Ecuador
23.08.01
Urgent Interventions
Ecuador - Observatory Press Release: effects of the Colombia Plan in Ecuador
Paris, Geneva, 22 August 2001
PRESS RELEASE
EFFECTS OF THE COLUMBIA PLAN IN ECUADOR: Constitution of a “political and military” group against human rights defenders.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, expresses its grave concern about the appearance of a non-state group calling itself the “Legión Blanca” (White Legion). This group, which defines itself as “political and military” has made serious death threats against several human rights defenders and their families in Ecuador.
This confirms the position of the FIDH and of OMCT, which had already previously drawn attention to the increasing instability and violence in the Andean region, linking it to the negative consequences of the Colombia Plan. The Colombia Plan and the Andean Plan, as promoted and financed by the United States, contribute to the militarisation and to the creation and strengthening of military groups in the region.
On 30 July 2001, the following organisations - Fundación regional de Asesoría en Derechos Humanos (INREDH- Regional Foundation for Human Rights), the Servicio Paz y Justicia de Ecuador (SERPAJ- Service of Peace and Justice), the Comité Andino de Servicios (Andean Services Committee), and the Frente Ecuatoriano de Derechos Humanos (Ecuadorian Front for Human Rights) - all of which are committed to promoting and defending human rights and denouncing the negative effects of the Colombia Plan on the region, have received threatening e-mails addressed to several human rights defenders in Ecuador, signed by the National and Provisional Command of the White Legion. They contain explicit threats against the following human rights defenders in Ecuador, who are considered as targets of the “practical and operative units” (las unidades prácticas operativas) of the White Legion :
· Alexis Ponce, Spokesman of the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights of Ecuador (APDH) unjustly accused of being a subversive element and a guerrillero
· Pablo de la Vega, Coordinator of the Human Rights Documentation Centre unjustly accused of being a drugs trafficker and a subversive element
· Yanet Yanez, Colombo-Ecuadorian Network of Brotherhood and Solidarity, unjustly accused of being the “secretary of the Colombian guerrilleros”
· Elsie Monje, President of the Ecumenical Human Rights Commission (CEDHU), unjustly accused of being a subversive element
· Johnny Jimenez, President of the SERPAJ, unjustly accused of being a subversive element
· Inés Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the Ecuadorian Front for Human Rights(FEDHU), unjustly accused of being a subversive element
· Teresa Orrego, Colombo-Ecuadorian Network of Brotherhood and Solidarity.
The above mentioned persons are unjustly accused of having links with the Colombian “narcoterrorists” of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia: FARC) of Colombia and the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación nacional: ELN) and of bringing arms from Colombia to Ecuador with the aim of destabilising Ecuadorian democracy. The letter contains serious threats and states that the persons concerned will continue to receive threatening telephone calls, “at their offices, at home, or in any other places where they may frequently be seen with friends or family”. It also declares that “their days are counted and their actions watched” and that other names will shortly be published.
Both the FIDH and the OMCT are deeply concerned by the unjust and distasteful manner in which the members of the White Legion have sought to the discredit the important work of these well-known human rights defenders by making false accusations, and they fear for the lives of these Ecuadorian human rights defenders. Furthermore, there is a strong risk that the situation prevailing in Colombia, whereby human right defenders are the victims of attempted murder by paramilitary groups, will spread throughout the Andean region.
It is the responsibility of the Ecuadorian government to provide human right defenders with protection against violence, threats, retaliation and discrimination, as stated in article 12.2 of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the General Assembly of the United on the 9 December 1998.
The Observatory has already mentioned the harassment to which Mr. Alexis Ponce was subjected by the Ecuadorian authorities, obliging him to cancel a planned trip to Spain. The Observatory reiterates its grave concern over these serious threats against recognised human rights defenders, in retaliation for the their commitment to the defence and promotion of human rights.
The Observatory urges the government of the Republic of Ecuador to identify and punish the White Legion, so that defenders of human rights in Ecuador and can exercise their activities effectively.
Paris, Geneva, 22 August 2001
The Observatory, a joint FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency Line:
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch
Tel and fax FIDH +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 01 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 4122 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29
PRESS RELEASE
EFFECTS OF THE COLUMBIA PLAN IN ECUADOR: Constitution of a “political and military” group against human rights defenders.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, expresses its grave concern about the appearance of a non-state group calling itself the “Legión Blanca” (White Legion). This group, which defines itself as “political and military” has made serious death threats against several human rights defenders and their families in Ecuador.
This confirms the position of the FIDH and of OMCT, which had already previously drawn attention to the increasing instability and violence in the Andean region, linking it to the negative consequences of the Colombia Plan. The Colombia Plan and the Andean Plan, as promoted and financed by the United States, contribute to the militarisation and to the creation and strengthening of military groups in the region.
On 30 July 2001, the following organisations - Fundación regional de Asesoría en Derechos Humanos (INREDH- Regional Foundation for Human Rights), the Servicio Paz y Justicia de Ecuador (SERPAJ- Service of Peace and Justice), the Comité Andino de Servicios (Andean Services Committee), and the Frente Ecuatoriano de Derechos Humanos (Ecuadorian Front for Human Rights) - all of which are committed to promoting and defending human rights and denouncing the negative effects of the Colombia Plan on the region, have received threatening e-mails addressed to several human rights defenders in Ecuador, signed by the National and Provisional Command of the White Legion. They contain explicit threats against the following human rights defenders in Ecuador, who are considered as targets of the “practical and operative units” (las unidades prácticas operativas) of the White Legion :
· Alexis Ponce, Spokesman of the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights of Ecuador (APDH) unjustly accused of being a subversive element and a guerrillero
· Pablo de la Vega, Coordinator of the Human Rights Documentation Centre unjustly accused of being a drugs trafficker and a subversive element
· Yanet Yanez, Colombo-Ecuadorian Network of Brotherhood and Solidarity, unjustly accused of being the “secretary of the Colombian guerrilleros”
· Elsie Monje, President of the Ecumenical Human Rights Commission (CEDHU), unjustly accused of being a subversive element
· Johnny Jimenez, President of the SERPAJ, unjustly accused of being a subversive element
· Inés Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the Ecuadorian Front for Human Rights(FEDHU), unjustly accused of being a subversive element
· Teresa Orrego, Colombo-Ecuadorian Network of Brotherhood and Solidarity.
The above mentioned persons are unjustly accused of having links with the Colombian “narcoterrorists” of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia: FARC) of Colombia and the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación nacional: ELN) and of bringing arms from Colombia to Ecuador with the aim of destabilising Ecuadorian democracy. The letter contains serious threats and states that the persons concerned will continue to receive threatening telephone calls, “at their offices, at home, or in any other places where they may frequently be seen with friends or family”. It also declares that “their days are counted and their actions watched” and that other names will shortly be published.
Both the FIDH and the OMCT are deeply concerned by the unjust and distasteful manner in which the members of the White Legion have sought to the discredit the important work of these well-known human rights defenders by making false accusations, and they fear for the lives of these Ecuadorian human rights defenders. Furthermore, there is a strong risk that the situation prevailing in Colombia, whereby human right defenders are the victims of attempted murder by paramilitary groups, will spread throughout the Andean region.
It is the responsibility of the Ecuadorian government to provide human right defenders with protection against violence, threats, retaliation and discrimination, as stated in article 12.2 of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the General Assembly of the United on the 9 December 1998.
The Observatory has already mentioned the harassment to which Mr. Alexis Ponce was subjected by the Ecuadorian authorities, obliging him to cancel a planned trip to Spain. The Observatory reiterates its grave concern over these serious threats against recognised human rights defenders, in retaliation for the their commitment to the defence and promotion of human rights.
The Observatory urges the government of the Republic of Ecuador to identify and punish the White Legion, so that defenders of human rights in Ecuador and can exercise their activities effectively.
Paris, Geneva, 22 August 2001
The Observatory, a joint FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency Line:
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch
Tel and fax FIDH +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 01 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 4122 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29