Colombia
31.10.01
Urgent Interventions
Colombia: ten cases of enforced disappearance
Case COL 311001
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 of a number of occurrences of forced disappearances in Granada (Meta), Armenia (Quindío), Tibú (Departamento de Norte de Santander), Quipile (Cundinamarca), Neiva (Huila) and San Rafael (Antioquia).
According to the information received from the Asociación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos de Colombia (ASFADDES), the following cases of forced disappearances have recently been reported.
Mr Gilberto Campos Pastrana, 48, father of two, driver disappeared on 8 September 2000 at around 11.00am as he was leaving Granada for Puerto Lleras accompanied by a young assistant whose name remains unknown. Until four months before his death, when he began travelling to Meta, Mr. Pastrana had always travelled for his work to Florencia (Caqueta). On 11 September 2000, the Intelligence section of the Police (SIJIN) found the car he had been driving on the road to Puerto Caldas. He and the young man are still missing.
Mr. Gabriel Humberto Ocampo, 39, from the area of Armenia and the brothers César Augusto Díaz López, 37 and Jorge Iván Díaz López, 23, also from Armenia have been missing since 12 May 2001, when they left their homes in Villa Dorada, Armenia at 4.30 am to go to Cauca Department for their work as salespersons.
Mr William Marino Wallens Villafañe, 48, from Roldanillo (Valle), security guard in the Superintendency of Catatumbo for Ecopetrol, has been missing since the 29 May 2001, when he was last seen at about 9.30pm as he left the company on his motorcycle to go home to the district of Barco, Rodanillo. According to the information, it has been pointed out that Mr. William Marino Wallens Villafañe also led sports activities in the region and worked on the local radio sports programme.
Mr. Edwin Leonel Cruz and Mr Aurelio Duque Zuluaga have been missing since 10 August 2001, when at about 5.15am they left for work in a Campero vehicle full of merchandise. They took the road via Corralejas, La Sierra and Quipile to go to Mesa (Cundinamarca). Their families have found out that they were in a cafeteria in the village of Sierra (Quipile municipality) at about 7.00am, and that they went in the direction of the village of Varsovia, where their trace was lost.
Mr Wilson Guzmán Vera, 22, has been missing since 28 September 2001, when he decided to travel to Neiva to his residence located in San Vicente del Caguán (Caquetá). He took a taxi to the transport terminal where he should have taken a car to his residence; he apparently never arrived there.
According to information from the workers’ union Central Unitaria de los Trabajadores (CUT), Mr Julio Ernesto Ceballos Guzmán, teacher at the high-school Liceo San Vicente and member of the teachers’ association Asociación de Institutores de Antioquia (ADIDA), has been missing since 15 October 2001 in the municipality of San Rafael.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT again condemns these new occurrences of extreme violence, the severe persecution of the civil population, the apparent impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators and the failure of the authorities to provide effective protection measures to prevent these events.
Requested Action:
Please write to the Colombian Authorities urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to locate the above-mentioned persons and to guarantee their physical and psychological integrity;
ii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the above.mentioned events in order to identify those reponsible, bring them to justice and apply the civil, penal or adminstrative sanctions stipulted by law;
iii. fully execute the recommendations made by international and regional human rights organisations, including those of the High Commission for Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the Inter.American Human Rights Commission as well as national and governmental human rights organisations;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental liberties in all the country in accordance with national law and international human rights norms.
Addresses
· S.E. Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Presidente de la República, Cra. 8 n .7-26, Palacio de Nariño, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 566 20 71
· Consejería Presidencial de Derechos Humanos, Calle 7 n . 6-54 Piso 3, Santafé de Bogotá, D. C. Fax: (+57 1) 337 13 51
· General Fernando Tapias Stahelin, Comandante de las Fuerzas Militares, Avenida el Dorado con Cra. 52, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 222 29 35; e-mail: siden@mindefensa.gov.co ; pilaque@cgm.mil.co
· Mission Permanente de la Colombie auprès de l’Office de las Nations Unies et des institutions spécialisées a Genève. Chemin du Champ d’Anier 17-19, 1209 Genève. Tel : (+41) 22 798 4554, 798 4555. E-mail: mission.colombia@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Colombia in your respective country.
Geneva, 31 October, 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
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 of a number of occurrences of forced disappearances in Granada (Meta), Armenia (Quindío), Tibú (Departamento de Norte de Santander), Quipile (Cundinamarca), Neiva (Huila) and San Rafael (Antioquia).
According to the information received from the Asociación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos de Colombia (ASFADDES), the following cases of forced disappearances have recently been reported.
Mr Gilberto Campos Pastrana, 48, father of two, driver disappeared on 8 September 2000 at around 11.00am as he was leaving Granada for Puerto Lleras accompanied by a young assistant whose name remains unknown. Until four months before his death, when he began travelling to Meta, Mr. Pastrana had always travelled for his work to Florencia (Caqueta). On 11 September 2000, the Intelligence section of the Police (SIJIN) found the car he had been driving on the road to Puerto Caldas. He and the young man are still missing.
Mr. Gabriel Humberto Ocampo, 39, from the area of Armenia and the brothers César Augusto Díaz López, 37 and Jorge Iván Díaz López, 23, also from Armenia have been missing since 12 May 2001, when they left their homes in Villa Dorada, Armenia at 4.30 am to go to Cauca Department for their work as salespersons.
Mr William Marino Wallens Villafañe, 48, from Roldanillo (Valle), security guard in the Superintendency of Catatumbo for Ecopetrol, has been missing since the 29 May 2001, when he was last seen at about 9.30pm as he left the company on his motorcycle to go home to the district of Barco, Rodanillo. According to the information, it has been pointed out that Mr. William Marino Wallens Villafañe also led sports activities in the region and worked on the local radio sports programme.
Mr. Edwin Leonel Cruz and Mr Aurelio Duque Zuluaga have been missing since 10 August 2001, when at about 5.15am they left for work in a Campero vehicle full of merchandise. They took the road via Corralejas, La Sierra and Quipile to go to Mesa (Cundinamarca). Their families have found out that they were in a cafeteria in the village of Sierra (Quipile municipality) at about 7.00am, and that they went in the direction of the village of Varsovia, where their trace was lost.
Mr Wilson Guzmán Vera, 22, has been missing since 28 September 2001, when he decided to travel to Neiva to his residence located in San Vicente del Caguán (Caquetá). He took a taxi to the transport terminal where he should have taken a car to his residence; he apparently never arrived there.
According to information from the workers’ union Central Unitaria de los Trabajadores (CUT), Mr Julio Ernesto Ceballos Guzmán, teacher at the high-school Liceo San Vicente and member of the teachers’ association Asociación de Institutores de Antioquia (ADIDA), has been missing since 15 October 2001 in the municipality of San Rafael.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT again condemns these new occurrences of extreme violence, the severe persecution of the civil population, the apparent impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators and the failure of the authorities to provide effective protection measures to prevent these events.
Requested Action:
Please write to the Colombian Authorities urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to locate the above-mentioned persons and to guarantee their physical and psychological integrity;
ii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the above.mentioned events in order to identify those reponsible, bring them to justice and apply the civil, penal or adminstrative sanctions stipulted by law;
iii. fully execute the recommendations made by international and regional human rights organisations, including those of the High Commission for Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the Inter.American Human Rights Commission as well as national and governmental human rights organisations;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental liberties in all the country in accordance with national law and international human rights norms.
Addresses
· S.E. Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Presidente de la República, Cra. 8 n .7-26, Palacio de Nariño, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 566 20 71
· Consejería Presidencial de Derechos Humanos, Calle 7 n . 6-54 Piso 3, Santafé de Bogotá, D. C. Fax: (+57 1) 337 13 51
· General Fernando Tapias Stahelin, Comandante de las Fuerzas Militares, Avenida el Dorado con Cra. 52, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 222 29 35; e-mail: siden@mindefensa.gov.co ; pilaque@cgm.mil.co
· Mission Permanente de la Colombie auprès de l’Office de las Nations Unies et des institutions spécialisées a Genève. Chemin du Champ d’Anier 17-19, 1209 Genève. Tel : (+41) 22 798 4554, 798 4555. E-mail: mission.colombia@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Colombia in your respective country.
Geneva, 31 October, 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.