U R G E N T A C T I O N A P P E A L

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 154/98	Fear for safety	18 May 1998

COLOMBIA
Peasant farmer families forcibly expelled from Bellacruz Ranch and human 
rights workers assisting them

On 13 May 1998, a heavily armed paramilitary organization made death 
threats against a community of 70 displaced peasant families living on La 
Miel Ranch, Tolima Department. The families had been driven off Bellacruz 
Ranch, Cesar Department, in 1996 by paramilitary forces operating with the 
support of the security forces. 

The paramilitaries accused the community of being guerrilla collaborators, 
falsely claiming that European Union funds received for reconstruction 
projects were being supplied by guerrillas. Those accused of being guerrilla 
sympathizers or collaborators by the armed forces or their paramilitary 
allies frequently become victims of death threats and killings.

Telephone death threats were made to the families a week before the 
paramilitary incursion. Human rights organizations working on the families' 
behalf in Tolima Department have also received threats. 

There is serious concern that the threats and accusations made against the 
displaced community on the La Miel Ranch, and those seeking to assist them, 
may be the prelude to a large-scale paramilitary attack on the community 
and its supporters. 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Between February and March 1996, 287 peasant farmer families were 
forcibly evicted from the lands they had been occupying on the Bellacruz 
Ranch by paramilitary forces operating with the support of the security 
forces. Since their eviction, at least 30 people have been 'disappeared' or 
killed by the paramilitaries (UA 74/96 issued 7 February 1997 & follow 
ups). In December 1997, President Samper announced action against 
paramilitary groups responsible for widespread human rights violations in 
many areas of the country. To date, little action has been taken. This failure 
to take effective action 

against paramilitary groups and those in the armed forces who support them 
has allowed death threats and human rights violations against forcibly 
displaced families to continue with impunity. 

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send
telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail letters: - expressing concern for 
the safety of peasant farmer families forcibly displaced from the Bellacruz 
Ranch now living in Tolima Department, and for those trying to assist them, 
in the light of death threats made against them by paramilitary groups;
- calling for immediate measures to protect the lives of the displaced 
peasant farmers and their representatives, who remain under threat 
because of their links with the Bellacruz case; - calling for a full and 
impartial investigation into these threats and other human rights violations 
linked to the case, for the results to be made public and for those 
responsible to be brought to justice. - urging the government to 
immediately fulfil its commitment to disband paramilitary forces presently 
operating as auxiliaries of the armed forces or with armed forces' 
complicity. Members of such forces responsible for human rights violations 
should be brought to justice.


Human rights violations against families forcibly displaced from the 
Bellacruz Ranch have been brought to the attention of several governments. 
It would be helpful to express your concern at the events related above, to 
your own government, urging it to use its good offices to urge in turn that 
the Colombian authorities take appropriate measures to ensure the safety 
of the displaced families, to ensure that immediate action is taken to 
dismantle paramilitary groups operating in the region, and to bring those 
responsible for human rights violations to justice.

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 Telex: 011 44281 
PALP CO
Fax: 011 57 1 284 2186 / 289 3377 / 286 7434 


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


Attorney General:
Dr.Alfonso Gomez Mendez
Fiscal General de la Nacion
Fiscalia General de la Nacion
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)


COPIES TO:
Asociacion Nacional de Usuarios Campesinos - Unidad y Reconstruccion 
(ANUC-UR)
Apartado aereo 18534
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 29, 1998.