URGENT ACTION APPEAL
Go to http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
to read this month's newsletter.
11 April 2002
UA 111/02 Fear for safety/abduction
COLOMBIA
Arturo Vasquez Galeano (m), community leader and trade union
activist
Killed:
Diofanol Sierra Vargas (m) ]
Oscar Alfonso Jurado (m) ] Trade union leaders
Alfredo Zapata Herrera (m) ]
Trade union activist Arturo Vasquez Galeano was abducted on 5
April, by men believed to be army-backed paramilitaries. Another
trade union leader had been killed two days earlier, and two more
have been killed since. Amnesty International is gravely concerned
for his safety, and for that of other trade unionists in Colombia.
Arturo Vasquez Galeano is a member of the umbrella organisation of
Colombian trade unions, the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT),
Colombian Trade Union Confederation. He was leaving work in
Abejorral Municipality, Antioquia Department, on his way to Medellin,
when he was abducted.
One of the leaders of the cement workers' union (SUTIMAC), Alfredo
Zapata Herrera, had been abducted on 3 April as he travelled home
from his job at the El Cairo Cement Works, Antioquia Department, on
the employees' bus. Members of the army-backed paramilitary group
Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), United Self-Defence
Forces of Colombia, reportedly stopped the bus, forced Alfredo off
and took him away. His body was found the following day, near the
spot where he had been abducted, with several gunshot wounds.
On 8 April 2002, paramilitaries reportedly broke into the house of food
workers' union (SINTRAINAL) leader Diofanol Sierra Vargas, in
Barrancabermeja, Santander department. They dragged him into the
street and shot him dead in front of his family.
The next day in Cali, Valle del Cauca Department, trade unionist
Oscar Alfonso Jurado was shot twice by an unknown gunman, and
died instantly, as he waited for a bus to work. He was one of the
leaders of the chemical workers' union, SINTRAQUIM.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The security and armed forces and their paramilitary allies have often
accused trade unionists, of being guerrilla sympathizers or auxiliaries.
As a result trade unionists have frequently been harassed, tortured
and killed, often by paramilitaries. The International Confederation of
Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) recorded that in 2001 alone, over 160
trade unionists were murdered, and that harassment and violence is
widespread. According to reports from the CUT, so far this year some
50 trade unionists have been killed the majority by army-backed
paramilitaries.
SINALTRAINAL and SUTIMAC trade union members have been
threatened by army-backed paramilitaries in the past (UA 59/02
issued 25 February 2002 and UA 74/01 issued 30 March 2001).
The full details of the three murdered trade unionists are as follows:
- Diofanol Sierra Vargas: Director of the Sindicato Nacional de
Trabajadores de la Industria de Alimentos - Seccional
Barrancabermeja, (SINALTRAINAL), National Union of Food Industry
Workers - Barrancabermeja Section;
- Oscar Alfonso Jurado: Director of the Sindicato Nacional de
Trabajadores de la Industria Quimica de Colombia - Seccional
Yumbo, (SINTRAQUIM), National Union of Chemical Industry
Workers - Yumbo Section, Valle del Cauca Department;
- Alfredo Zapata Herrera: Director of the Sindicato Unitario de
Trabajadores de la Industria de Materiales para la Construccion -
Seccional Santa Barbara, (SUTIMAC), Cement Workers Union -
Santa Barbara Section, Antioquia
Department.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly
as possible:
- urging the authorities to order an independent, impartial and
conclusive investigation into the abduction of Arturo Vasquez
Galeano, and bring those responsible to justice;
- urging them to take immediate action to ensure that Arturo Vasquez
Galeano is released unharmed;
- expressing concern for the safety of CUT trade union activists
nationally following the abduction of Arturo Vasquez Galeano and the
killing of Diofanol Sierra Vargas, and Alfredo Zapata Herrera by army-
backed paramilitaries and Oscar Alfonso Jurado by unidentified
gunmen;
- asking the authorities what measures, deemed appropriate by
members of the CUT, SINTRAINAL, SUTIMAC and SINTRAQUIM,
they are going to take to guarantee their safety;
- calling for a full and impartial investigation into links between the
security forces and paramilitary groups operating in the departments
of Antioquia, Santander and Valle del Cauca, and urging that the
results are made public and those found responsible for supporting
and participating in such groups are brought to justice;
- urging the authorities to take immediate action to dismantle
paramilitary groups, in line with stated government commitments and
recommendations made by the UN and other intergovernmental
organizations.
APPEALS TO:
President of the Republic:
Senor Presidente Andres Pastrana Arango
Presidente de la Republica
Palacio de Narino
Carrera 8 No.7-26
Santafe de Bogota
COLOMBIA
Fax: 011 57 1 566 2071
Salutation: Dear President Pastrana Arango / Excmo. Sr.
Presidente Pastrana Arango
Minister of Interior:
Sr. Armando Estrada Villa
Ministro del Interior
Ministerio del Interior
Palacio Echeverry
Carrera 8a, No.8-09, piso 2o.
Santafe de Bogota
Colombia
Telegrams: Ministro Interior, Bogota, Colombia
Fax: 011 57 1 562 5298 (if someone answers say 'me da
tono de fax por favor')
Salutation: Dear Sir / Sr. Ministro
Commander of the Armed Forces:
General Fernando Tapias Stahelin
Comandante General de las Fuerzas Militares
Avenida El Dorado - Carrera 52,
Santafe de Bogota
Colombia
Telegrams: Comandante Fuerzas Militares, Bogota, Colombia
Fax: 011 57 1 222 2096
Salutation: Dear Commander Tapias Stahelin / Sr. General
Tapias Stahelin
COPIES TO:
Trade Union Confederation:
Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Colombia
Calle 35 N0 7-25, Piso 9
Santafe de Bogota
Colombia
Ambassador Luis Alberto Moreno
Embassy of Colombia
2118 Leroy Pl. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 232 8643
Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado office
between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time, weekdays only, if
sending appeals after May 23, 2002.
Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
that promotes and defends human rights.
Please do not repost this appeal to any part of the Internet
without prior permission from Amnesty International. Thank you for
your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881