Perilous Times
3 teens on Facebook hit list killed in past 10 days
By Arthur Brice, CNN
August 24, 2010 5:38 p.m. EDT
* The first list posted on Facebook had 69 names, officials say
* Another posting this week added 31 names, news reports said.
* Officials say they do not know who published the lists or why
people are on it
* People on the first list were given three days to leave town or
be killed
(CNN) -- Three teens who were on a 69-name hit list posted on Facebook
have been killed in the past 10 days in a southwestern Colombian town,
officials say.
Police say they do not know who posted the list or why the names are on
it.
"It is still not clear," Colombian national police spokesman Wilson
Baquero told CNN. "This is part of the investigation."
But officials note that a criminal gang known as Los Rastrojos and a
Marxist guerrilla group called the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia operate in the area.
The hit list on Facebook, which was posted August 17, gave the people
named three days to leave the town of Puerto Asis or be executed, said
Volmar Perez Ortiz, a federal official whose title is defender of the
public.
Police at first thought the posting was a joke, Perez said in a
statement issued Saturday. But the publication of a second list with 31
additional names led authorities to convene a special security meeting
Friday, Perez said.
The posting of the lists and the meetings occurred after the first two
killings, which took place August 15, Perez said.
On that day, officials say, 16-year-old student Diego Ferney Jaramillo
and 17-year-old CD retailer Eibart Alejandro Ruiz Munoz were shot and
killed while riding a motorcycle on the road between Puerto Asis and
the town of Puerto Caicedo.
Both their names were later found on the first published hit list.
Also on the list was Norbey Alexander Vargas, 19, who was killed August
20, Perez said. Another young man, 16-year-old student Juan Pablo
Zambrano Anacona, was wounded in the same incident when he gave chase
to the assassins, Perez said.
Colombian media said Monday the number of those threatened has grown
and panic has overtaken Puerto Asis, with some parents sending their
children out of town because their names are on the Facebook notice.
The names of 31 women were posted on the other list, said Radio RCN,
semana.com and other news outlets.
Residents have been overcome with "panic and anxiety," several news
outlets quoted Putumayo state official Andres Gerardo Verdugo as saying.
Several of those residents posted their concerns on Twitter, an online
messaging site.
"Panic in Puerto Asis, Putumayo, because of threats against young
people," wrote a user who goes by JuanSepulvedah. "Our youth must be
protected."
Someone who posted under the name JulianEco brought up the Facebook
connection.
"The situation in Puerto Asis is tenacious, that a social site be used
to add fire to the Colombian conflict," the post said.
Twitter user hugoparragomez likened the situation to the drug-fueled
crime waves in other Colombian cities.
"What is happening in Puerto Asis, Putumayo, is grave, the same as in
Medellin," the tweet said. "Authorities should take control of the
situation. Who is investigating?"
Still others inflated the death count.
"In Puerto Asis they have killed 20 young people threatened on Facebook
and the authorities have not said anything," wrote jesusmhenriquez
"That is Colombia."
Federal officials say they are taking the threats seriously and have
sent investigators from Bogota, the nation's capital, to Puerto Asis.
Internet experts are among the investigators assigned to the case.
Authorities also are offering a reward of 5 million pesos (around
$2,750) for information on the killings.
Perez, the federal defender of the public, noted that the Los Rastrojos
criminal gang is active in Puerto Asis, "executing violent actions,
resolving community conflicts, imposing living and conduct norms,
intimidating and meting punishment against ... drug sellers and
consumers, sex workers, people with criminal and unlawful histories and
threatening social leaders, business people, taxi drivers and
motorcycle taxi drivers."
Perez said the Marxist guerrillas, commonly known as the FARC, also are
active in the remote area, which borders Ecuador.
Two Facebook representatives did not return a message Tuesday asking
for comment.