Colombia Journey: Report from Scott Nicolsen

I visited Samuel Morales in the maximum security wing of the Modelo prison in Bogotá on September 23. Samuel committed the crime of being a teacher and the president of the Unified Workers Federation in the state of Arauca.

There are 5,270 prisoners in the Modelo prison which has capacity for 1,500. I had to remove my belt, watch, shoes and socks, cash and coins in order to enter the prison. I stored those items in a small restaurant where I also rented a pair of sandals. At the first checkpoint, my left arm was stamped with the number 0728. I was then searched, fingerprinted, and stamped five more times on my way to visit Samuel.

He was an eyewitness to the execution of three Araucan social leaders by the Colombian military in the community of Caño Seco on August 5, 2004 – Alirio Martinez, president of the Departmental Peasant Association; Jorge Prieto, president of the Arauca section of the Hospital Workers Union; and Leonel Goyeneche, teacher and treasurer of the Arauca branch of the Unified Workers Federation. After the soldiers killed the three men, they then detained Samuel and Raquel Castro (a teacher and eyewitness to the
killings).

Samuel and Raquel were flown by helicopter to the Saravena military base. When the base commander, Colonel Medina, saw Samuel he said “You were very lucky because the plan was not to bring you here. Your fate was supposed to be different.” Medina had just recently returned from a year of training at Ft. Leavenworth in Kansas.

Samuel and Raquel were charged with rebellion and imprisoned in Bogotá. Their hearing was held in the city of Saravena in Arauca in August of last year. Samuel was brought to Saravena and held in the jail at the police station. Shortly after he arrived, Medina came to visit him and said, “I’m keeping a close eye on your spouse, your children, and your sisters. Your sisters work in Arauquita, right?”

Samuel has three sisters who did work as teachers in the community of Arauquita. In September of last year, a man called their schools and threatened to kill them – “Samuel Morales’ family has to leave Arauca.” The threats continued and his sisters and their families fled from Arauca in November.

Samuel and Dalia have three daughters and a son – Rocny, 15 years old; Samira, 11; Dalia, 7; and Samuel, 4. In order for them to visit Samuel, he has to have the prison director, judicial police, and the chief of security sign off on a visit permission request. Dalia has to get a notarized statement giving her permission for the visit and must bring the civil registration documents for each of their children. The family then has to travel 15 hours by bus from Saravena to Bogotá and wait in line two to three hours on the one day per month when children are allowed in the prison. The last time Samuel saw his children was in December. “It isn’t easy” he said, as his eyes filled with tears.

The judge in Saravena was removed from the case in November of last year and the case was transferred to a judge in Bogotá – who wasn’t present during the hearing and knew nothing about the case. He hasn’t yet reached a verdict and Samuel and Raquel have now spent more than two years in prison without being convicted of any crime.

More than 100 social leaders have been arrested in Arauca during the past four years – most of them on charges of rebellion. Provisional release can be granted after a person has served 60 percent of the sentence for the alleged crime. The sentence for rebellion is six years and many of the people that were imprisoned during the mass arrests of 2002 and 2003 have
been released after serving 60 percent of the sentence for a crime they never committed.

Samuel believes that he and Raquel will also be released after they’ve spent another year in prison. “I’ll leave here with more clarity, ideas, and experience. I want to use this experience to strengthen international solidarity and to help build the global movement for more humane life on this planet.”

In love and solidarity,
Scott

Photo of Samuel during the public hearing in Saravena in August 2005:
Samuel