To COLOMBIA SUPPORT NETWORK MEMBERS AND OTHER INTERESTED PERSONS:
We have received word that there have been strange persons and vehicles near the residence and workplace of a great friend of CSN, Marylen Serna Salinas in Popayan, Colombia, apparently seeking to harm her. Marylen, with her husband John Henry Gonzalez, founded a campesino support and human rights organization in Cajibio/Popayan, Colombia. She is a leading defender of human rights and President of the Asociacion de Mujeres por la Vida; a spokesperson for the Congress of the Peoples and the Cumbre Agraria (Agrarian Summit) and is a member of the National Committee of the National Council for Peace and a member of the National Executive of the Polo Democratico Party. She has reported that since last April she has identified the presence of strange persons and vehicles near her house, and after the National Unit of Protection took away the vehicle and escort she had been provided, she was followed as she traveled to a meeting of the Movement for Women for Life in Cajibio. And on May 19 a gray automobile with darkened windows was parked in front of her house, keeping her from leaving the house all day and attending meetings in Popayan which she had arranged to attend as a leader on several national platforms.
We call upon the government of President Duque and the National Unit of Protection to provide for the safety of Marylen, including seeing that she is provided with an armored vehicle and protective personnel as soon as possible. We join with the Movement of Women For Life in calling upon the Colombian government to restore completely the scheme of protection to allow Marylen to continue her vital work in defense of human rights.
We suggest that you send a letter to President Duque calling for protection for Marylen and an investigation of the threatening conduct she has received.
The Honorable Ivan Duque
President of Colombia
Casa de Narino
Carrera 8a, #7-26
Bogota, D.C.
Colombia
Email: contacto@presidencia.gov.co
(suggested letter)
Dear President Duque,
I write in response to threats against community leader Marylen Serna of Cajibio and Popayan, who is a nationally–recognized leader of campesino communities and is a member of the National Committee of the National Council of Peace. She is a longtime friend of the Colombia Support Network and has been a great support for our human rights programs.
I urge you to order immediate measures to protect and insure the safety of Marylen Serna and to order an investigation of the threating actions directed at her for the purpose of bringing criminal charges against those making these threats and ordering the end of such threats.
Sincerely,
(your name and address and, if you wish, an affiliation)
*********
(suggested letter)
The Honorable Diego Molano Aponte
Ministro de Defensa Nacional
Carrera 54, No/ 26-25
CAN
Bogota, D.C.
Colombia
Email: usuarios@mindefensa.gov.co
Dear Minister of Defense Molano,
(Repeat the two paragraphs of the letter to President Duque, them continue as follows) I am concerned that effective measures be taken at once to
provide proper protection to Marylen Serna.
Sincerely,
(your name and address and, if you wish, an affiliation)
*********
(suggested letter)
The Honorable Philip S. Goldberg
Ambassador of the United States of America
U.S. Embassy
Carrera 45, No. 24B-27
Bogota,
Colombia
Email: ACSBogota@state.gov
Dear Ambassador Goldberg,
I write to you from concern about threating actions that have recently been made against Ms. Marylen Serna, who has for many years been associated with education and human rights programs in her resident communities of Cajibio and Popayan, Colombia. Several times delegations of our organization, the Colombia Support Network, have visited her in Colombia and observed the important work that she has done in providing assistance to campesino communities and organizations. I ask that you convey our concerns to the Government of President Duque and impress upon him the importance of providing effective protection to our friend and companion in human rights and community activities.
Sincerely,
(your name and address and, if you wish, an affiliation)