PERMANENT PEOPLES' TRIBUNAL, SESSION ON COLOMBIA ...

when a witness, who had been detained and convicted for rebellion, referred to
the moment of her capture, she said: “as an educator, I was worried we were
running out of students since the government required a minimum number of
students […]. We met in spite of the plan announced by the government to close
the schools.” Then, “they came into the room where I was resting and screamed:
Where are the weapons”
RESTRICTIONS TO THE FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT
The Tribunal was also able to verify the violation to the right to the freedom of
movement, recognised in the Colombian constitution and international
legislation (which is a part of the Colombian legislation). Specifically, according
to a witness, so called areas of exclusion have been established in which a virtual
state of war reigns under the direct control of the armed forces and private
security companies at the service of the oil enterprises. The disproportionate
militarization of these areas is demonstrated by the following testimony provided
by a mother describing the murder of her underage child: “my son went to a lake
with a friend to hunt some chigüiros for the festivities and a watchman saw
them and called the army at Caño Limón.” Later, the child was found dead. It is
noteworthy the witness identifies the armed forces as an army belonging to the
transnational enterprise.
Testimony and documents also demonstrated this situation worsened from the
arbitrary nature of the military checkpoints on the roads and the restrictions on
the circulation of food, medicine and other essential goods, bearing in mind the
poverty of these rural communities. According to one witness, “if we were
carrying foodstuff worth more than 150 thousand pesos [approximately 50
euros], it was taken from us, since they said it was meant for the guerrilla […].
We weren’t allowed to have cement or food or nothing of any worth.”