representatives and the representative of the NGO Project Underground had been visiting the U’wa territory and participating in cultural exchanges. The NGO [Project Underground] as well as diverse North American indigenous groups had been assisting the U’wa people to defend their territory from petroleum exploration conducted by Occidental – Colombia.

The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) vehemently condemns the crime committed against our North American brothers and friends. We condemn this action as an attack against the rights of the U’wa people and other indigenous peoples of Colombia.

We repudiate the actions of the FARC and we demand clarification of this crime that so violates our rights. To us, it is unacceptable that people who defend the rights of social sectors, already gravely threatened by far-right forces, now become victims of armed groups that claim to defend the popular classes. We call on all friends of indigenous peoples throughout the world to join us in denouncing this crime.

To the families, friends and colleagues of our indigenous brothers and North American friends, we extend our condolences and solidarity. We will not let this crime go unpunished in our communities and we will once again raise our efforts to defend our rights and those of all indigenous peoples in the world.

Let the bodies of our slain friends rest as stones that keep the Earth in its equilbrium; let their blood be replaced by the blood of others who take from Kerachikará; let their souls join with the flight of the scissor-tailed kites (Tijeretas) as they guard the territory of the U’wa and the all indigenous peoples in the Americas; let their words and their gift of solidarity stay in our memory and in the Sira.

ONIC Executive Committee

Santafé de Bogotá, D.C., 5 de marzo de 1999

Communique to National and International Public Opinion

In the name of organizations that support indigenous peoples at the international level, we the undersigned, with great consternation and sadness, unite our voices with the hundreds of other organizations and indigenous peoples of Abya Yala to condemn the vile and cowardly massacre and death of our sisters INGRID WASHINAWATOK, GAY LAHE-ENA-E and our brother TERENCE FREITAS, last Thursday, March 4th on the border of Colombia and Venezuela.

The assassination that concerns us was not casual nor a mistake. INGRID WASHINAWATOK was an indigenous leader from the United States that from a very young age fought for indigenous rights in her country. She was also well known within the world of international solidarity and justice. She was a tireless traveler who brought the help of the Foundation that she directed to wherever indigenous peoples were fighting for their survival in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We demand that FARC explain her death as well as those of her friends. For us, those who are guilty of this bloody act are enemies of indigenous peoples. For this reason, we join our brothers in Colombia in calling for the condemnation of this act and of its authors. We cannot accept that those who purport to speak of the rights of the poor and of indigenous peoples be those who torment the true defenders of peace and indigenous rights and who want to distort our U’wa brothers with whom the assassinated martyrs worked.

To the North American families and brothers that have lost valiant human members who fought for our indigenous cause, we want to say that we are with you and for this our prayers and cries shall cultivate the fertile minds and hearts of our future children. We hope that their spirits will always accompany us and keep us true before our enemies who hope to see indigenous peoples exterminated from this planet. MAY THEY REST IN PEACE.

Panama, March 6, 1999

ATENCIO LOPEZ MARTINEZ
President, Asociacion Napguana (Panama)
MARCIAL ARIAS GARCIA
Meso-American Coordinator for the International Alliance of Forest Peoples
ONEL ARIAS ARIAS
Meso-American Regional Coordinator, Indigenous Knowledge Program

Unofficial translations by Joe Bryan, Indian Law Resource Center
jbryan@indianlaw.org
www.indianlaw.org

MARCH 8, 1999

The International Indian Treaty Council is heartbroken and outraged beyond words at the brutal assassinations of Ingrid Washinawatok of the Menominee Nation and the Indigenous Women's Network, Lahe'ena'e Gay of the Pacific Cultural Conservancy International, and Terence Frietas, environmental activist. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families, friends and co- workers of these beloved individuals. They were, to the end of their lives, valiant warriors for peace, human rights and protection of the natural world.

Ingrid, Lahe and Terence were kidnapped on February 25th by armed gunmen in Uw'a Indian Territory of North Eastern Columbia. On March 5th, their brutalized and bullet-riddled bodies were discovered across the border in Venezuela. IITC is firmly committed to assisting the families in finding out the full truth about what occurred and bringing to justice those responsible for this heinous, barbarous act of violence. There are no words to fully express the extent of our condemnation for those responsible for this reprehensible act.

Ingrid came to the IITC as a college intern in 1978. IITC was able to secure a scholarship for her at the University of Havana in Cuba where she majored in the Spanish language. While studying in Cuba Ingrid met her future husband, Ali El Issa. Their son Maehki, now 14, traveled with Ingrid from his birth and was known and loved at the United Nations and by human rights organizations around the world.

After returning from Cuba, Ingrid worked in IITC's New York office for over eight years and continued to serve as a member of IITC's advisory council, as well as on the boards of many community and national-level organizations. Her bright smile, unforgettable laugh and sense of humor captured the hearts of all who knew her.

Information which has come to light since the kidnappings raises serious questions about whether the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Columbia (FARC), initially implicated in the kidnapping, was in fact responsible. Many of the facts as well as possible motives for the killings point instead to the involvement of paramilitary forces operating in the region. These groups have much more to gain than the FARC by destabilizing the peace process in Columbia and alienating international human rights movements through such acts of extreme brutality.

Likewise, the role and involvement of the United States government must be scrutinized thoroughly if the entire picture is to come to light and justice served. US Attorney General Janet Reno was reportedly in Bogota the day before the bodies were found to finalize the transfer of over $230 million from the US to the Colombian government for its so-called "war on drugs" program. This program is reportedly used by the Colombian government to wage military operations against the FARC and has been implicated in widespread human rights violations against the civilian population.

The ongoing role of US-based Occidental Petroleum in perpetrating violence in the area must be thoroughly investigated as well. The Uw'a People have successfully opposed oil development by Occidental on their lands, in part by building international support and awareness The three slain activists were visiting and offering support to the Uw'a when they were taken captive.

The IITC calls upon the United Nations through its appropriate investigative bodies to assist in expediting the fact-finding efforts underway. UN involvement would minimize the possibilities for manipulation of facts to serve the foreign or domestic policy interests of the countries involved, and provide objective international oversight in this situation in which the human rights of the three victims were massively and brutally violated.

The International Indian Treaty Council is calling upon the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Columbia (FARC) and the Government of Columbia to resume Peace talks in honor of Ingrid Washinawatok, a Great Menominee Indian Woman who was loved by Indigenous Peoples throughout the world. To use her death to undermine the Peace Process in Columbia would be a gross violation of her lifelong commitment to justice and human rights. The pursuit of peace is the only logical conclusion to this great loss.

We the undersigned, representing the Colombian human-rights organizations Association for the Promotion of Social Alternatives (MINGA), the Institute for People's Empowerment (IPC), and the Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSSP), and who are now touring the United States to denounce the treats and attacks by paramilitary troops against the human rights defenders in the country

STATE

To the international community, the media and the victims' families:

1. Our strong repudiation of the arbitrary detention and subsequent assassination of the indigenous leaders, INGRID WASHINANATOK, LAHE'ENA'E GAY and the recognized defender of the causes of the U'wa people in Colombia, TERENCE FREITAS, perpetrated by the 10th front of FARC-EP.

2. Our great acknowledgement and support for the indigenous communities of the world and the non-governmental organizations that are carrying out the extraordinary efforts to bring respect to the culture, autonomy, the dignity and solidarity of the indigenous people against multinational companies, the governments, the armed forces and the irregular groups that operate in variuous countries of the world.

3. Our urge to FARC-EP to demonstrate through their act their political will to reestablish the rights to justice, to reparation, and to the truth duly owed to the families of the victims, the indigenous communities, and the non-governmental organizations affected by this crime. To this effect, we request that the ones responsible, and/or those presumed responsible for these acts, be turned over to an independent and mpartial court that will ascertain the intellectual and physical authors of this crime and that will apply the fundamental guaranties of due process and the presumption of innocence. We believe that the Human Rights Unit of the Attorney General's Office of Colombia is an institution that has demonstrated independence and efficiency in its investigations and that can contribute to bringing about justice.

4. Our resolve to assist in uncovering the truth and to constantly follow up the investigations and criminal process so as to guarantee rights to the victims, of the indigenous communities, as well as of the authors of the crime.

5. Our rejection and repudiation toward assassinations, attacks, and threats against human rights defenders in Colombia as well as our demand that the Colombian government adopt the methods and policies that guarantee the legitimate execution of our work.

6. Our urgent call on the armed actors to respect the civil population's rights to not be involved or be affected by the conflict, and our demand that the insurgent groups, the paramilitary troops, and the military forces of Colombia to cease threats, killings, bombings, displacements, and military occupation of lands belonging to the indigenous communities of Colombia, particularly the Emberá Katios in Urabá, Puinave in Guaviare, Sinú in Cordoba and the U'wa in Arauca y Boyacá.

To the families of Ingrid, Lahe Gay, and Terence, to the indigenous community of North America, and to the U'wa people, our embrace as brothers and sisters in sorrow and in the struggle for justice.

GLORÍA INES FLÓREZ SCHNEIDER
MINGA

JOSÉ ANTONIO GIRÓN
The Institution of the People's Empowerment

AUGUSTÍN JIMÉNEZ

Committee of Solidarity of Political Prisoners