By Abid Aslam
10/31/2005

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Below is an excerpt of an article from One World.

The murder of a well-known peace activist in Colombia has highlighted endemic violence in the Latin American country.

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Local authorities reported discovering on Tuesday the body of Orlando Valencia, a leader of the Afro-Colombian peace community of Curvarado.
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In parts of the country, military and paramilitary forces alike have targeted Afro-Colombians with harassment, property seizures, and death threats.

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More than one million have been forced from their homes and ancestral lands.

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Among the displaced, Afro-Colombians were pushed off ancestral lands and into cities. In the past five years, they have returned and established settlements known as peace communities back on collectively owned land.

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Washington, D.C.-based Refugees International, in a recent assessment, noted that ''different armed groups, including the national army, are attempting to break their [peace communities', i.e.] nonviolent resistance in order to enhance their military strategy and the communities are losing confidence in the capacity of the Colombian government to provide them with the necessary protection.''

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''Their strategy is non-violent resistance to involvement in the conflict,'' according to Refugees International. ''This means refusing any formal relation with individuals carrying weapons, and aiming at self protection through building houses close to one another, fencing the settlement, and cultivating collective fields within its perimeter.''

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''Further, the choice of non-violent resistance is a challenge to all armed actors, and the settlements are under constant pressure from them to provide intelligence or material support. When these entreaties are resisted, the response may be violent,'' Refugees International said.