From: Colombian Labor Monitor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 14:08:56 -0500 (CDT) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: AI: Urgent Action #198/01 on Colombia ________________________________________________________________ AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION APPEAL ________________________________________________________________ Go to http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html to read this month's newsletter. 2 August 2001 UA 198/01 Fear for Safety COLOMBIA Members of the human rights organization Corporacion SEMBRAR Members of the Bogota-based human rights organization Corporacion Sembrar have been kept under surveillance and threatened. The threats appear to be related to the organization's activities in and around the city of Barrancabermeja, department of Santander, an area for which army-backed paramilitaries are waging a military campaign for control. In this context, Amnesty International is seriously concerned for their safety. On 16 July, an anonymous male caller told Sembrar 'look, we've got our eye on you because of the Barranca [Barrancabermeja] stuff. Report that.' ('oiga, mire ustedes estan en la mira por lo de Barranca [Barrancabermeja]. Comunique eso'). Members of Sembrar, as well as other people who work with the organization, have been watched on entering and leaving its office in Bogota. On 5 July, Sembrar and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) provided legal assistance during the detention, in Barrancabermeja, of several displaced people who were subsequently released. The armed forces and their paramilitary allies often consider those from displaced communities to be guerrilla sympathizers or collaborators. As a result, they often suffer serious human rights violations including killing and 'disappearance'. Sembrar, along with over a hundred other NGOs, is supporting a high profile international solidarity event, the Caravana Internacional por la Vida ('International Caravan for Life'), that left the capital Bogota today for Barrancabermeja and the nearby Sur de Bolivar region. Sixty-five international delegates participating in the Caravana will provide humanitarian assistance to the civilian population which is suffering serious hardship because of the armed conflict in the region. Amnesty International believes that this international attention focussed on Barrancabermeja and the surrounding area is providing vital support to human rights organisations and is helping them to continue their legitimate work, despite the threats against them. Sembrar has specialized in defending the legal rights of victims of human rights violations in various regions of Colombia since it was founded more than ten years ago. Since 1998 it has worked with social and human rights organisations in the city of Barrancabermeja, documenting human rights violations in the region, and supporting national and international solidarity initiatives with local communities. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Army-backed paramilitaries are now waging a military campaign for control of Barrancabermeja and the surrounding region. In the last four years they have taken control of almost all this region, massacring civilians and killing community activists. As the principal city and river port of the region, Barrancabermeja is their last key target. The few human rights organizations still working in the city are now the only force standing up to enormous pressure from paramilitary groups to collaborate with them. The paramilitaries are therefore intent on driving all human rights activists out of the town. Those who do not leave, or agree to collaborate, are at very grave risk. Human rights groups have consistently said that only international support will enable them to continue their work. There has been an increased presence of paramilitary forces in Barrancabermeja since December 2000 (See UA 340/00, AMR 23/90/00, 6 November 2000 and follow-up). Despite a heavy security force presence in the area, paramilitary forces have apparently been able to operate unhindered, and are reported to have set up checkpoints and to have killed several people in recent weeks. Although the precise location of these checkpoints have been reported to the security forces, they have taken no action to confront the paramilitaries. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible: - urging the Colombian authorities to take appropriate measures to guarantee the safety of members of the Corporacion Sembrar so they can continue their legitimate work for the defence and promotion of human rights; - calling for an immediate, impartial and full investigation into the telephone threat on 16 July and the surveillance of people entering and leaving the offices of Sembrar, asking for those responsible to be brought to justice; - urging the Colombian government to adhere to its obligations regarding human rights defenders as laid out in United Nations (UN) and Organisation of American States (OAS) declarations, and in line with repeated recommendations made by the UN to the Colombian government to take measures to guarantee the safety of human rights defenders; - expressing concern that the government has taken no effective action against paramilitary groups in the Barrancabermeja area, despite their own commitments and UN recommendations to combat and dismantle these groups; - calling for a full and impartial investigation into links between the security forces and paramilitary groups operating in the department of Santander, urging that the results are made public, and that those responsible for supporting and participating in such groups are brought to justice. APPEALS TO: President of the Republic: Senor Presidente Andres Pastrana Arango Presidente de la Republica Palacio de Narino, Carrera 8 No.7-26 Santafe de Bogota, COLOMBIA Fax: 011 57 1 566 2071 / 336 2109 / 337 1351 Telegram: Presidente de la Republica, Bogota, Colombia Salutation: Dear President / Excmo. Sr. Presidente Minister of Defense: Dr. Gustavo Bell Lemus Ministro de Defensa Nacional Ministerio de Defensa Nacional Avenida Eldorado CAN - Carrera 52 Santafe de Bogota, Colombia Telegram: Ministro de Defensa, Bogota, Colombia Fax: 011 57 1 222 0059 Salutation: Dear Minister / Sr. Ministro Governor of Santander Department: Gobernador del Departamento de Santander Sr. Jorge Eliecer Gomez Villamizar Gobernacion de Santander, Calle 37, No. 10-30 Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia Faxes: 011 57 76 339889 Telegrams: Gobernador del Departamento, Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia Salutation: Dear Governor / Sr. Gobernador COPIES TO: National non-governmental human rights organization: SEMBRAR Apartado Aereo 34692 Santafe de Bogota Colombia Ambassador Luis Alberto Moreno Embassy of Colombia 2118 Leroy Pl. NW Washington DC 20008 Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after September 13, 2001. ________________________________________________________________ **************************************************************** * CLM-NEWS is brought to you by the COLOMBIAN LABOR MONITOR at * * http://www.prairienet.org/clm * * and the CHICAGO COLOMBIA COMMITTEE * * Email us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or * * Dennis Grammenos at [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * To subscribe send request to [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * subscribe clm-news Your Name * **************************************************************** _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
