Colombia: Investigate threats against human rights organisations

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SE Sr. Juan Jos? Quintana Aranguren
Ambassador
Permanent Representative
Chemin du Champ-d?Anier 17-19
1209 Geneva
Email:?[email protected]

Your Excellency,

I am William Nicholas Gomes, Human rights activist and Freelance journalist.

I would like to draw your attention to the following case.

Throughout the month of March multiple threats have been made against members of a number of human rights organisations in Colombia, including the Movimiento de Victimas de Crimenes de Estado ? MOVICE (Movement of Victims of State Crimes) and the Comit? de Solidaridad con los Presos Pol?ticos ? CSPP (Political Prisoner’s Solidarity Committee).

The threats have been presented in the form of pamphlets, an increasingly common practice throughout the country, and either hand delivered or emailed to various different individuals and groups. The most common format for these threats to take is a typed up page, signed and marked with the stamp of a paramilitary group, most frequently ?Las Aguilas Negras?, and threatening a group of named individuals and human rights defenders that they have a certain period of time within which they must leave the area they are in and they must cease all of their human rights activities, otherwise they will be further targeted.

Those targeted include Mr Jos? Humberto Torres, Mr Deivis Fl?rez and Ms Mar?a Cede?o (members of CSPP); Ms Rosario Montoya, Ms Ingrid Vergara Chav?z and Ms Martha D?az (members of MOVICE); Mr Mauricio Aviles, member of the Corporaci?n de Centros de Estudios y Desarrollo de los Derechos Humanos ? CEDERHNOS (Corporation of Study and Development Centres for Human Rights); Ms Soraya Bayuelo, Director of the Colectivo de Comunicaciones Montes de Mar?a (Communications Collective of Montes de Mar?a); Mr Fabian Oyaga, Director of the Unidad de Restituci?n de Tierra del Magdalena (Magdalena Unit for Land Restitution); Mr Jerry Garavito, member of the Centro de Investigaci?n y Educaci?n Popular (Centre for Investigation and Popular Education); Mr Juan David Ortega Jim?nez, a lawyer of the Fundaci?n Infancia Feliz (Happy Childhood Foundation); Mr Jairo Barreto L?pez, community leader and human rights defender in Montes de Mar?a; Mr Gary Mart?nez Gordon, human rights defender and student leader; as well as human rights defenders Ms Sandra Manjarr?s and Mr Agust?n Jim?nez.

On 16 March 2015, at approximately 8:30 pm, a black Twingo car (the registration plate of which is known) was observed outside the home of Ingrid Vergara Chav?z. Moments later a black high performance cylinder motorcycle, carrying two unidentified men, was noticed passing by the human rights defender’s home a number of times. Ingrid Vergara Chav?z phoned the national police, as the telephone provided to her as part of her security scheme by the National Unit of Protection was going straight to voice-mail. She also phoned her security guards, who arrived immediately. The black car drove off at high speed, the security guards gave chase but were unable to reach them. Ingrid Vergara Chav?z phoned the police again, with officers arriving 45 minutes after the first call had been made.

On 17 March 2015, the human rights defender was informed by members of her community that the previous day some men in the same type of car as described above had been asking for her whereabouts and had identified themselves as being members of the Seccional de Investigaci?n Criminal ? SIJIN (Criminal Investigation Section) of the National Police and were looking to speak with her.

The use of threatening pamphlets declaring human rights defenders to be members of guerilla groups and identifying them as military objectives is a tactic commonly employed in Colombia to intimidate human rights defenders. Those threatened face grave risks to their physical and psychological integrity and security. Most recently, Mr Carlos Alberto Pedraza Salcedo, a member of MOVICE and the Proyecto Colombia Nunca M?s (Never Again Project of Colombia) was killed in the department of Cudinamarca.

I continue to be gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of human rights defenders in Colombia. Moreover, given the fact that Colombia continues to record some of the highest levels of attacks on human rights defenders, including 55 documented killings in 2014, I reiterate that the Government is responsible for ensuring immediate and effective measures to protect those who have been threatened, regardless of budget issues within the National Protection Unit.

I urge the authorities in Colombia to:

1. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security of the human rights defenders named in the threatening pamphlets, and members of the organisations targeted;

2. Carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the threats, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards;

3. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Colombia are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions.

I respectfully remind you that the United Nations Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1998, recognises the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders, their right to freedom of association and to carry out their activities without fear of reprisals. We would particularly draw your attention to Article 6 (b): ?Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others: (b) As provided for in human rights and other applicable international instruments, freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms,? and to Article 12 (2): ?The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration.?

Please inform me of any actions that may be taken with regard to the above case.

Yours sincerely,

William Nicholas Gomes

 

Human Rights Activist & ?Freelance Journalist

Twitter @wnicholasgomes

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