9. Violence caused by the armed conflict has had a wide-ranging impact on its population patterns and labor relations and on the emergence of social and political players. Illegal armed groups have used this region as a corridor for reaching the border with the Republic of Panama for trafficking weapons and drugs, and they have cut down the native species of the municipality of Riosucio in order to plant coca.8 10. Because of that situation, the civilian population of African descent in this region of the country has been forced to live with presence of illegal armed groups, both guerrillas (primarily the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC-EP) and paramilitaries (specifically the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, AUC, and the Peasant Self-Defense Forces of Córdoba and Urabá, ACCU). Also present in the area are security forces, with units of the National Police, the Navy (chiefly in the Gulf of Urabá and in the River Atrato and its affluents), and Brigade XVII of the National Army, based in Carepa, Antioquia. A. Position of the petitioners 11. The petitioners claim that between February 24 and 27, 1997, the Afro-descendants dwelling along the River Cacarica were affected by a series of aerial and land-based bombardments, raids, attacks on their property, and threatening behavior that led to the forced displacement of their communities. They claim that this operation, called “Operation Genesis,” was designed by the XVII Brigade of the National Army to combat the FARC-EP presence in the region9 but that it was carried out with the direct involvement of paramilitaries wearing AUC and ACCU insignia. They also alleged that the armed men who participated in the military operation murdered Mr. Marino López. 12. Specifically, they claim that on February 24, 1997, airplanes and helicopters flew over the Cacarica basin region, and troops from the Army’s XVII Brigade began moving overland toward the area. During the morning, they claim, representatives from the Afro-descendant communities tried to meet with the officer in charge of the operation in Bocachica, identified as Maj. Salomón, to which end they approached a group of soldiers stationed on the ground. The say they had to cross several security cordons manned by members of the AUC and the ACCU and that they only managed to speak with an armed and camouflaged civilian by the name of Cornelio Maquilon, who told them he was authorized to speak for Maj. Salomón and told them to head for the municipality of Turbo in Antioquia. 13. The petitioners report that during the afternoon, the first forced displacement of tens of families took place: some headed for higher land, and others walked for more than ten hours until they reached the River Atrato and sought refuge in the municipality of Turbo. By 7:45 p.m. the bombardments of the Salaquí and Cacarica river basins had begun, and they continued for three hours. 14. They claim that the second “wave” of collective displacements took place that same evening, when military operations began in the community of Puente América on the banks of the Atrato. They report that armed men ordered the Afro-descendant residents of the area to leave in 24 hours were up and left signs reading “Long live the paramilitaries of Chocó and Córdoba” and “A/C: Death to Guerrillas and Informers.” 15. The petitioners claim that on February 26, 1997, at around 1:10 p.m., some 150 civilians wearing armbands of the Voltigeros Battalion of the Army’s XVII Brigade and the Marines arrived at the settlement of Bijao along the River Cacarica, firing their weapons. Upon hearing 8 The State offered these comments regarding the general situation in the area in its note DDH. GOI/18083/0836 from the Directorate of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law at the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dated April 18, 2006, pp. 20 and 21. 9 “Operations Order No. 004/Genesis” is signed by Brigadier General Rito Alejo del Río Rojas, then commanding Army Brigade XVII, and sets out the goal of “dealing a resounding blow to squad 57 of the Narco FARC, survivors of the V, XXXIV, and LVIII, who are carrying out criminal acts within the jurisdiction of the Operating Unit.” Appendix No. 1 to this order, titled “Enemy situation – Operation Genesis objectives,” contains eight action points, listed in ascending order: (1) Tamboral; (2) La Loma – Caño Seco; (3) River Salaquí, Regadero sector; (4) Caño Seco, El Guineo sector; (5) Teguerré; (6) River Cacarica, Puente América sector; (7) La Nueva; and (8) Clavellino. Petitioners’ submission, March 6, 2006. 3