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Colombia: Existence and activities of a group known as "Los Chamizos"; whether the group is affiliated with illegal paramilitary groups (1999-October 2004)

The criminal group Los Chamizos, based in the vicinity of Santa Marta (Colombia 30 Jan. 2004; El País 25 Apr. 2004; HRW 22 Sept. 2003) and allegedly responsible for social cleansing incidents in a number of the city's neighbourhoods (Colombia 30 Jan. 2004), is led by Hernán Giraldo Serna (HRW 22 Sept. 2003; Colombia n.d.; El País 25 Apr. 2004), a former associate of Medellín Cartel leader Pablo Escobar (ibid.). The group, whose members are variously estimated to number between 400 and 1,000 individuals (ibid.; ibid. 21 Sept. 2003), was already involved in narcotics trafficking when Giraldo entered into an alliance with paramilitary forces under the command of Carlos Castaño, at which point it also became involved in the fight against leftist insurgents (ibid. 25 Apr. 2004).

While no additional information on Los Chamizos could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate, reports published since 2002 variously describe Giraldo as a leader of the United Self Defence Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC) (HRW 22 Sept. 2003; El Espectador 29 Sept. 2002; El País 1 July 2004); one of the most important paramilitary leaders along the Atlantic Coast since at least 1993 (ibid. 21 Sept. 2003); head of the Self Defence Forces of the Sierra and the Tayrona (Autodefensas de la Sierra y del Tayrona) (El Tiempo 1 July 2004); and head of the paramilitary Tayrona Resistance Front (Frente Resistencia Tayrona) (Colombia n.d.). He is among the paramilitary leaders who were invited to participate in peace negotiations with the government in 2004 (El Tiempo 1 July 2004; Radio Caracol 27 Sept. 2004), although he was temporarily suspended from the talks following the abduction of former senator José Gnecco (WFP NewsService 1 July 2004).

In addition to his paramilitary links, Giraldo is reportedly a major drug trafficker, controlling much of the drug trade in La Guajira, Barranquilla, Magdalena and Valledupar (El País 21 Sept. 2003). According to Human Rights Watch (HRW),

A judge convicted Giraldo ... to twenty years of imprisonment for his role in a string of 1988 massacres in the Honduras, La Negra, and San Jorge banana plantations, in which over fifty people were killed. ... Giraldo has over ten pending arrest warrants for terrorism, murder, the formation of paramilitary groups, and drug trafficking, and has been linked by Colombian police to the 1996 kidnapping of businessman Ambrosio Plata, who was killed and dismembered after his family paid a ransom. Giraldo has also been linked to the murder in November 2001 of three Colombian police officers working with the DEA. Newsweek magazine ... reported that Colombian police estimate that he headed a burgeoning drug syndicate that accounts for $1.2 billion in annual shipments to the United States and Europe (22 Sept. 2003).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Colombia. 30 January 2004. Programa Presidencial de Derechos Humanos y Derecho Internacional Humanitario. Los derechos humanos en el Departamentode Magdalena. <http://www.derechoshumanos.gov.co/observatorio/departamentos/separatamagdalena.pdf> [Accessed 5 Oct. 2004]

Colombia. n.d. Primera División del Ejército Nacional de Colombia. "Quién es el enemigo." <http://www.primeradivision.mil.co/denuncie/enemigo.htm> [Accessed 5 Oct. 2004]

El Espectador [Bogotá]. 29 September 2002. "El ambiguo pasado y presente de los Castaño Gil." <http://www.elespectador.com/2002/20020929/judicial/nota2.htm> [Accessed 5 Oct. 2004]

Human Rights Watch (HRW). 22 September 2003. "Colombia's Checkbook Impunity: A Briefing Paper." <http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/americas/checkbook-impunity.htm> [Accessed 5 Oct. 2004]

El País [Cali]. 1 July 2004. Arcadio González Ardila. "La mesa de la paz está servida." <http://elpais-cali.terra.com.co/historico/jul012004/NAL/A201N2.html> [Accessed 5 Oct. 2004]
_____. 25 April 2004. "Castaño, de fundador a amenaza para las AUC." <http://elpais-cali.terra.com.co/historico/abr252004/NAL/A1025N1.html> [Accessed 5 Oct. 2004]
_____. 21 September 2003. "El 'Ombligo del Mundo', codiciado por todos." <http://elpais-cali.terra.com.co/paisonline/notas/Septiembre212003/A1021S1.html> [Accessed 5 Oct. 2004]

Radio Caracol [Bogotá]. 27 September 2004. "EEUU pide en extradición a un nuevo jefe de las AUC." <http://www.caracol.com.co/noticias/118751.htm> [Accessed 5 Oct. 2004]

El Tiempo [Bogotá]. 1 July 2004. "Quiénes son los 20 jefes paramilitares que se concentran en Santa Fe de Ralito." <http://eltiempo.terra.com.co/coar/DOCUMENTOS/PROCESOS/procesos/ARTICULO-PRINTER_FRIENDLY-_PRINTER_FRIENDLY-1724627.html> [Accessed 5 Oct. 2004]

WFP NewsService. 1 July 2004. "Colombia Militia in Peace Talks." <http://geoweb.fao.org/News/00027085.HTM> [Accessed 5 Oct. 2004]

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sites, including: Diario Occidente [Cali], Frente Resistencia Tayrona, Fundación Ideas para la Paz, El País [Cali], Radio Caracol [Bogotá], Revista Cambio [Bogotá], Semana [Bogotá]

Topics: Militias,