ABT demands fiscal commission to investigate official detention case in Guarayos
Twelve officials were detained for more than 30 hours in Guarayos province. The ABT and Santa Cruz provincial government have called on the Public Prosecutor's Office to conduct a formal investigation.
ABT seeks fiscal commission following detention of officials in Guarayos
According to reports from El Deber, Javier Ribera, director of Legal Affairs at the Forest and Land Inspection and Social Control Authority (ABT), met with Santa Cruz's departmental prosecutor, Jimmy López, to formally request the establishment of a Fiscal Commission. The objective: to investigate the deprivation of liberty for more than 30 hours, assaults, robberies and threats suffered by ABT officials and staff from the Santa Cruz provincial government in Guarayos province.
Ribera further confirmed that the ABT has already joined the complaint filed by the Departmental Government against the alleged perpetrators of the crimes. "There is a complaint against alleged perpetrators, taking into account the desperation that existed on the part of both institutions, including the Police, due to the disappearance of these officials," declared the legal expert upon leaving the Santa Cruz Departmental Public Prosecutor's Office. He added that one of the officials went missing for eight hours after fleeing into the forest. "We know that they have been subjected to inhumane treatment, humiliation and circumstances that will be demonstrated during the investigation and the maximum penalty under the law will be sought," he emphasised.
Santa Cruz's deputy governor, Paola Aguirre—who is acting as governor in an interim capacity—alleged that the delegation was made up of officials from the national government and the Ministry of the Environment. The group reportedly travelled to the Blanco and Negro Rivers Wildlife Reserve, located between Guarayos and Marbán provinces, to conduct an information survey following a complaint of land seizure in a protected area. According to Aguirre, the officials were ambushed and deprived of their liberty during that journey. The official reported that after learning of the incident, the Departmental Government communicated directly with the local community members.
However, the official version was challenged from the region. Mateo Justiniano, president of the Urubichá Community Council, dismissed the claim that the detention occurred in that municipality. "No leader from any zone knows about what supposedly happened, nor did they provide the names of either those detained or those supposedly detaining them. They should clarify that," Justiniano told El Deber.
For his part, Roberto Urañavi Aramendaro, president of one of the directorates of the Central Union of Guarayos Indigenous Peoples' Organisations (Copnag), rejected statements made by the subgovernor of Guarayos province, Sammy Gutiérrez, regarding the alleged detention of the 12 public officials and demanded that the authority retract the statements within 48 hours. Urañavi Aramendaro maintained that the events did not occur in Urubichá jurisdiction, but rather in a Mennonite colony located in Marbán province, in Beni department.
Santa Cruz's provincial government had previously confirmed, through a statement distributed on its social media accounts, the release of the twelve detained officials. The formal investigation into those responsible remains open.
Source: El Deber