International

Asking for permission to enter the house: the demand of Colombian indigenous people against Mennonites

“Yesterday they returned us,” say the Sikuani indigenous authorities in front of the barrier that prevents them from entering their homes, waiting for authorization to continue, and denounce that their ancestral lands, in the Colombian department of Meta, are now owned by third parties who, they say, bought them irregularly.

On the Santa Catalina farm, owned by the meat company La Fazenda, they receive a refusal to pass by the entourage of journalists that accompanies them; they try their luck with the other entrance, that of the Mennonite ultra-religious community, which does authorize them to pass.

“Our grandparents are buried here,” says Jairo Ortiz in front of one of the sacred sites of the Sikuani, now in Mennonite territory.

“In times of violence they left here, they did not sell the land to anyone and left them thrown away, at that time other people who are not indigenous arrived and they took over,” says the captain, a position of authority of this semi-nomadad people displaced in several episodes of Colombian history.

In the Meta they lived until the so-called period of “violence”, which began in 1946, when they had to flee to the neighboring departments of Vichada and Guaviare. Then they returned but came back to persecution with the “guahibiadas” and “jaramilladas”, terms used to refer to the hunts of indigenous people to displace them from their lands and seize them.

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A few years ago they returned to the land of their ancestors when the Colombian conflict lowered its intensity, but they realized that theirs was now in the hands of others, including the ultra-religious Mennite community that, coming from Mexico, found the promised land in the Colombian Oriental Plains.

The problem of land in Colombia is one of the great debts of the State; it is very difficult to know whose property each property is because many territories are not entitled.

Now, the 135 Sikuani families of this settlement claim their lands and denounce their appropriation and accumulation by foreigners.

The Mennonites, when they saw the potential of the Meta, hired a lawyer who advised them on the purchase of land, so “in principle” they are legal, explains Diana Quintero, a lawyer of the National Commission of Indigenous Territories, who accompanies the Sikuani in their lawsuit, explains to EFE.

The problem comes when the titles that the Mennonites bought are analyzed, awarded by the state National Land Agency because they were vacant of the nation.

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The rule says the wastelands have to remain in the hands of their owner for a certain time, but those who were sold to the religious community did not meet this deadline and the indigenous peoples were not taken into account.

Another alleged irregularity, Quintero continues, is that the allocation of vacant lots has a limit of hectares, something called the Family Agricultural Unit (UAF), and the owners of these lands acquired more than allowed by law, incurring hoarding.

Quintero maintains that the Mennonites hoard because “although they say they are different families, they are part of a nucleus” and link all their lands in the same production process, exceeding the legal limit of UAF.

“Two years ago the Mennonites began to enter little by little. He could not be told anything because they have someone who supports them,” explains Alexander Álvarez, governor of the Iwitsulibo community, which brings together 80 families, in reference to the alleged alliances of the religious community.

According to the indigenous people, in the area there is the presence of paramilitaries of the Gaitanist Self-Defense of Colombia (AUC), allied with the Mennonites to provide them with security. They travel with motorcycles without a license plate and do not identify themselves, while all the Sikuani authorities report having received threats for their demands.

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The Sikuani demand a total of 58,000 hectares to be distributed among the four communities and ask for a receipt to be made. Tsabilonia is the community that is closest to getting its claims, since it has been awarded – pending formalization – a territory in extinction of domain that belonged to drug traffickers, but they demand more hectares.

At the entrance of Tsabilonia the difference in the use of the land made by both communities is visible: on the Mennonite side there is not a single tree, only hectares waiting to be cultivated, and on the Sikuani side, pasture and native vegetation.

“They are pressuring us, we are being contaminated by foreign Mennonites who come from Germany, Canada and Mexico,” denounces Albarrubiela Gaitán, the traditional authority of the Barrulia territory: “We want to be calm in our territory, cultivating our uses and customs because as indigenous people we need our motherland to live in peace and freedom.”

The plantings of the Mennonites arrive almost at the door of the house of Albarrubiela; for the moment, the religious community continues to expand the agricultural border while the Sikuani expect the Colombian Justice to issue a decision on a land that went from hope to dispute.

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International

Guatemala considers sending high-risk gang members to military prisons

Amid the escalating crisis in Guatemala’s prison system, the government is considering transferring high-risk gang members to military-run detention facilities, a move that analysts say could help address overcrowding and the lack of control in civilian prisons.

The debate has gained urgency following the killing of ten police officers by gang members, reportedly in retaliation after the government refused to meet demands made by Aldo Dupie Ochoa, alias “El Lobo,” leader of the Barrio 18 gang, which authorities identified as responsible for the attack.

Guatemala’s Minister of Defense, Henry David Sáenz, told local media that the possibility of relocating high-danger inmates to military brigades has not been formally discussed. However, he noted that the practice is not new to the Armed Forces and said it is something that “was already being done.”

One example is the detention center located within the Mariscal Zavala Military Brigade, in Zone 17 of Guatemala City, where several inmates are held under military supervision. The facility also houses high-profile detainees, including former official Eduardo Masaya, who faces corruption charges.

In 2015, a ministerial agreement authorized the establishment of the Zone Seventeen Detention Center within the brigade, with a maximum capacity of 114 inmates in Area A and 21 in Area B. The agreement specified that the facility would be used exclusively for civilians or military personnel considered at risk of assassination.

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Additionally, since 2010, a prison has operated within the Matamoros Barracks in Zone 1 of Guatemala City, holding dangerous or high-profile inmates. However, media outlets have described these military detention centers as “VIP prisons,” particularly for former government officials such as ex-president Otto Pérez Molina.

International

Rights group says over 5,000 killed in Iran protests, mostly civilians

A U.S.-based human rights group said on Friday it has confirmed that more than 5,000 people were killed during the recent protests in Iran, most of them civilians allegedly shot by security forces.

Non-governmental organizations monitoring the toll from the crackdown on what have been described as the largest demonstrations in Iran in years said their work has been hampered by an internet shutdown imposed by authorities since January 8. They warned that the actual death toll is likely significantly higher.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), based in the United States, reported on Friday that it had verified the deaths of 5,002 people, including 4,714 protesters, 42 minors, 207 members of the security forces, and 39 bystanders.

The group added, however, that it is still investigating an additional 9,787 possible deaths, underscoring the difficulty of independently confirming information amid ongoing restrictions and repression.

International

Japan reopens Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Plant despite public concerns

La centrale nucléaire japonaise de Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, la plus grande au monde, a repris ses activités mercredi pour la première fois depuis la catastrophe de Fukushima en 2011, malgré les inquiétudes persistantes d’une partie de la population.

La remise en service a eu lieu à 19h02 heure locale (10h02 GMT), a indiqué à l’AFP Tatsuya Matoba, porte-parole de la compagnie Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco).

Le gouverneur de la préfecture de Niigata, où se situe la centrale, avait donné son feu vert à la reprise le mois dernier, en dépit d’une opinion publique divisée. Selon une enquête menée en septembre par la préfecture elle-même, 60 % des habitants se déclaraient opposés au redémarrage, contre 37 % favorables.

Mardi, plusieurs dizaines de manifestants ont bravé le froid et la neige pour protester près de l’entrée du site, sur les rives de la mer du Japon.

« L’électricité de Tokyo est produite à Kashiwazaki. Pourquoi seuls les habitants d’ici devraient-ils être exposés au danger ? Cela n’a aucun sens », a déclaré à l’AFP Yumiko Abe, une riveraine de 73 ans.

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La centrale de Kashiwazaki-Kariwa avait été mise à l’arrêt lorsque le Japon a fermé l’ensemble de ses réacteurs nucléaires à la suite du triple désastre de mars 2011 — un séisme, un tsunami et un accident nucléaire — survenu à Fukushima.