Henao letterWDBNMSWD(jljm7#'&&&&&&) &I&I&I&I &S&i&i&x&I's ''*'&'''''''''''Dear Colleagues: On May 4, 1999, Colombian anthropologist and University of Antioquia professor, Hernan Henao, was attacked at gunpoint by three unknown intruders who broke into a faculty meeting. Professor Henao, the director of the Instituto de Estudios Regionales (INER), a university research center coordinating studies of conflict, community development, environmental policy, and cultural diversity in the region surrounding Antioquia, died shortly afterwards. A proponent of broadranging dialogue, Professor Henao was committed to the application of anthropological knowledge to the solution of complex social problems. At the time of his death, Professor Henao was preparing to conduct research on the living conditions of the displaced populations of nearby Uraba. There are currently 1.3 million peasants who have been forced off their lands by paramilitary organizations, originally set up under the patronage of the Colombian military as a vanguard in their war against the guerrillas. Paramilitary organizations, who receive support from local landlords and who, as recent news accounts have documented, are active in the drug trade, are involved in a concerted effort to empty the countryside, thus opening new lands to large cattle ranching interests and development plans. Recent massacres of whole village populations have occurred under the watch of a military that has turned a blind eye to such abuses. As a result, there are more than twice as many internal refugees today in Colombia as there are in Kosovo, with little outcry from the United States and other governments. Colombian scholars who study this phenomenon have increasingly come under paramilitary threat and attack. In this climate of unrestrained and constant human rights abuse, there is no room for scholarly analysis of social realities, nor for the exercise of academic freedom. We do not know whether Professor Henaos research played a role in his murder, nor do we know who was responsible for this brutal act. What is clear, however, is the fact that researchers working on any one of a broad array of topics are in danger now in Colombia simply by virtue of the fact that they are investigating social issues. Hernn Henao is not the only Colombian academic who has been the target of recent repression. In fact, he is the seventh professor at the University of Antioquia to be murdered in the past ten years. The university has received violent threats from numerous armed groups, both on the right and the left, unhappy with its research agenda. Dario Betancourt, a historian and director of the Social Sciences Program at the National Pedgogical University, and a well-known specialist on violence, disappeared in Bogota on April 30, 1999. Mario and Elsa Caldern, researchers in the Jesuit Center for Research and Popular Education (CINEP), were brutally murdered in their home two years ago. These attacks demonstrate that it has now become dangerous to be a researcher in Colombia. The American Anthropological Association and the Society for Latin American Anthropology, in coordination with the Colombia Support Network, strongly urge you to write letters, faxes, or email messages demanding (1) that Professor Henaos brutal murder and Professor Betancourts disappearance be thoroughly and swiftly investigated and that the guilty parties be tried by the Colombian judiciary, (2) that the Colombian government demonstrate its willingness to protect researchers, both national and international, (3) that the United States Congress immediately suspend military assistance to Colombia until such a time as Colombia undertakes to sever the links between paramilitary organizations and the armed forces, and that it investigate thoroughly the ways in which our military support may be being channelled to these outlaw organization, and (4) that the Colombian government make a concerted effort to purge the military of those elements sympathetic with paramilitary groups. Your messages can be sent to: Doctor Andres Pastrana Arango; Presidente de la Republica; Palacio de Narino; Carrera 8 # 7-26; Santafe de Bogota, DC; Colombia. Fax: (571) 283-7324, 286-7434, 287-7937, 281-8262. Email: Doctor Alfonso Gomez Mendez; Fiscal General de la Nacion; Fiscalia General de la Nacion; Diagonal 22B #52-01; Aptdo. Aereo 29855; Santafe de Bogota, DC; Colombia. Fax: (571) 570-2022. Doctor Rodrigo Lloreda; Ministro de Defensa, Avenida El Dorado con Carrera 52; Santaf de Bogot, Colombia. Fax: (571)221-5363. Email: Secretary of Defense William Cohen; 1000 Defense, The Pentagon; Washington D.C. 20301-1000. fax (703) 697-5737. Email: Mrs. Madeleine Albright; Secretary of State; Department of State; 2201 C Street, NW; Room 7226; Washington DC 20520. Fax (202) 647-1533. You can also contact some of the following subcommittee chairs from the House and Senate. House members can be contacted by email through the web site and senators can be contacted through their web site . You can also contact your own representatives this way. Senator Paul Coverdell, Chair, Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, Senate Foreign Relations Committee; US Senate; Washington DC 20510. Senator Mitch McConnell, Chair, Foreign Operations Subcommittee, Senate Appropriations Committee; US Senate; Washington DC 20510. Fax: (202) 228-1323. Senator Ted Stevens, Chair; Department of Defense Subcommittee, Senate Appropriations Committee; US Senate; Washington DC 20510. Fax: (202) 244-4402. Representative Sonny Callahan, Chair, Foreign Operations Subcommittee, House Appropriations Committee; US House of Representatives; Washington DC 20515. Fax: (202) 226-7922 Representative Elton Gallegly, Chair, Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, House International Relations Committee; US House of Representatives; Washington DC 20515. Fax: (202) (202) 225-4977 Representative Jerry Lewis, Chair, Defense Subcommittee, House Appropriations Committee; US House of Representatives; Washington DC 20515. Fax: (202) 225-2822 Representative Christopher Smith, Chair, International Operations and Human Rights Subcommittee, House International Relations Committee; US House of Representatives; Washington DC 20515. Fax: (202) 225-7485 Please send email copies of your letters to . Thank you for your solidarity with our Colombian colleagues. Yours truly, Jane Hill, President American Anthropological Association Department of Anthropology University of Arizona PO Box 210030 Tucson, AZ 85721-0030 email: jhill@u.arizona.edu AAA web page: http://www.aaanet.org Joanne Rappaport, President Society for Latin American Anthropology Department of Spanish and Portuguese Georgetown University Washington, DC 20057 email: rappapoj@gusun.georgetown.edu SLAA web page: http://www.ucr.edu/anthro/slaa/Slaa1.htm Tom Greaves, Chair AAA Committee for Human Rights Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA 17837 greaves@bucknell.edu Website: http://www.ameranthassn.org/chrhome.htm John I. 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