Twenty six Christians taken captive

CSW is calling on the Colombian government to intervene to free twenty-six Christian members of an indigenous people group in Northern Colombia, held captive by indigenous authorities for over a month, and under pressure to renounce their faith.

The group, which includes women and children as young as six months old from the Kogui population, were taken by force and are being held together on Kogui lands in the Sierra Nevada mountains. They have been told by indigenous authorities, under the leadership of Governor Jos de los Santos Sauna Limaco they will not be released until they undergo rites to convert back to the traditional belief system.

The governor has refused to allow the group of Christians to leave the Kogui reserve to practise their faith outside of Kogui lands, and is threatening to round up the remaining Kogui Christians from other parts of the reserve, to force them to “reconvert” as well.

The Colombian government has been slow to take any action, referring to a Law of Autonomy, which allows indigenous groups to practice traditional law on their reserves. A number of Colombian politicians, human rights activists, and lawyers have taken up the case, however, pointing out that autonomy can not be a license to abuse fundamental rights.

Colombia is one of the only countries in Latin America which has no legal safeguards to ensure that indigenous autonomy is practised in line with national and international human rights standards.

Tina Lambert, CSW’s Advocacy Director, said: “The fact that these men, women and children are being denied their most basic human rights, with the knowledge of the Colombian government is a travesty. We remind the government and Governor Sauna Limaco that the prisoners are Colombian citizens and call on both the Colombian government and the Kogui authorities to free them. Furthermore, we strongly urge the Colombian government to put mechanisms in place to ensure the freedom of members of all indigenous people in Colombia to exercise their basic human rights, in line with the Colombian Constitution and the American Convention on Human Rights.”