URGENT ACTION APPEAL
Go to http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
to read this month's newsletter.
20 September 2002
Fear for safety/Death threats
COLOMBIA
Agustin Jimenez Cuello (m)
Flor Munera (f)
and other members of the Comite de Solidaridad con los Presos
Politicos (CSPP), Political Prisoners Solidarity Committee
Amnesty International is seriously concerned for the safety of Agustin
Jimenez Cuello and Flor Munera, members of the non-governmental
human rights organization Comite de Solidaridad con los Presos
Politicos (CSPP), Political Prisoners Solidarity Committee in Bogota,
following recent death threats made against them.
On 15 September Agustin Jimenez, president of the CSPP, was at a
baseball game in Bogota when he received a call on his mobile.
Agustin Jimenez asked the caller to identify himself; he received the
response: 'Te estamos esperando donde Flor, para darte piso' ('we
are with Flor, waiting to bury you'). This was followed by laughter.
Agustin asked the man to identify himself again; he was concerned
that the message might have been for someone else. He was then
told in a threatening tone; 'Asi ahora no sabes quien te habla, perro
Hijo de Puta te vamos a dar es piso' ('You don't know who you are
talking to now, you son of a bitch, we are going to bury you').
At the time of the call Flor Munera, treasurer of the organization was
in fact in the CSPP office. Concerns for her safety were raised by
Agustin Jimenez and other colleges.
In the past, both Flor Munera and Agustin Jimenez have been
followed and harassed by individuals who have later been identified
as participants in attacks against trade unionists and human rights
defenders.
The seriousness of threats that other members of the CSPP have
received in the past has prompted the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights to urge the Colombian government for special
protection measures for all CSPP members.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The CSPP is an internationally respected non-governmental human
rights organization which works for the legal defence of political
prisoners and the promotion and protection of civil and political rights.
CSPP workers have previously suffered serious human rights
violations at the hands of paramilitary groups.
Human rights organizations, particularly those seeking to uphold the
legal rights of people accused of 'subversion', are frequently labelled
as guerrilla collaborators or supporters by the security forces and
their paramilitary allies. These organizations are thus presented as
legitimate targets in the counter-insurgency war. Such accusations
are often followed by serious human rights violations such as
'disappearances', murders or torture, committed by army-backed
paramilitary groups, and also by soldiers. Armed opposition groups
have also been responsible for threats against and killings of human
rights defenders.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly
as possible:
- urging the Colombian authorities to take immediate and effective
action to protect Agustin Jimenez Cuello and Flor Munera and other
members of the Comite de Solidaridad con los Presos Politicos
(CSPP);
- asking them also to take immediate and effective action to ensure
that members of the CSPP can carry out their legitimate and
important work for the defence of human rights in safety;
- reminding the authorities of their obligations to human rights
defenders, as laid out in the United Nations Declaration on the Right
and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to
Promote and Protect Universally Recognised Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms, the Human Rights Defenders in the
Americas resolution of the Organization of American States and in
repeated recommendations made to them by the United Nations;
- urging the government to issue a public statement recognizing the
legitimacy of work for respect of the human rights of the civilian
population affected by the armed conflict;
- urging the authorities to take immediate action to dismantle
paramilitary groups, in line with repeated United Nations
recommendations.
APPEALS TO:
Vice-President of the Republic of Colombia:
Vicepresidente de la Republica de Colombia
Dr. Francisco Santos Calderon
Vicepresidencia
Carrera 8A No 5-57
Santafe de Bogota
COLOMBIA
Telegrams: Vice-Presidente Santos, Bogota, Colombia
Fax: 011 57 1 334 1138
Salutation : Excelentisimo Sr. Vicepresidente/ Dear Vice-President
Attorney General:
Dr. Luis Camilo Osorio,
Fiscal General de la Nacion, Fiscalia General de la Nacion,
Diagonal 22B 52-01 (Ciudad Salite),
Santafe de Bogota
Colombia
Telegram: Fiscal General, Bogota, Colombia
Fax: 011 57 1 570 2022 / 2017 (if someone answers say 'me da
tono de fax por favor')
Salutation: Dear Dr. Osorio / Estimado Dr. Osorio
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:
Non-governmental human rights organization:
Fundacion Comite de Solidaridad con los Presos Politicos
AA 22803
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 November 2, 2002.
Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
that promotes and defends human rights.
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