Colombia
10.07.00
Urgent Interventions
Appeal: Death threats in Colombia
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
Case COL 100700
The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Colombia.
Brief description of the situation:
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has been informed that there is a grave danger that a massacre may take place in the El Pinal and La Cruz quarters, which are the places of settlement of displaced persons in Medellin.
In accordance with information received from the Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners, an organisation which is a member of the OMCT network, on July 2nd 2000 a group of heavily armed men dressed in civilian clothes, who identified themselves as members of the AUC (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia) arrived at the El Pinal and La Cruz quarters and threatened to murder various inhabitants considering them to be guerrilleros. These threats coincided with road blocks set up by paramilitary in the environments of Medellin.
The reports add that since then the inhabitants of the communities concerned find themselves totally defenceless. On July 3rd 2000, a group of youths who were going to the nature park of Piedras Blancas was held up by the paramilitary who abducted one of the youths (name unknown) whose whereabouts are unknown to this day. On the same date a group of 11 policemen arrived at the De la Cruz quarter in the Northeast commune of Medellin and harassed the inhabitants by shooting in the air and claiming that there were members of the guerrilla in the community.
According to information these facts have been taking place since the Commandant of the Fourth Brigade of the Army, with headquarters in Medellin, General Eduardo Herrera Vervel, declared that a protest by the displaced persons during the 27th to 30th June 2000 was an act promoted by the Ninth Front of the FARC.
The International Secretariat shares the serious concern of the Colombian human rights organisations for the safety and physical and psychological integrity of all the persons displaced with violence, especially those who are in the Medellin settlements.
Action requested:
Please write to the Colombian authorities urging them to:
ensure the respect of the physical and psychological integrity of the persons victims of forced displacement, especially those who live in the El Pinal and La Cruz quarters and take the appropriate measures to prevent new massacres;
carry out an immediate, full and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned facts in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial before an ordinary court and impose upon them the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
to comply immediately with the recommendations made by the international and regional human rights organisms, including the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, as well as the human rights NGOs;
guarantee in all circumstances the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country in accordance with national laws and international standards on human rights.
Addresses:
S.E. Andrés Pastrana Arango, Presidente de la República, Carrera 8 n°. 7-26, Palacio de Nariño, Santa Fe de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 286 74 34; (+57 1) 286 68 42; (+57 1) 284 21 86
Doctor Humberto de la Calle Lombana, Ministro del Interior, Ministerio de Gobierno, Cra. 8 n°. 8-09 Santa Fe de Bogotá, Palacio de Nariño. Santa Fe de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 286 80 25
Doctor Jaime Bernal Cuellar, Procurador General de la Nación, Carrera 5 n°. 15-80, Santa Fe de Bogotá.
Fax: (+57 1) 342 97 23; (+57 1) 2817531
Doctor Alfonso Gómez Méndez, Fiscal General de la Nación, Diagonal 22 B n°. 52-01, Santa Fe de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 570 20 22.
Doctor José Fernando Castro Caycedo, Defensor del Pueblo, Defensoría del Pueblo, Calle 55 n°. 10-32 Santa Fe de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 346 12 25
Doctor Gustavo Bell, Consejería Presidencial de Derechos Humanos, Calle 7 n°. 6-54 Piso 3, Santa Fe de Bogotá, D. C. Telefax: (+57 1) 337 13 51
General Fernando Tapias Stahelin, Comandante de las Fuerzas Militares, Avenida el Dorado, Cra. 52, Santa Fe de Bogotá. Telefax: (+57 1) 222 29 35
Embassy of Colombia in your respective countries.
Geneva, 10 July 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Case COL 100700
The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Colombia.
Brief description of the situation:
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has been informed that there is a grave danger that a massacre may take place in the El Pinal and La Cruz quarters, which are the places of settlement of displaced persons in Medellin.
In accordance with information received from the Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners, an organisation which is a member of the OMCT network, on July 2nd 2000 a group of heavily armed men dressed in civilian clothes, who identified themselves as members of the AUC (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia) arrived at the El Pinal and La Cruz quarters and threatened to murder various inhabitants considering them to be guerrilleros. These threats coincided with road blocks set up by paramilitary in the environments of Medellin.
The reports add that since then the inhabitants of the communities concerned find themselves totally defenceless. On July 3rd 2000, a group of youths who were going to the nature park of Piedras Blancas was held up by the paramilitary who abducted one of the youths (name unknown) whose whereabouts are unknown to this day. On the same date a group of 11 policemen arrived at the De la Cruz quarter in the Northeast commune of Medellin and harassed the inhabitants by shooting in the air and claiming that there were members of the guerrilla in the community.
According to information these facts have been taking place since the Commandant of the Fourth Brigade of the Army, with headquarters in Medellin, General Eduardo Herrera Vervel, declared that a protest by the displaced persons during the 27th to 30th June 2000 was an act promoted by the Ninth Front of the FARC.
The International Secretariat shares the serious concern of the Colombian human rights organisations for the safety and physical and psychological integrity of all the persons displaced with violence, especially those who are in the Medellin settlements.
Action requested:
Please write to the Colombian authorities urging them to:
ensure the respect of the physical and psychological integrity of the persons victims of forced displacement, especially those who live in the El Pinal and La Cruz quarters and take the appropriate measures to prevent new massacres;
carry out an immediate, full and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned facts in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial before an ordinary court and impose upon them the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
to comply immediately with the recommendations made by the international and regional human rights organisms, including the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, as well as the human rights NGOs;
guarantee in all circumstances the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country in accordance with national laws and international standards on human rights.
Addresses:
S.E. Andrés Pastrana Arango, Presidente de la República, Carrera 8 n°. 7-26, Palacio de Nariño, Santa Fe de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 286 74 34; (+57 1) 286 68 42; (+57 1) 284 21 86
Doctor Humberto de la Calle Lombana, Ministro del Interior, Ministerio de Gobierno, Cra. 8 n°. 8-09 Santa Fe de Bogotá, Palacio de Nariño. Santa Fe de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 286 80 25
Doctor Jaime Bernal Cuellar, Procurador General de la Nación, Carrera 5 n°. 15-80, Santa Fe de Bogotá.
Fax: (+57 1) 342 97 23; (+57 1) 2817531
Doctor Alfonso Gómez Méndez, Fiscal General de la Nación, Diagonal 22 B n°. 52-01, Santa Fe de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 570 20 22.
Doctor José Fernando Castro Caycedo, Defensor del Pueblo, Defensoría del Pueblo, Calle 55 n°. 10-32 Santa Fe de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 346 12 25
Doctor Gustavo Bell, Consejería Presidencial de Derechos Humanos, Calle 7 n°. 6-54 Piso 3, Santa Fe de Bogotá, D. C. Telefax: (+57 1) 337 13 51
General Fernando Tapias Stahelin, Comandante de las Fuerzas Militares, Avenida el Dorado, Cra. 52, Santa Fe de Bogotá. Telefax: (+57 1) 222 29 35
Embassy of Colombia in your respective countries.
Geneva, 10 July 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.