From: Colombian Labor Monitor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 14:25:57 -0500 (CDT)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: CLM: Urgent Action Appeal - 13 September 2001
For regular updates throughout the day visit the most thorough
and complete Colombian news service at www.prairienet.org/clm
_________________________________________________________________________
Visit WWW.PRAIRIENET.ORG/CLM
_________________________________________________________________________
The following URGENT ACTION was received 12th September 2001 from the
National and International Campaign for Human Rights, Against
Privatisation, Corruption and the Criminalisation of Social Protest.
BLOQUE CAPITAL OF THE A.U.C. THREATEN LEADERS OF THE USO
(UNION SINDICAL OBRERA) IN BOGOTA.
The social organisations and human rights organisations below are
extremely worried by the threats against leaders of the Union Sindical
Obrera USO, EDGAR MOJICA VANEGAS and DANIEL RICO SERPA. We call on the
national and international community to demand that the Colombian
government provide all the necessary means to guarantee the physical
integrity and well-being of all the activists and leaders of this union
who today are in a position of high risk.
The leaders EDGAR MOJICA VANEGAS president of USO - Bogota Region, and
DANIEL RICO SERPA, Vice President of FUNTRAENERGETICA and Secretary of
Press and Propaganda of the national board of directors of USO have
been threatened on a range of occasions. In 1992 they were forced to
leave the city of Barrancabermeja, and have been unable to return, and
they were also forced to leave the country for a period of time.
THE EVENTS
1.- Between the 27th and the 31st of August 2001, EDGAR MOJICA received
threats on his mobile telephone where the aggressors stated "Don't think
that we have forgotten you, you great son of a bitch, we have you
located". These calls were preceded and followed by the sound of
gunfire on the phone, and the noise of a motorbike (the preferred means
of transport for paramilitary urban assassins).
2.- Between the 30th August and the 5th of September 2001, close to the
house of EDGAR MOJICA, in the Barrio (neighbourhood) of el "Claret" in
the south of the capital, two men on a motorbike asked questions about
the location of the leader of the leader. These men have been sighted on
a range of occasions by neighbours of the leader, and on one occasion
were collected by a four door car with blacked out windows outside the
house of the trade union leader.
3.- These events coincided with the visit by two men to the parents of
EDGAR MOJICA, who live in the city of Bucaramanga in Santander. The
individuals who identified themselves as JUAN CARLOS REY, and JORGE
PEREZ, stated that they were friends of Edgar when he was working in
Barrancabermeja many years ago and needed to get back in touch.
4.- In June and July 2001 the leaders of USO Bogota reported to the
Colombian authorities that they were being followed by high powered
motorbikes, and that the headquarters of the union, and the building of
ECOPETROL were being watched by unknown men. They also made a statement
concerning the presence of a grey Toyota with blacked out windows,
containing men carrying weapons.
5.- In May 2001 EDGAR MOJICA and DANIEL RICO received threatening
telephone calls in the offices of the Negotiating Commission of USO, and
in the headquarters of USO in Bogota, in which they would be subject to
an assassination attempt. The people who made the calls identified
themselves as members of "Bloque Capital" of the United Self Defence
Forces of Colombia (AUC).
6.- On the 3rd of May members of the Bogota Police, carried out a risk
assessment on the leaders and decided that they needed an urgent
personal security scheme to protect their lives.
7.- A member of the Police Intelligence Services in Bogota in a meeting
with Luis Carlos Zapata, attorney of the board of directors of USO in
Bogota, stated that they had information on a planned assassination
attempt against union leaders in Bogota and specifically the leaders of
USO. The same agent had a meeting with EDGAR MOJICA, and told him the
same thing.
8.- In the offices of the "Assembly for Peace of the USO", located on
calle 38 No 13 - 24 piso 3, a security guard was kidnapped and drugged,
and when he awoke he overheard four hooded men discussing how they had
managed to kidnap the wrong person.
9.- On the 22nd of April, during a day of protest organised by the CUT,
two suspicious men waited outside a cashpoint machine located on Kr 13
with calle 36 next to the office of ECOPETROL in Bogota. They watched
the trade union leaders carrying out their duties, and made several
mobile phone calls. The case was reported to the police, and the
individuals were detained but then quickly released. As many of you
familiar with the situation in Colombia will know, this kind of
situation where suspects are released without interrogation is a
frequent phenomena.
10.- In October 2000 a front of the AUC appeared in Bogota calling
themselves the "Bloque Capital" (capital block), and began distributing
leaflets with the names of well known social, trade union and human
rights leaders. The national leader of the AUC, Carlos Castano has
stated on a range of occasions that this block is present in Bogota.
11.- In the "El Tiempo" daily newspaper, Carlos Castano was quoted as
saying that "assassination attempts always have a reason. We kill trade
unionists because they stop people working." It is common knowledge that
in the year 2000, 145 trade unionists were assassinated, and so far in
2001 93 trade unionists have been murdered.
OFFICIAL COMPLAINTS FILED BY THE USO
All the above events have been presented to the Risk Evaluation Group of
the Ministry of Interior, the company ECOPETROL, and organisations of
State Security and Investigation. And we will highlight this below:
1.- In a document dated 3rd May 2001 sent to the Brigadier General JORGE
ENRIQUE LINARES MENDEZ, Commander of the Bogota Metropolitan Police,
the president of USO Bogota, EDGAR MOJICA called for a risk evaluation
and for security measures. On this same date he presented an official
complaint to the Public Prosecutors Office.
2.- On 4th May 2001 the national president of the USO , HERNANDO
HERNANDEZ, sent a letter to Dr. CLAUDIA PATRICIA CACERES Programme
Director of the Ministry of Interior's Protection Scheme calling for
urgent protection for EDGAR MOJICA and DANIEL RICO.
3.- On 31st of May CLAUDIA PATRICIA CACERES, sent a letter to the
president of ECOPETROL ALBERTO CALDERON ZULETA, in which she stated that
the Ministry of Interior did not have sufficient resources to provide
protection for the protection of the union leaders, and asked if
Ecopetrol could take on the costs.
4.- On 6th of June 2001, the president of ECOPETROL ALBERTO CALDERON
ZULETA, called for the provision of a scheme of protection by the
Ministry of Interior to be given to the threatened leaders in response
to the letter by the Ministry of Interior, on 31st of May 2001.
5.- Against the background of continued threats on the 30th of August
2001 the National President of USO wrote again to the President of
ECOPETROL calling for protection and demanding a date for the
implementation of a programme of security. As yet there has been no
response.
BACKGROUND
The leaders of USO, who represent petrol workers who work in ECOPETROL,
have been the victims of countless threats, harassment and arbitrary
detention.
During 1989 and 1994 more than a hundred workers affiliated to the union
were forced to leave their workplace in Barrancabermeja, and their
homes. Later on 18 workers were arbitrarily detained and cases
containing false evidence against them were set up.
The National President of the union Hernando Hernandez has been
subjected to various assassination attempts in Barrancabermeja,
Bucaramanga and Bogota.
WE CALL ON THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
To demand that the Colombian Government and all state organs to
investigate these cases, and identify and prosecute those responsible
for the threats and attempts against USO's leaders.
Call for the Human Rights Unit of the Ministry of Interior to carry out
the recommendations of its own State Security Organizations and provide
immediate security schemes for the leaders that have been threatened.
Schemes that contain Bodyguards chosen by the union for each leader, a
vehicle, weapons, bullet-proof jackets, and communication equipment
linking up to a network of trade union and human rights activists.
Demand that ECOPETROL and the Colombian Government guarantee the rights
of union organisation, freedom of expression, right to protest, and to
free association - all of which are supposed to be guaranteed under the
Colombian Constitution.
Asociacion para la Investigacion y Accion Social NOMADESC,
Corporacion Servicios Profesionales Comunitarios SEMBRAR,
La Union Sindical Obrera USO,
Sindicato de Trabajadores de Las Empresas Municipales de Cali
SINTRAEMCALI,
Sindicato De Los Trabajadores Universitarios De Colombia SINTRAUNICOL,
Central Unitaria De Trabajadores CUT - VALLE DEL CAUCA,
Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Mineria en Colombia SINTRAMINERCOL,
Movimiento Estudiantil Del Valle Del Cauca,
Fundacion Comite De Solidaridad Con Presos Politicos
FCSPP Seccional Valle del Cauca,
Sintramunicipio Bugalagrande,
Sintramunicipio Yumbo.
SEND URGENT MESSAGES DEMANDING PROTECTION TO:
Doctor ANDRES PASTRANA ARANGO,
President of the Republic,
Palacio de Narino,
Santafe de Bogota DC
Fax: 00571 3362109/ 337 1351 / 2867434 / 286 6842
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
ARMANDO ESTRADA VILLA
Ministro del Interior, Ministerio de Gobierno
Carrera 8 n. 8-09 Santa Fe de Bogota, Palacio de Nario.
Tel-fax (571 ) 2868025, 3343960 ext. 0630
GUSTAVO BELL LEMUS
Ministro de la Defensa, Ministerio de Defensa Nacional
Avenida El Dorado con carrera 52 CAN Santa Fe de Bogota
Tel-fax (571 ) 222 18 74
E-mail de la Secretara General: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
and
Alberto Calderon Zuleta,
Presidente ECOPETROL Empresa Colombiana de Petroleos,
Direccion: Cra 13 No. 36-24, Bogota, Colombia
Telefono: 00571 2344312 - Fax: 00571 2344099
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
WITH COPIES TO:
USO Emails: [EMAIL PROTECTED] and [EMAIL PROTECTED];
[EMAIL PROTECTED];
CUT Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED];
Campana Internacional Derechos Humanos Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED];
Colombia Solidarity Campaign Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
________________________________________________________________
****************************************************************
* 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 unsubscribe send request to [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* unsubscribe clm-news *
****************************************************************
_________________________________________________
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]
__________________________________________________
