Amnesty International USA Press Release
For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
NGOs Press President Uribe of Colombia to Address Wave of Violence Against Rights Defenders, Unionists
-- Uribe Advisor's Statements Contribute to Climate of Intolerance that Fosters Violence
(Washington) -- Recent statements by a close advisor to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe contributed to "a climate of political intolerance that fosters violence" shortly before a wave of killings, attacks, and threats against trade unionists and rights activists, a group of 22 international human rights organizations said in a joint letter to Uribe.
Four Colombian trade unionists -- some of whom were reportedly associated with a March 6 demonstration protesting state and paramilitary human rights violations -- were killed between March 4 and March 11. Members of human rights organizations have been subject to physical attacks, harassment, office break-ins and thefts of files in the past weeks. More than two dozen organizations and individuals received death threats purporting to come from paramilitary groups in the capital, Bogota.
Shortly before the attacks, presidential adviser José Obdulio Gaviria made a series of statements on national radio linking renowned victims' representative Ivan Cepeda and other organizers of the March 6 protest to the notoriously abusive guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). On February 11, one day after Gaviria first made the statements, the supposedly demobilized United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitary group released a statement echoing Gaviria's allegations.
"Baseless comments such as these are profoundly damaging to Colombian democracy and human rights, and place those against whom they are made in direct danger of violence," said the NGO coalition in a letter to President Uribe. "These statements stigmatize the legitimate work of thousands of human rights defenders, trade unionists, and victims, and can have a chilling effect on the exercise of rights to freedom of expression and free association."
The coalition of NGOs called on President Uribe to:
- Publicly disavow statements by Gaviria and others that linked the protest organizers to guerillas;
- Reject the recent wave of attacks and reaffirm his government's support for the protection of the legitimate work of trade unionists and other human rights defenders;
- Ensure a prompt and impartial investigation into each of the recent attacks, hold those responsible to account, and take decisive action to dismantle paramilitary groups and break their links to state officials.
The letter, a copy of which was also sent to the U.S. government, pointed out that "this string of threats and attacks calls directly into question the effectiveness of the paramilitary demobilization process."
The violence comes as the Bush administration is aggressively pressing the U.S. Congress to ratify a Free Trade Agreement with Colombia. "In the debate over the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, President Uribe has repeatedly claimed that he is protecting workers' rights," said the NGOs. "But the fact that President Uribe has allowed his presidential adviser to continue his harassment, even while trade unionists and rights defenders are being killed and threatened, suggests a real disconnect between Uribe's discourse and his actions."
The letter was signed by: AFRODES USA, Amnesty International USA, Center for International Policy, Center for Justice and International Law, Church of the Brethren Witness/Washington Office, Colombia Human Rights Committee, Conference of Major Superiors of Men, Friends Committee on National Legislation, General Board of Church and Society, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, Jesuit Conference, Latin America Working Group, Lutheran World Relief, Mennonite Central Committee, Mercy Corps, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, Refugees International, United Methodist Church, US Office on Colombia, Washington Office on Latin America, Witness for Peace.
The letter follows below.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20080326003