Fw: URGENT ACTION Colombia: Families of the Disappeared (ASFADDES) threatened by Paramilitaries

["Nello Margiotta" <animarg at tin.it>]

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2001 23:27:55 -0800
> From: Randy Kay and Beatrice Ekwa Ekoko <grassroots at hwcn.org>
> To: HASC <hasc at tao.ca>
> Subject: Fw: Colombia: Families of the Disappeared (ASFADDES) threatened
by
>      Paramilitaries
>
>
>  > please circulate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> ----
>  > Families of the Disappeared (ASFADDES) threatened by Paramilitaries
>  >
>  > Urgent Action!
>  >
>  > Gladys AVILA (f), Secretary General of the Association of Families of
>  > the Detained-Disappeared (ASFADDES) Gloria HERNEY (f), ASFADDES
>  > General Coordinator other human rights workers with ASFADDES
>  >
>  >
>  >  Amnesty International is seriously concerned for the safety of
>  > Gladys Avila, Gloria Herney and other human rights defenders with the
>  > Asociacion de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos, (ASFADDES),
>  > Association of Families of the Detained-Disappeared.
>  >
>  >  Following threatening telephone calls and months of constant
>  > surveillance by unknown individuals, ASFADDES workers had not gone
>  > into their Bogota office on 21 October. At 8pm, Gladys Avila,
>  > Secretary General of ASFADDES, received an anonymous call at her
>  > home, in which the caller said: "ah les dio miedo y no
>  > salieron las hijueputas", "so you were scared and you didn't go out
>  > you sons-of-bitches".  Using a mobile telephone provided by the
>  > Minister of Interior as a security measure, Gladys Avila telephoned
>  > her colleague Gloria Herney to warn her about what had just happened.
>  > Shortly after the call, the mobile telephone stopped working.
>  >
>  >  At 9pm, on the same day, Gloria Herney saw three men she did not
>  > know, waiting outside her building as she returned to her home.
>  > Feeling unsafe, she decided not to enter. In recent weeks anonymous
>  > telephone calls have been made to the ASFADDES office in which the
>  > callers ask whether Gloria Herney is at work, before hanging up.
>  >
>  >  In addition, interference is heard on the office telephones, raising
>  > concerns that they are being tapped. Criminal
>  >  investigations into the forced "disappearance" of ASFADDES workers
>  > Angel Quintero and Claudia Monsalve in October 2000 in Medellin, have
>  > established that members of the security forces were illegally
>  > tapping ASFADDES's telephones in Medellin prior to their
>  > "disappearance".
>  >
>  >  Concerns are further heightened by the fact that these events,
>  > follow the circulation of a message on the Internet at the end of
>  > August, which declared that the Grupo de Limpieza Urbana, Urban
>  > Cleansing Group of the army-backed paramilitary group Autodefensas
>  > Unidas de Colombia (AUC), United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia,
>  > would be starting a "clean-up campaign" (campana de limpieza) to rid
>  > Colombia of people they believe to be urban guerrillas. The message
>  > was received by email by several non- governmental human rights
>  > organizations.
>  >
>  >
>  >  BACKGROUND INFORMATION
>  >
>  >  ASFADDES is a non-governmental organization made up of relatives of
>  > people who have "disappeared" during the ongoing conflict in
>  > Colombia. It aims to discover what has happened to the "disappeared"
>  > and bring those responsible to justice. ASFADDES members, other human
>  > rights defenders and witnesses of human rights violations, have
>  > endured death threats, killings and disappearances at the hands of
>  > the security forces and their
>  >  paramilitary allies. In October 2000, Angel Quintero and Claudia
>  > Monsalve of the Medellin branch of ASFADDES "disappeared" (see UA
>  > 259/00, AMR 23/081/00, 9 October 2000). Their whereabouts remain
>  > unknown.
>  >
>  >  The security forces and their paramilitary allies have a policy of
>  > accusing human rights organizations of supporting or
>  > collaborating with the guerillas, so they can present them as
>  > legitimate military targets. At least 25 human rights defenders have
>  > been killed or "disappeared" in the last three years.
>  >
>  >  RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals urgently in Spanish or
>  > English
>  >  in your own style
>  >
>  >  - expressing concern for the safety of human rights defenders Gladys
>  >  Avila, Gloria Herney and others working with ASFADDES;
>  >
>  > - calling for full and impartial investigations into the threatening
>  > telephone calls, the possible telephone tapping of the ASFADDES
>  > offices and the constant surveillance faced by members of ASFADDES;
>  >
>  >  - urging that all measures, deemed appropriate by those under threat
>  > themselves, are taken to guarantee their safety;
>  >
>  >  - calling for a full and impartial investigation into the recent
>  > paramilitary threats circulated via the Internet to a number of
>  > non-governmental organizations, urging that the results are made
>  > public and those responsible brought to justice;
>  >
>  >  - urging the government to adhere to its obligations to protect
>  > human rights defenders, as set out by the United Nations Declaration
>  > on the Rights and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of
>  > Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights
>  > and Fundamental Freedoms, and by the Organization of American States;
>  >
>  >  - asking the authorities to take immediate action to dismantle
>  > paramilitary groups, in line with stated government commitments and
>  > United Nations recommendations.
>  >
>  >
>  >  APPEALS TO:
>  >
>  >  Senor Presidente Andres Pastrana
>  >  Presidente de la Republica
>  >  Palacio de Narino
>  >  Carrera 8 No. 7-26
>  >  Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
>  >  Fax:           + 57 1 286 7434/562 9300
>  >  Salutation:    Excelentisimo Sr. Presidente/Dear President
>  >  Pastrana
>  >
>  >  Dr. Gustavo Bell
>  >  Ministro de Defensa Nacional
>  >  Avenida Eldorado CAN - Carrera 52
>  >  Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
>  >  Fax:           + 57 1 286 4126 / 281 1213 / 222 1874
>  >  Salutation:    Dear Minister / Sr. Ministro
>  >
>  >  Sr. Armando Estrada Villa
>  >  Ministro del Interior
>  >  Palacio Echeverry
>  >  Carrera 8a, No.8-09, piso 2o.
>  >  Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
>  >  Fax:           + 57 1 341 9583 / 334 3960/286 8405/281 5884
>  >  Salutation:    Dear Sir / Sr. Ministro
>  >
>  >
>  >  COPIES TO:
>  >
>  >  Her Excellency Fanny Kertzman Yankelevitch
>  >  Ambassador for Colombia
>  >  360 Albert Street, Suite 1002
>  >  Ottawa, Ontario K1R 7X7
>  >  Fax: (613) 230-4416
>  >  Email: embcolot at travel-net.com
>  >
>  >  ASFADDES
>  >  AA 011446
>  >  Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
>  >
>  >
>  >  PLEASE TAKE QUICK ACTION ON THIS REQUEST FOR APPEALS.  THANK YOU.
>
>
> =====
> carolyn j konrad
> 169 market st. hamilton, ontario L8R 1P1
> (905)523-7879
> cj_konrad at yahoo.com
>
>
>
>
>
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