Colombia
08.11.01
Urgent Interventions
Colombia: death of a university student in clashes between students and anti-riot policemen in Bogotá.
Case COL 081101
The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Colombia.
Brief description of the situation:
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has been informed of the death of a university student hit by a bullet during the clashes between students from the Universidad Nacional and anti-riot policemen in Bogotá.
According to information from the Committee of Solidarity with the Political Prisoners Foundation (FCSPP), a member of the OMCT network, Carlos Giovanny Blanco Leguízamo, a student from Sogamoso (Boyacá), aged approximately 20 died of shot wounds on November 7, 2001. He was among a large group of students demonstrating against privatization in the area between the university campus and 30th street.
The reports add that Carlos Giovanny Blanco Leguízamo, who was in his second semester at the Faculty of Medicine, was fatally wounded in the thorax by a shot which came from the direction of the street. Although he was taken to the university’s infirmary, the efforts made by the doctors, some of them his own teachers could not save his life.
Furthermore, according to the reports, the anti-riot police charged violently with tear gas aimed at the students’ bodies, resulting in at least 20 injuries, two of them with serious, one of them in the face. The reports add that 10 students were allegedly detained on the outskirts of the university and taken in a police armoured carrier with no identification number.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT shares the serious concern of the Committee of Solidarity with the Political Prisoners Foundation (FCSPP), and firmly condemns the anti-riot police’s excessive use of force against the disarmed university students during their peaceful demonstration.
Requested Action:
Please write to the Colombian Authorities urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned students and to bring an end to violence against peaceful demonstrators;
ii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned events, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to justice and apply the civil, penal or administrative sanctions stipulated by law;
iii. fully execute the recommendations made by international and regional human rights organisations, including those of the High Commission for Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the Inter.American Human Rights Commission as well as national and governmental human rights organisations;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental liberties in all the country in accordance with national law and international human rights norms.
Addresses
· S.E. Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Presidente de la República, Cra. 8 n .7-26, Palacio de Nariño, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 566 20 71
· Consejería Presidencial de Derechos Humanos, Calle 7 n . 6-54 Piso 3, Santafé de Bogotá, D. C. Fax: (+57 1) 337 13 51
· General Fernando Tapias Stahelin, Comandante de las Fuerzas Militares, Avenida el Dorado con Cra. 52, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 222 29 35; e-mail: siden@mindefensa.gov.co ; pilaque@cgm.mil.co
· Mission Permanente de la Colombie auprès de l’Office de las Nations Unies et des institutions spécialisées a Genève. Chemin du Champ d’Anier 17-19, 1209 Genève. Tel : (+41) 22 798 4554, 798 4555. E-mail: mission.colombia@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Colombia in your respective country.
Geneva, 8 November, 2001
The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Colombia.
Brief description of the situation:
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has been informed of the death of a university student hit by a bullet during the clashes between students from the Universidad Nacional and anti-riot policemen in Bogotá.
According to information from the Committee of Solidarity with the Political Prisoners Foundation (FCSPP), a member of the OMCT network, Carlos Giovanny Blanco Leguízamo, a student from Sogamoso (Boyacá), aged approximately 20 died of shot wounds on November 7, 2001. He was among a large group of students demonstrating against privatization in the area between the university campus and 30th street.
The reports add that Carlos Giovanny Blanco Leguízamo, who was in his second semester at the Faculty of Medicine, was fatally wounded in the thorax by a shot which came from the direction of the street. Although he was taken to the university’s infirmary, the efforts made by the doctors, some of them his own teachers could not save his life.
Furthermore, according to the reports, the anti-riot police charged violently with tear gas aimed at the students’ bodies, resulting in at least 20 injuries, two of them with serious, one of them in the face. The reports add that 10 students were allegedly detained on the outskirts of the university and taken in a police armoured carrier with no identification number.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT shares the serious concern of the Committee of Solidarity with the Political Prisoners Foundation (FCSPP), and firmly condemns the anti-riot police’s excessive use of force against the disarmed university students during their peaceful demonstration.
Requested Action:
Please write to the Colombian Authorities urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned students and to bring an end to violence against peaceful demonstrators;
ii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned events, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to justice and apply the civil, penal or administrative sanctions stipulated by law;
iii. fully execute the recommendations made by international and regional human rights organisations, including those of the High Commission for Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the Inter.American Human Rights Commission as well as national and governmental human rights organisations;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental liberties in all the country in accordance with national law and international human rights norms.
Addresses
· S.E. Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Presidente de la República, Cra. 8 n .7-26, Palacio de Nariño, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 566 20 71
· Consejería Presidencial de Derechos Humanos, Calle 7 n . 6-54 Piso 3, Santafé de Bogotá, D. C. Fax: (+57 1) 337 13 51
· General Fernando Tapias Stahelin, Comandante de las Fuerzas Militares, Avenida el Dorado con Cra. 52, Santafé de Bogotá. Fax: (+57 1) 222 29 35; e-mail: siden@mindefensa.gov.co ; pilaque@cgm.mil.co
· Mission Permanente de la Colombie auprès de l’Office de las Nations Unies et des institutions spécialisées a Genève. Chemin du Champ d’Anier 17-19, 1209 Genève. Tel : (+41) 22 798 4554, 798 4555. E-mail: mission.colombia@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Colombia in your respective country.
Geneva, 8 November, 2001