Umana Mendoza was the lead lawyer in defending union leaders of the Colombian national telephone company TELECOM from charges of being terrorists--for going on a strike in opposition to sale of the company to foreign interests as a part of the Colombian government's neoliberal agenda. He also defended leaders of the USO union and assisted in the successful defense of Patriotic Union party leader and former Apartado mayor Jose Antonio Lopez Bula, who was falsely charged with planning a massacre in Apartado. His work in representing people wrongly charged with political crimes who were processed through the Faceless Justice system was of fundamental importance in promoting justice in Colombia.
Please write to the President of Colombia, urging that Umana's murderers be found and tried for this terrible crime and that effective measures be taken to protect those working in the human rights field. The national police led by General Rosso Jose Serrano should provide effective protection to these people, and arrest -- not protect-- paramilitary leaders such drug-trafficker Carlos Castano and others like him. Also send requests to the Colombian Ambassador to the U.S., and also to the U.S. State Department, requesting NO military assistance, including advisors, to Colombia.
April 19, 1998
Colombia Support Network
P.O. Box 1505
Madison, WI 53701
(608) 257-8753 fax (608) 255-6621
csn@igc.apc.org
www.igc.org/csn
President of Colombia: Senor Presidente Ernesto Samper Pizano Presidente de la Republica Palacio de Narino carrera 8 No. 7-26 Santafe de Bogota, Colombia Fax: 011 57 1 284 2186/289 3377/286 7434 ================ Colombian Ambassador Juan Carlos Esguerra Embassy of Colombia 2118 Leroy Pl. NW Washington DC 20008 ================ Secretary of State Madeleine Albright 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520Please send copies of correspondence to CSN. Thank you.