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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
U R G E N T A C T I O N A P P E A L
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11 May 1999
UA 103/99 Possible 'Disappearance'/Fear for safety
COLOMBIA Professor Dario Betancourt Echeverry
Amnesty International is seriously concerned for the safety of
Professor Dario Betancourt Echeverry, a victim of a possible
'disappearance' following his abduction on 30 April 1999. Professor
Echeverry is renowned for his research into violence and human
rights violations in Colombia, and his family and colleagues believe
that he may have been the target of a politically motivated
abduction.
The possible 'disappearance' of Professor Echeverry, head of the
Social Sciences department of the Universidad Pedagogica Nacional,
National University of Educational Sciences, in the capital Bogota,
comes during a wave of attacks on university professors in Colombia.
On 4 May, Professor Hernan Henao Delgado, director of the Institute
of Regional Studies at the University of Antioquia, was shot dead by
presumed paramilitaries in his office on the university campus in
Medellin. Like Professor Echeverry, he had carried out extensive
research work on human rights and violence.
On 6 May a professor at the faculty of law at the Universidad
Cooperativa de Colombia, Cooperative University of Colombia, Argiro
Giraldo Quintero, survived an attempt on his life when his car came
under fire after he had left the university premises in west Medellin.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In recent years there have been widespread and systematic human
rights violations in Colombia, including extrajudicial executions,
'disappearances', torture and arbitrary arrest. Teachers and popular
activists have frequently been the victims of such human rights
violations.
More than 150 'disappearances' were recorded in 1998 alone, and
more than 3000 in the last decade. Members of the Colombian
security forces and their paramilitary allies continue to commit
serious human rights violations with virtual impunity. Kidnapping
and hostage taking by armed opposition groups is also widespread.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send
telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail letters:
- expressing concern for the safety of Professor Dario Betancourt
Echeverry and calling for a full, prompt and impartial investigation
into his possible 'disappearance' on 30 April 1999; - expressing
concern at the killing of Profesor Hernan Henao Delgado
on 4 May and the attempted killing of Professor Argiro Giraldo
Quintero on 6 May;
- urging that full and impartial investigations are undertaken into
these
acts, that the results be made public and that those responsible be
brought to justice.
APPEALS TO:
President of Colombia:
Senor Presidente Andres Pastrana,
Presidente de la Republica
Palacio de Narino,
Carrera 8 No. 7-26,
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
Dear President Pastrana:
Telegrams: President Pastrana, Bogota, Colombia Tx: 44281 PALP CO
Fax: 011 57 1 286 7434/ 284 2186/ 337 1351
Attorney General:
Dr. Alfonso Gomez Mendez,
Fiscal General de la Nacion,
Fiscalia General de la Nacion,
Diagonal 22B 5201,
Apartado Aereo 29855,
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
Dear Dr. Gomez:
Telegrams: Fiscal General, Fiscalia General, Bogota, Colombia
Faxes: 011 571 570 2022
Minister of the Interior:
Dr. Nestor Humberto Martinez
Ministro del Interior
Ministerio del Interior
Carrera 8, No.8-09, Paso 2
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
Dear Minister:
Telegrams: Ministerio del Interior, Bogota, Colombia
Telexes: 396 45406 MINGO CO
Fax: 011 57 1 286 8025
COPIES TO:
Fundacion Manuel Cepeda Vargas
AA 28233
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia.
Ambassador Luis Alberto Moreno
Embassy of Colombia
2118 Leroy Pl. NW
Washington DC 20008
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 June 22, 1999.
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 information 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
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