Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: sharriso@aiusa.org
http://www.amnesty-usa.org/urgact/
Phone: 303 440 0913
Fax:303 258 7881
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UA 151/98	Fear for safety	15 May 1998
COLOMBIA
Human rights workers of the Intercongregational Commission of 
Justice and Peace

There are serious fears for the safety of human rights defenders 
attached to the Comision Intercongregacional de Justicia y Paz, 
Intercongregational Commission of Justice and Peace (CIJP), following 
a search of their Bogota offices on 13 May 1998 by members of the 
Colombian Army and judicial officials. 

During the search soldiers reportedly forced two nuns working in the 
office to kneel on the floor and interrogated them while pointing 
guns to their heads. They also took their photographs. A soldier also 
filmed several human rights workers who had gathered outside the 
building while the search was taking place.

The warrant to search the CIJP offices was apparently issued by the 
judicial authorities on the basis of a military intelligence report, 
which
allegedly stated that the CIJP, a national non-governmental human 
rights organization, had information relating to an urban guerrilla 
network.

The military denied members of the Defensoria del Pueblo, Office of 
the People's Defender, access to the Justice and Peace building, 
despite being legally authorized to monitor such operations. 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The search of the CIJP office comes in the wake of the killing on 18 
April 1998 of Dr Eduardo Umana Mendoza, a prominent Colombian 
human rights lawyer who had received numerous threats as a result 
of his human rights work (UA 122/98, 20 May 1998). 

Over recent years human rights defenders have increasingly been 
accused by high ranking members of the Colombian armed forces of 
supporting subversive groups. Human rights work has been 
presented as limiting the capacity of the armed forces to fight 
guerrilla 

forces.

In the past those labelled 'subversive' or 'subversive sympathizers' 
by the armed forces or their paramilitary allies have frequently 
become victims of death threats and even killings. 

The United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights' Report on 
Colombia (E/CN.4/1998/16, 9 March 1998) quoted members of the 
military intelligence as stating that 85 per cent of the persons they 
considered to be subversive were engaged in the 'political war', a 
military term which included the activities of some NGOs. 

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send
telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail letters: - expressing 
concern that during the search of the CIJP offices on 13 May 1998 
some human rights defenders were intimidated; - expressing concern 
for the safety of human rights workers who were filmed during the 
operation;
- urging that all measures deemed appropriate by human rights 
workers themselves are taken to guarantee their safety; - expressing 
concern for the safety of all human rights workers in Colombia 
during the present climate of threats and harassment. 


APPEALS TO:
President of Colombia:
Senor Presidente Ernesto Samper Pizano
Presidente de la Republica
Palacio de Narino
carrera 8 No. 7-26
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia

Dear President Samper:

Telegrams: President Samper Pizano, Bogota, Colombia Telexes: 396 
44281 PALP CO
Faxes: 011 57 1 284 2186/289 3377/286 7434/ 


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.:

Telegrams: Fiscal General, Fiscalia General, Bogota, Colombia Faxes: 
011 571 570 2000 (when ansaphone picks up dial 2017 for fax)


Minister of Defense:
Dr.Gilberto Echeverri Mejia
Ministro de Defensa Nacional
Ministerio de Defensa Nacional
Avenida Eldorado CAN - Carrera 52
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia

Dear Minister:

Telegrams:	Ministro de Defensa, Bogota, Colombia
Telexes: 396 42411 INPRE CO; 396 44561 CFAC CO Faxes: 011 57 1 
222 1874


COPIES TO:
Intercongregational Commission for Justice and Peace: Comision 
Intercongregacional de Justicia y Paz AA 31861
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia


Ambassador Juan Carlos Esguerra
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 26, 1998.