URGENT ACTION APPEAL UPDATE
Go to http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
to read this month's newsletter.
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29 April 2002
Further information on UA 62/02 issued 27 February 2002 and re-
issued 27 March 2002 and 6 March 2002
Fear for safety/ Possible 'disappearance'
COLOMBIA
Jose Antonio Perez (m) ] Ecopetrol employees
Hernando Silva Cely (m) ]
Other members of the Oil Workers' Union (USO) and Ecopetrol
workers, Department of Casanare
Released:
Gilberto Torres Martinez (m) - trade union leader
Trade union leader Gilberto Torres Martinez, was released on 7 April
in the region of the Llanos Orientales of Colombia, near Monterrey,
Casanare department. He was met by a humanitarian delegation
which reportedly included members of the International Red Cross as
well as members of other international and church non-governmental
organisations (NGOs).
Gilberto Torres Martinez had been abducted on 25 February by
members of the army-backed paramilitary group Autodefensas
Campesinas del Casanare (ACC), Peasant Self-Defence Forces of
Casanare.
During his captivity, members of the Oil Workers' Union (USO) and
Ecopetrol workers, had asked national and international human rights
organizations, to press the Colombian government to name a
humanitarian delegation to mediate with the ACC for his release.
There is no further information on the whereabouts of oil workers
Jose Antonio Perez and Hernando Silva Cely, who were abducted by
unidentified gunmen on 25 March.
FURTHER 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 Gilberto Torres Martinez
who was released on 7 April;
- urging them to take immediate action to ensure that Jose Antonio
Perez and Hernando Siva Cely are released unharmed,
- expressing concern for the safety of USO trade union activists and
Ecopetrol employees in Casanare and throughout the country;
- asking the authorities what measures, deemed appropriate by those
under threat themselves, they are going to take to guarantee the
safety of those at risk.
APPEALS TO:
President of Colombia
Senor Presidente Andres Pastrana
Presidente de la Republica
Palacio de Narino
Carrera 8 No. 7-26
Santafe de Bogota, COLOMBIA
Telegram: President Pastrana, Bogota, Colombia
Telex: 396 44281 PALP CO
Fax: 011 57 1 566 2071
Salutation: Dear President Pastrana / Excelentisimo Sr.
Presidente Pastrana
Minister of the Interior
Dr. Armando Estrada Villa,
Ministro del Interior, Ministerio del Interior,
Palacio Echeverry, Carrera 8a, No.8-09, piso 2o.,
Santafe de Bogota, COLOMBIA
Telegram: 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
Governor of the Department of Casanare
Sr. William Hernin Perez Espinel
Gobernador del Departamento de Casanare
Gobernacion de Casanare
Yopal, Casanare, COLOMBIA
Telegrams: Gobernador del Departamento de Casanare,
Casanare, Colombia
Fax: 011 57 8 755 8662
Salutation: Dear Governor Perez Espinel / Estimado Sr. Gobernador
Perez Espinel
National Advocate for the people
Sr. Eduardo Cifuentes Munoz,
Defensor del Pueblo, Defensoria del Pueblo,
Calle 55, No. 10-32/46 office 301,
Santafe de Bogota, COLOMBIA
Telegram: National Advocate, Bogota, Colombia
Fax: 011 57 1 640 0491
Salutation: Dear Mr. Cifuentes Munoz / Estimado Sr. Cifuentes
Munoz
COPIES TO:
CUT, Nacional
Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Colombia
Trade Union Confederation
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 June 10, 2002.
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