I: [gangbox] Fw: Urgent Action UA 302/00 on Colombia

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

 >
 > 28 September 2000
 >
 > UA 302/00          Fear for Safety/Extrajudicial Executions
 >
 > COLOMBIA
 > Leaders of SINTRAEMCALI and other trade unions in Valle del
 > Cauca department
 >
 >
 > The leader of a trade union campaigning against the privatization of
 > Cali's public services has narrowly escaped an assassination attempt.
 > Another member of the union died in the attack. The union's leaders
 > have received repeated death threats, and Amnesty International
 > believes that they and other union leaders in the region are in grave
 > danger.
 >
 > Ricardo Herrera is the leader of the Sindicato de Trabajadores de las
 > Empresas Municipales de Cali (SINTRAEMCALI), Cali Trade Union
 > of Municipal Service Workers. Gunmen reportedly tried to kill him on
 > 19 September, missing him but fatally wounding Omar Noguera, who
 > died a few days later.
 >
 > Two weeks before the attack, in the face of death threats, the union
 > had formally asked President Andres Pastrana to assume
 > responsibility for Herrera's safety. The SINTRAEMCALI executive
 > committee (junta directiva) have received repeated written and
 > telephone death threats throughout the year. A leading member of the
 > union, Alexander Lopez Maya, was recently forced to leave the area
 > in fear for his life, reportedly after plans to kill him were discovered.
 >
 > SINTRAEMCALI has waged a long campaign against the
 > privatization of Cali's electricity, water, sewage and
 > telecommunications utilities. Several foreign companies are
 > reportedly interested in purchasing the utility companies once they
 > are privatized. The municipal council voted against privatization in
 > February 2000, and since then the union's members have faced
 > increased death threats.
 >
 > SINTRAEMCALI has also denounced corruption in the municipal
 > utility services, and criminal investigations have led to a number of
 > convictions.
 >
 > Among the other trade unions in the department of Valle del Cauca
 > believed to be at risk are SINALTRAINAL, Trade Union of Food
 > Industry Workers, who have complained to the authorities that their
 > offices in Bugalagrande were being kept under constant surveillance.
 >
 > BACKGROUND INFORMATION
 > For many years the security and armed forces and their paramilitary
 > allies have accused trade unionists, human rights workers, members
 > of legal opposition groups and popular activists of being guerrilla
 > sympathizers or auxiliaries. The people they have accused have
 > frequently been harassed, tortured and killed, often by paramilitaries.
 > The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions Annual Survey
 > for 1999 recorded that during the previous year more than 90 trade
 > unionists had been murdered in Colombia.
 >
 > Amnesty International has documented systematic persecution of
 > trade unionists in Colombia. Seven trade union leaders were shot
 > dead during the 1998 national strike, including the vice-president of
 > the trade union umbrella organisation Central Unitaria de
 > Trabajaodores, Jorge Ortega Garcia (UA 274/98 issued 21 October
 > 1998, and re-issued 24 November 1998). None of these crimes has
 > been resolved and those responsible have not been brought to
 > justice.
 >
 > RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send
 > telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail letters:
 > - expressing concern for the safety of leaders of SINTRAEMCALI and
 > other trade unions in the Valle del Cauca;
 > - urging a full and impartial investigation into the attempt made on
 > Ricardo Herrera's life and the killing of Omar Noguera on 19
 > September, the reported plans to kill Alexander Lopez, and the
 > repeated written and telephoned death threats against
 > SINTRAEMCALI in the last few months, with the results be made
 > public and those responsible brought to justice;
 > - asking the authorities what action they will take to guarantee the
 > safety of those at risk;
 > - 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
 > Telegrams:     President Pastrana, Bogota, Colombia
 > Faxes:    011 57 1 286 7434/287 7939/284 2186/289 3377
 > Salutation:    Dear President / Excmo. Sr Presidente
 >
 > Minister of Interior:
 > Senor Humberto De La Calle
 > Ministro del Interior
 > Ministerio del Interior
 > Palacio Echeverry
 > Carrera 8a, No.8-09, piso 2o.
 > Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
 > Telegrams:     Ministro Interior, Bogota, Colombia
 > Faxes:    011 57 1 286 8025
 > Salutation:    Dear Sir / Sr. Ministro
 >
 > Governor of Valle del Cauca Department:
 > Senor Juan Fernando Bonilla
 > Gobernador del Departamento de Valle del Cauca
 > Gobernacion de Valle del Cauca
 > A.A. 8759
 > Santiago de Cali, Colombia
 > Telegrams:     Gobernador, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
 > Faxes:    011 57 2 885 8813
 > Salutation:    Dear Governor / Sr. Gobernador
 >
 > COPIES TO:
 > Trade Union Confederation:
 > Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT)
 > Apartado Aereo 221
 > Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
 >
 > Ambassador Luis Alberto Moreno
 > Embassy of Colombia
 > 2118 Leroy Pl. NW
 > Washington DC 20008
 >
 > Please contact your Representative and/or two Senators and ask
 > them if they were aware of this case and what they can do for those
 > affected (threatened/attacked, etc).
 >
 > Senate offices are:      The Honorable (full name)
 >                     United States Senate
 >                     Washington, DC 20510
 >
 > House offices are:       The Honorable (full name)
 >                United States House of Representatives
 >
 >                Washington, DC 20515
 >
 > 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 9, 2000.
 >
 > This information is from Amnesty International's research
 > headquarters in London, England. A.I. is an independent worldwide
 > movement working for the international protection of human rights. It
 > seeks the release of people detained because of their beliefs, color,
 > sex, ethnic origin, language or religious creed, provided they have not
 > used nor advocated violence. These are termed prisoners of
 > conscience. It works for fair and prompt trials for all political
 > prisoners and works on behalf of such people detained without
 > charge or trial. It opposes the death penalty, extra-judicial executions
 > (political killings), 'disappearances' and torture or other cruel,
 > inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of all prisoners
 > without reservation. Amnesty International promotes awareness of
 > and adherance to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
 > other internationally recognized human rights instruments, the
 > values enshrined in them and the indivisibility and interdependence
 > of all human rights and freedoms.
 >
 > 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.
 >
 > Please read the monthly Urgent Action Network Newsletter posted on
 > the web at: http://www.amnesty-USA.org/urgact/newslett.html
 >
 > Urgent Action Network
 > Amnesty International USA
 > PO Box 1270
 > Nederland CO 80466-1270
 > Email: sharriso@aiusa.org
 > http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgact/
 > Phone: 303 258 1170
 > Fax:     303 258 7881