Urgent Action: Aggression and Threats against CREDHOS on the Rise Again19 October 1999CREDHOS Barrancabermeja |
What you should doPlease contact the authorities below and demand
Contacts
Madeleine Albright
William Cohen
Ambassador Curtis Kamman
Colonel Diego Gutierrez
General Herrera Verbel
Gustavo Bell Lemus
Andres Pastrana
Jaime Bernal Cuellar
Alfonso Gomez Mendez
Fernando Castro Caycedo
Brigadier General Gabriel Eduardo Contreras |
The Regional Corporation for Human Rights Defense (CREDHOS) denounces to the national and international communities that there have been serious acts against members of its board and its offices. Last weekend (between the 16th and 18th of October) our office was broken into and searched. The intruders entered through the main door, breaking the locks on the doors and stealing documents, office equipment, papers, and other items that include: the CPU of the computer which contains the last five years of the Corporation's work (denouncements, documents pertaining to legal proceedings against the State, projects, investigations, reports, etc.); a fax machine, paper supplies, files, a camera, and cash, among other things. It is public knowledge at a regional, national, and international level that human rights workers in the region have been the subject of constant and continuous threats. Six members of CREDHOS have been assassinated, and many have been forced into exile, most recently OSIRIS BAYTHER (former president) and MARCO TULIO TORRES (a CREDHOS promoter in San Pablo) have received death threats from the United Self-Defense Groups of Santander and Sur del Cesar (AUSAC). On repeated occasions, CREDHOS has been listed as a military target, and the members of its board have been threatened with death. For this reason, we believe that these new and serious acts are part of a demonic strategy to silence the voice that has been lifted up as the “Moral Conscience of Magdalena Medio. It is especially striking that these last three acts against CREDHOS occurred simultaneously. On October 5, 1999, in a newspaper article, Colonel JAIME EDUARDO MARTINEZ of the National Police of Barrancabermeja threatened to bring legal action against board member FRANCISCO JOSE CAMPO because of our pronouncement regarding the events of September 27 when eight civilians from the city were massacred. Last weekend (between the 16th and 18th of October), our doors were forced, our office searched, and valuable information was stolen from our office. Then today, October 19, at 7:10 A.M., board member PABLO JAVIER ARENALES received a phone threat which stated “You smell like you are rotting, son of a bitch.” He had previously suffered an attempt against his life a few months ago. Given these occurrences, we believe that it is impossible to predict what the consequences will be for CREDHOS and other human rights workers in the Magdalena Medio region, since clearly there are no guarantees in place to protect our work. Whatever happens in the immediate future to human rights workers in the region will be the exclusive responsibility of the Colombian State. We demand
Call to action
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